NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament: Bridgeport Regional Preview

Story posted March 24, 2023 in CommRadio, Sports by Logan Bourandas

Four of the best teams in college hockey are set to kick off their potential runs in the NCAA Tournament on Friday in the Bridgeport Region.

Even though all four teams fell short in their respective conference tournaments, all have sent shockwaves across the NCAA and will look to continue to do so in the tournament.

Starting out with the No. 1 seed in the region, Quinnipiac ended the year with a strong 30-4-3 record, including a 20-2 mark in the ECAC.

The Bobcats ended the regular season on a 10-game winning streak and swept the ECAC Quarterfinals against Yale prior to their double-overtime loss against Colgate.

Ethan de Jong tied the game at one in the third period on the power play to help send the game to overtime before Ross Mitton scored the game winner to help Colgate move on.

Even with the loss, the Bobcats earned the number one seed in the region for their ninth overall appearance in the tournament making three in a row.

Quinnipiac sports arguably the best goaltender in the nation in Yaniv Perets, who put up an unreal 1.52 goals against average and .929 save percentage in his 37 starts. The Bobcats face a tough opponent in Merrimack who enters as the No. 4 seed in the region.

The Warriors enter with a 23-13-1 record and are coming off a strong run in the Hockey East Tournament.

Merrimack made a run to the Hockey East conference championship game where a late comeback that required overtime from Boston University ended the Warriors title hopes.

The Warriors had won their last five games before that conference tournament, including a two-game series sweep over the eventual conference champion Terriers.

Leading the attack offensively is junior forward Alex Jefferies who leads the team with 41 points.

This is just the third time the Warriors have been in the NCAA Tournament and the first time since 2011.

On the other side of the region, Harvard comes in as the No. 2 seed after posting a 24-7-2 record.

Following a scare in the ECAC semifinals against Cornell in a 1-0 overtime win, the Crimson suffered the same fate as Quinnipiac, falling in a one-goal loss against Colgate in the finals.

The Crimson are a balanced team with junior forward Sean Farrell posting a 52-point season on offense and senior netminder Mitchell Gibson putting up a .925 save percentage and 2.05 goals against average on the other side.

Harvard is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament, with this being appearance No. 27 as it looks to avenge its first round exit from a year ago.

Rounding out the region is the Ohio State Buckeyes who enter as the No. 3 seed.

The Buckeyes currently have a 20-15-3 record and earned their way into the tournament after a strong showing in the first round of the Big Ten tournament against Penn State.

Ohio State’s most valuable asset is in net with sophomore Jakub Dobes who finished with a 2.33 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.

This is the first appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Buckeyes since 2019.

Logan Bourandas is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.