Huskies open NCAA Regional against Boston

| Game Notes |

ALBANY, NEW YORK - The No. 7 St. Cloud State University men's hockey team has played in a lot of dog fights this 2020-21 season. So why not add one more to the Huskies schedule, perhaps the most important one yet?

After a phenomenal regular season in the always rugged National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) and a run in the conference tournament, St. Cloud State earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and will face perennial power Boston University in the first round of the Northeast Regional in Albany, New York. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT and the game itself can be viewed and streamed on ESPNews.

If it feels like deja vu for some Huskies hockey fans, it should. The Huskies and Terriers have played just one other time, back in 2000 in the NCAA tournament. The location? You guessed it: Albany, New York. The result? Not good for St. Cloud State, as Boston won the game by a final score of 5-3.

The Huskies earned the No. 2 seed in the Northeast Regional after posting a 17-10-0 record during the 2020-21 season, including a 15-9-0 mark in National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) play. Additionally, the team finished second in the conference standings at the end of the regular season and advanced to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship game for the third straight season. The Terriers earned the No. 3 seed in the region and also earned an at-large berth to the NCAA despite losing in the opening round of the Hockey East tournament. Boston College will serve as the No. 1 seed in the region while Notre Dame rounds out the four teams as the No. 4 seed.

The Northeast Regional will take place March 27-28 at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York. First round games will stream on ESPNews, and Sunday's Regional Final will air at 4:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

Here are the five things to know before this weekend's NCAA Regional:

15 - This will be the Huskies 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, according to available records, and their third consecutive trip to the big dance. St. Cloud State made it's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1988-89, and the Huskies are 4-15 all-time in NCAA Tournament games with one trip to the NCAA Frozen Four. St. Cloud State advanced to the Frozen Four in 2012-13, which was the last time the final round was hosted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

37 - While the Huskies are making their 15th trip to the NCAA Tournament, Boston University is making its 37th appearance. After missing the tournament in 2018-19, the Terriers seem to be back to their old form, as they earned an at-large bid after posting an overall record of 10-4-1 with a 10-3-1 mark in Hockey East play. As a member of the conference, Boston faced several perennial powers in 2020-21, including both Boston College and Massachusetts. The Terriers split their regular season series with the Eagles, but swept the Minutemen by scores of 4-2 and 4-3 (OT).

3/4 - The Huskies current senior class has appeared in three NCAA tournaments, the most possible in their four year careers. Tyler Anderson (Winnipeg, Manitoba / Steinbach), Will Hammer (St. Cloud, Minn. / Minnesota), Easton Brodzinski (Blaine, Minn. / Green Bay), Kevin Fitzgerald (Hinsdale, Ill. / Aberdeen) and David Hrenak (Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia / Green Bay) played in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 NCAA Regionals when St. Cloud State was declared the No. 1 overall seed of both tournaments.

2 - Transfer senior Seamus Donohue (North Oaks, Minn. / Michigan Tech) has also played in the NCAA Tournament, while fellow transfer Jared Cockrell (Kents Hill, Maine / Colgate) will be making his first ever trip to the big dance. As a freshman at Michigan Tech, Donohue recorded two assists in the Huskies 2017-18 NCAA Regional appearance, though Michigan Tech lost to Notre Dame in the opening round of the Bridgeport Regional in overtime.

16 - Boston boasts a Hobey Baker finalist on its roster. Senior defenseman David Farrance repeated as a top-10 finalist after posting 16 points in 10 games in 2020-21 with five goals and 11 assists. A third round draft pick of the Nashville Predators, Farrance missed five games in February after opening the season by tallying at least one point in six consecutive games. In 10 games, Farrance additionally scored seven points on the power play with two goals and seven assists. The senior was named a Hockey East First Team All-Star at the end of the regular season, while teammates Drew Commesso and Luke Tuch were selected to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team.