2018 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 2018 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the national championship tournament for men's college ice hockey in the United States. The tournament involved 16 teams in single-elimination play to determine the national champion at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the highest level of competition in college hockey. The tournament's Frozen Four – the semifinals and final – were hosted by the University of Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota from April 5–7, 2018.^[1]

Minnesota-Duluth defeated Notre Dame 2–1 to win the program's 2nd NCAA title.

Tournament procedure

The tournament is composed of four groups of four teams in regional brackets. The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following are the sites for the 2018 regionals: ^[2]

March 23–24

East Regional, Webster Bank Arena – Bridgeport, Connecticut (Host: Fairfield and Yale)

West Regional, Premier Center – Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Host: North Dakota)

March 24–25

Northeast Regional, DCU Center – Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: Holy Cross)

Midwest Regional, PPL Center – Allentown, Pennsylvania (Host: Penn State)

The winner of each regional will advance to the Frozen Four:

April 5–7

Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)

Qualifying teams

The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 18.^[3] The Big Ten had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, the NCHC, Hockey East, and ECAC Hockey each had three teams receive a berth, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) had two teams receive a berth, and one team from Atlantic Hockey received a berth.

East Regional – Bridgeport							West Regional – Sioux Falls
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid
1	Notre Dame (2)	Big Ten	25–9–2	Tournament champion	10th	2017	1	St. Cloud State (1)	NCHC	25–8–6	At-large bid	13th	2016
2	Providence	Hockey East	23–11–4	At-large bid	14th	2017	2	Minnesota State	WCHA	29–9–1	At-large bid	5th	2015
3	Clarkson	ECAC	23–10–6	At-large bid	21st	2008	3	Minnesota–Duluth	NCHC	21–16–3	At-large bid	12th	2017
4	Michigan Tech	WCHA	22–16–5	Tournament champion	13th	2017	4	Air Force	Atlantic Hockey	22–14–5	Tournament champion	7th	2017
Northeast Regional – Worcester							Midwest Regional – Allentown
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid
1	Cornell (3)	ECAC	25–5–2	At-large bid	21st	2017	1	Ohio State (4)	Big Ten	24–9–5	At-large bid	8th	2017
2	Michigan	Big Ten	20–14–3	At-large bid	37th	2016	2	Denver	NCHC	20–9–8	Tournament champion	28th	2017
3	Northeastern	Hockey East	23–9–5	At-large bid	6th	2016	3	Penn State	Big Ten	18–14–5	At-large bid	2nd	2017
4	Boston University	Hockey East	21–13–4	Tournament champion	36th	2017	4	Princeton	ECAC	19–12–4	Tournament champion	4th	2009

Number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament.

Tournament bracket

	Regional semifinals March 23–24					Regional Finals March 24–25					Semifinals April 5					Championship April 7
	1	St. Cloud State (1)	1
	4	Air Force	4
						4	Air Force	1
	Sioux Falls – Fri/Sat
						3	Minnesota–Duluth	2
	2	Minnesota State	2
	3	Minnesota–Duluth	3*
											W3	Minnesota-Duluth	2
											MW1	Ohio State (4)	1
	1	Ohio State (4)	4
	4	Princeton	2
						1	Ohio State (4)	5
	Allentown – Sat/Sun
						2	Denver	1
	2	Denver	5
	3	Penn State	1
																W3	Minnesota-Duluth	2
																E1	Notre Dame (2)	1
	1	Cornell (3)	1
	4	Boston University	3
						4	Boston University	3
	Worcester – Sat/Sun
						2	Michigan	6
	2	Michigan	3
	3	Northeastern	2
											NE2	Michigan	3
											E1	Notre Dame (2)	4
	1	Notre Dame (2)	4*
	4	Michigan Tech	3
						1	Notre Dame (2)	2
	Bridgeport – Fri/Sat
						2	Providence	1
	2	Providence	1
	3	Clarkson	0

Note: * denotes overtime period

Results

West Region – Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Regional semifinal

March 23, 2018 3:00 pm

(1) St. Cloud State

1 – 4 (0–0, 0–2, 1–2)

(4) Air Force

Premier Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota Attendance: 7,992

Game reference
	Dávid Hrenák	Goalies	Billy Christopoulos	Referees: Tony Czech Brady Johnson Linesmen: Paul Tunison Eric Froberg
	0–1 22:57 – Tyler Ledford (5) (unassisted) 0–2 26:29 – GW – Tyler Ledford (6) (Koch, Baskin) Blake Lizotte (8) (Newell, Borgen) – 57:09 1–2 1–3 58:26 – EN – Jordan Himley (11) (Serratore, Koch) 1–4 59:12 – EN – Kyle Haak (7) (Serratore, Mirageas)
	4 min	Penalties	8 min
	40	Shots	26

March 23, 2018 6:30 pm

(2) Minnesota State

2 – 3 (OT) (2–0, 0–1, 0–1, 0–1)

(3) Minnesota–Duluth

Premier Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota Attendance: 7,992

Game reference
	Connor LaCouvee	Goalies	Hunter Shepard	Referees: Geoff Miller Terrence Murphy Linesmen: Kevin Briganti Nick Briganti
	Zeb Knutson (15) (Michaelis) – 02:21 1–0 Ian Scheid (9) (Lutz, McClure) – PP – 06:37 2–0 2–1 26:38 – Karson Kuhlman (12) (unassisted) 2–2 55:52 – PP – Nick Swaney (6) (Thomas, Samberg) 2–3 62:28 – GW – Parker Mackay (9) (Richards, Anderson)
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	21	Shots	22

Regional Final

March 24, 2018 8:00 pm

(3) Minnesota–Duluth

2 – 1 (2–0, 0–1, 0–1)

(4) Air Force

Premier Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota Attendance: 8,015

Game reference
	Hunter Shepard	Goalies	Billy Christopoulos	Referees: Brian Aaron Barry Pochmara Linesmen: Bruce Vida Joe Hutek
	Joey Anderson (11) (Tufte, Samberg) – 09:03 1–0 Nick Wolff (7) (Miller, Perunovich) – GW – 12:12 2–0 2–1 53:44 – PP – Evan Giesler (12) (Koch, Mirageas)
	4 min	Penalties	6 min
	26	Shots	12

East Region – Bridgeport, Connecticut

Regional semifinal

March 23, 2018 3:00 pm

(1) Notre Dame

4 – 3 (OT) (0–0, 2–1, 1–2, 1–0)

(4) Michigan Tech

Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut Attendance: 5,014

Game reference
	Cale Morris	Goalies	Patrick Munson	Referees: Bryan Hicks Cameron Lynch Linesmen: Jason Shattie Dmitry Antipin
	0–1 21:13 – Joel L'Esperance (12) (Donohue, Lucchini) Dylan Malmquist (8) (Oglevie) – PP – 23:40 1–1 Joe Wegwerth (6) (Theisen, O'Leary) – 27:04 2–1 2–2 40:56 – Gavin Gould (14) (Lucchini, Donohue) Jordan Gross (9) (Nardella, Oglevie) – PP – 46:19 3–2 3–3 58:54 – EA – Jake Jackson (13) (Steman, Baltus) Jordan Gross (10) (Evans, Jenkins) – GW – 76:24 4–3
	2 min	Penalties	4 min
	32	Shots	39

March 23, 2018 7:15 pm

(2) Providence

1 – 0 (1–0, 0–0, 0–0)

(3) Clarkson

Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut Attendance: 5,014

Game reference
	Hayden Hawkey	Goalies	Jake Kielly	Referees: Gino Binda Nick Kresbach Linesmen: Joe Filo Sterling Egan
	Kasper Björkqvist (15) (Wilkins, Pinho) – GW PP – 04:02 1–0
	4 min	Penalties	8 min
	27	Shots	18

Regional Final

March 24, 2018 6:00 pm

(1) Notre Dame

2 – 1 (0–1, 1–0, 1–0)

(2) Providence

Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut Attendance: 5,505

Game reference
	Cale Morris	Goalies	Hayden Hawkey	Referees: Gino Binda Nick Kresbach Linesmen: Joe Filo Sterling Egan
	0–1 02:02 – Kasper Björkqvist (16) (Davis) Andrew Oglevie (13) (Evans, Gross) – PP – 38:09 1–1 Dylan Malmquist (9) (Burke, Oglevie) – GW – 59:33 2–1
	4 min	Penalties	8 min
	25	Shots	20

Northeast Region – Worcester, Massachusetts

Regional semifinal

March 24, 2018 1:00 pm

(1) Cornell

1 – 3 (0–0, 1–1, 0–2)

(4) Boston University

DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts Attendance: 8,441

Game reference
	Matthew Galajda	Goalies	Jake Oettinger	Referees: Colin Kronforst CJ Beaurline Linesmen: Sam Shikowsky Nick Bradshaw
	Trevor Yates (13) (Donaldson, Barron) – 27:27 1–0 1–1 28:03 – Shane Bowers (17) (Hickey, Carpenter) 1–2 42:39 – GW – David Farrance (3) (Tkachuk, Melanson) 1–3 59:43 – EN – Logan Cockerill (8) (Carpenter)
	2 min	Penalties	2 min
	31	Shots	24

March 24, 2018 4:30 pm

(2) Michigan

3 – 2 (0–0, 1–1, 2–1)

(3) Northeastern

DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts Attendance: 8,441

Game reference
	Hayden Lavigne	Goalies	Cayden Primeau	Referees: Ryan Hersey Tim Walsh Linesmen: Justin Hills John Grandt
	Cooper Marody (15) (Martin, Calderone) – 35:03 1–0 1–1 38:04 – PP – Dylan Sikura (22) (Davies, Stevens) Dexter Dancs (11) (Marody) – 45:45 2–1 2–2 52:01 – Eric Williams (5) (Shea, Goldstein) Cooper Marody (16) (Calderone, Dancs) – 55:30 3–2
	4 min	Penalties	2 min
	32	Shots	21

Regional Final

March 25, 2018 4:00 pm

(2) Michigan

6 – 3 (2–1, 1–1, 3–1)

(4) Boston University

DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts Attendance: 5,499

Game reference
	Hayden Lavigne	Goalies	Jake Oettinger	Referees: Ryan Hersey Tim Walsh Linesmen: Justin Hills John Grandt
	Quinn Hughes (5) (Pastujov, Becker) – 05:12 1–0 1–1 12:26 – Jordan Greenway (13) (Tkachuk) Tony Calderone (24) (Marody, Cecconi) – PP – 15:21 2–1 Brendan Warren (9) (Norris, Slaker) – 21:57 3–1 3–2 31:08 – Patrick Curry (13) (Crotty, Krys) 3–3 43:30 – Drew Melanson (13) (Greenway) Jake Slaker (15) (unassisted) – GW – 46:27 4–3 Nicholas Boka (1) (Dancs, Becker) – 56:18 5–3 Nick Pastujov (4) (unassisted) – EN – 58:18 6–3
	4 min	Penalties	4 min
	22	Shots	27

Midwest Region – Allentown, Pennsylvania

Regional semifinal

March 24, 2018 3:30 pm

(1) Ohio State

4 – 2 (2–0, 0–0, 2–2)

(4) Princeton

PPL Center, Allentown, Pennsylvania Attendance: 7,491

Game reference
	Sean Romeo	Goalies	Ryan Ferland (out 58:13) Ben Halford (in 58:13)	Referees: Chris Ciamaga Mike Schubert Linesmen: Joe Sherman Brendan Lewis
	Mason Jobst (20) (Laczynski, Ege) – PP – 13:32 1–0 Kevin Miller (6) (Hein, Lampasso) – 13:52 2–0 Tanner Laczynski (16) (Gerard) – GW – 43:55 3–0 Freddy Gerard (12) (Stork) – 50:48 4–0 4–1 59:33 – PP – Matt Nelson (12) (Grabowski, Hallisey) 4–2 59:50 – David Hallisey (18) (Becker, Nelson)
	16 min	Penalties	27 min
	28	Shots	25

March 24, 2018 7:00 pm

(2) Denver

5 – 1 (2–0, 2–0, 1–1)

(3) Penn State

PPL Center, Allentown, Pennsylvania Attendance: 7,491

Game reference
	Tanner Jaillet	Goalies	Peyton Jones	Referees: Peter Feola Robert St. Lawrence Linesmen: Jim Briggs Ryan Knapp
	Kohen Olischefski (7) (Finlay, Mitchell) – 12:19 1–0 Troy Terry (14) (Gambrell, Plant) – GW EA – 16:40 2–0 Henrik Borgström (23) (Terry, Mitchell) – 24:51 3–0 Jarid Lukosevicius (20) (Mitchell, Borgström) – 39:57 4–0 4–1 47:39 – Liam Folkes (13) (unassisted) Jarid Lukosevicius (20) (Terry) – 52:22 5–1
	8 min	Penalties	6 min
	42	Shots	27

Regional Final

March 25, 2018 6:30 pm

(1) Ohio State

5 – 1 (0–0, 2–0, 3–1)

(2) Denver

PPL Center, Allentown, Pennsylvania Attendance: 5,124

Game reference
	Sean Romeo	Goalies	Tanner Jaillet	Referees: Kevin Shea Jamie Koharski Linesmen: Tom George Steven Murray
	Dakota Joshua (15) (Kearney, Parran) – 23:47 1–0 Kevin Miller (7) (Lampasso, Joyaux) – GW – 35:31 2–0 Matt Joyaux (2) (Laczynski) – 49:27 3–0 3–1 51:21 – Tyson McLellan (3) (Mitchell, Terry) Kevin Miller (8) (Lampasso, Hein) – 51:51 4–1 Mason Jobst (21) (unassisted) – 54:16 5–1
	4 min	Penalties	0 min
	24	Shots	31

Frozen Four – Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota

National semifinal

April 5, 2018 8:45 pm ESPN2

(E1) Notre Dame

4 – 3 (0–1, 2–1, 2–1)

(NE2) Michigan

Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota Attendance: 18,026

Game reference
	Cale Morris	Goalies	Hayden Lavigne	Referees: Geno Binda Nick Krebsbach Linesmen: Sterling Egan John Philo
	0–1 08:19 – Tony Calderone (25) (Dancs, Marody) 0–2 20:17 – Dexter Dancs (12) (Calderone, Cecconi) Andrew Oglevie (14) (Evans, Gross) – PP – 22:41 1–2 Jake Evans (12) (Gross) – 26:20 2–2 Cal Burke (14) (Malmquist, Oglevie) – 41:35 3–2 3–3 54:38 – Michael Pastujov (25) (Becker, N. Pastujov) Jake Evans (13) (Morrison, Jenkins) – GW – 59:54 4–3
	8 min	Penalties	6 min
	29	Shots	28

April 5, 2018 5:00 pm ESPN2

(MW1) Ohio State

1 – 2 (0–2, 0–0, 1–0)

(W3) Minnesota–Duluth

Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota Attendance: 18,026

Game reference
	Sean Romeo	Goalies	Hunter Shepard	Referees: Jamie Koharski Kevin Shea Linesmen: Tommy George Steven Murray
	0–1 01:53 – Louie Roehl (3) (M. Anderson, Mackay) 0–2 03:04 – GW – Jared Thomas (10) (Kuhlman) Tanner Laczynski (17) (Joshua, Ege) – PP – 49:27 1–2
	6 min	Penalties	10 min
	20	Shots	28

2018 National Championship

(E1) Notre Dame vs. (W3) Minnesota–Duluth

April 7[4]

Notre Dame

1 – 2

Minnesota–Duluth

Xcel Energy Center

Recap

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	UMD	Karson Kuhlman (13)	Miller	9:06	1–0 UMD
	UMD	Jared Thomas (11) – GW	Kuhlman	18:39	2–0 UMD
2nd	ND	Andrew Oglevie (15) – PP	Morrison and Evans	27:40	2–1 UMD
3rd	None
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	ND	Mike O'Leary	Hooking	19:42	2:00
2nd	ND	Jordan Gross	Tripping	22:19	2:00
	UMD	Louie Roehl	Interference	24:35	2:00
	UMD	Scott Perunovich	Interference	27:08	2:00
	ND	Colin Theisen	Kneeing	30:02	2:00

All-Tournament team

• G: Hunter Shepard (Minnesota–Duluth)
• D: Scott Perunovich (Minnesota–Duluth)
• D: Jordan Gross (Notre Dame)
• F: Karson Kuhlman* (Minnesota–Duluth)
• F: Jared Thomas (Minnesota–Duluth)
• F: Andrew Oglevie (Notre Dame)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)

^[5]

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Regional Finals	Frozen Four	Championship Game	Champions
Big Ten	4	7-4	.636	3	3	1	-
NCHC	3	5-2	.714	2	1	1	1
Hockey East	3	2-3	.400	2	-	-	-
ECAC Hockey	3	0-3	.000	-	-	-	-
WCHA	2	0-2	.000	-	-	-	-
Atlantic Hockey	1	1-1	.500	1	-	-	-

Media

Television

ESPN has US television rights to all games during the tournament for the fourteenth consecutive year.^[6] ESPN will air every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, or ESPN3 and streamed them online via WatchESPN.

In Canada, the tournament will be broadcast by TSN and streamed on TSN Go.

In the UK, the tournament will be broadcast by BT Sport ESPN.

Broadcast assignments

Regionals

• East Regional: John Buccigross, Barry Melrose and Quint Kessenich – Bridgeport, Connecticut
• West Regional: Clay Matvick and Sean Ritchlin – Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Northeast Regional: Joe Beninati and Billy Jaffe – Worcester, Massachusetts
• Midwest Regional: Kevin Brown and Colby Cohen – Allentown, Pennsylvania

Frozen Four

• John Buccigross, Barry Melrose and Quint Kessenich – St. Paul, Minnesota

Radio

Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the Frozen Four and will air both the semifinals and the championship.^[7]

• Brian Tripp, Pat Micheletti, & Shireen Saski

References