Before the Big Ten Tournament, which was held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota knew that it would be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and that it would be back at the same arena for the NCAA West Regional the next weekend.
The only unknown for the Gophers was which team they would play.
That team is Robert Morris. The Gophers and Colonials will face off at 4:30 p.m. CDT on Saturday in St. Paul. The game will air on ESPN2. The winner will face the winner of St. Cloud State and Notre Dame on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. CDT. That game will be on ESPNU.
“We’re excited to be hosting the West Regional with a great field of teams coming to St. Paul,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “Robert Morris has certainly earned the right to play in this tournament as have St. Cloud State and Notre Dame, and we are looking forward to a great weekend of hockey.”
Saturday’s game will be the first contest between Minnesota and Robert Morris. The Colonials earned their first NCAA Tournament selection by winning the Atlantic Hockey Tournament last weekend.
If the Gophers manage to get past Robert Morris on Saturday, Sunday’s game will have an interesting storyline regardless of opponent. Lucia played at Notre Dame and his son, Mario, is a forward for the Irish. St. Cloud Sate is an in-state rival and former conference foe.
Focusing on the first game shouldn’t be hard for Minnesota, however, since the Gophers were upset by eventual champion Yale last year in their first NCAA tournament game in Grand Rapids. The last time the Xcel Energy Center hosted an NCAA regional, Minnesota defeated Boston University and North Dakota to advance to the Frozen Four in 2012 before losing to eventual champion Boston College.
