Union Is Heading To Bridgeport!

Wow, this is pretty exciting! It's still pretty amazing that UNION COLLEGE is not only in the NCAA Tournament for the first time (in Division I history), but they are a #2 SEED! This is going to be one exciting week leading up to the weekend in Bridgeport. I'll do my best to keep all of you posted and informed on our upcoming opponents and other news.

Here is what the official bracket looks like:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Ct.)
No. 4 Air Force (20-11-6)* vs. No. 1 Yale (27-6-1)*
No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth (22-10-6) vs. No. 2 Union (26-9-4)

West Regional (St. Louis)
No. 4 Colorado College (22-18-3)  vs. No. 1 Boston College (30-7-1)*
No. 3 Nebraska-Omaha (21-15-2) vs. No. 2 Michigan (26-10-4)

Midwest Regional (Green Bay)
No. 4 Rensselaer (20-12-5) vs. No. 1 North Dakota (30-8-3)*
No. 3 Western Michigan (19-12-10) vs. No. 2 Denver (24-11-5)

Northeast Regional (Manchester, N.H.)
No. 4 New Hampshire (21-10-6) vs. No. 1 Miami (23-9-6)*
No. 3 Notre Dame (23-13-5) vs. No. 2 Merrimack (25-9-4)

* automatic qualifiers
By conference: WCHA 5, CCHA 4, ECAC 3, Hockey East 3, Atlantic Hockey 1

Personally, I think this is the best case scenario for the Dutchmen. Any team you play in the NCAA Tournament is going to be tough opponent, so all the game are going to be difficult. But, if I had to pick a region to be in and a #1 seed to be in the same bracket with, I'd pick Bridgeport and Yale, respectively. Bridgeport is the closest of the four sites to Schenectady and Union has beaten Yale already this year. I also feel the Bulldogs are the weakest of the four #1 seeds, even though they had two convincing performances in the ECAC Final Four. I think Union has as good of a chance as any team in Bridgeport to make it to the Frozen Four.

But, Yale should not be our focus right now... it should be the other Bulldgos. That is THE University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. They also have a very good team and will be a very tough opponent. Their top line of Fontaine-J. Connolly-M. Connolly is supposed excellent and have put up big numbers. They also have a stud freshman defenseman in Justin Faulk. But after that it doesn't sound like they have too much. Their goaltender also doesn't seem to be anything special, and isn't on the same level as Keith Kinkaid. This is just what I've heard. I will do my best to find out everything on the Bulldogs throughout the week.

This is going to be a fun week... CAN'T WAIT!