Dutchmen headed to Bridgeport

NCAA Tournament Bracket

by Ryan Fay

Union is Bridgeport bound.

The Dutchmen were selected as the third overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and the top seed in the East Regional, which starts Friday at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Union (29-6-4) will square off against Vermont (20-14-3) in a regional semifinal at 2 p.m. Friday. The Catamounts are coached by Kevin Sneddon, an assistant coach at Union from 1993-1998 and the head coach from 1998-2003.

The Dutchmen previously played in Bridgeport in 2011 and 2012. In 2011, they lost the regional semifinal to Minnesota-Duluth. The next year, the Dutchmen beat Michigan State in the semifinal and UMass-Lowell in the final to advance to the Frozen Four in Tampa.

The other East Regional semifinal features another former Union bench boss. Nate Leaman and Providence (21-10-6) face Quinnipiac (24-9-6) at 5:30 p.m. Leaman took over as Union's head coach when Sneddon left for Vermont in 2003. Leaman remained in the role until leaving for Providence in 2011.

The semifinal winners meet in the regional final, set for 3 p.m. Saturday.

ESPNU will broadcast the East Regional semifinals, while ESPN2 will air the final.

Minnesota is the overall top seed in the NCAA tournament and will play in the West Regional in St. Paul, Minnesota. Boston College is the second overall seed and the top seed in the Northeast Regional in Worcester, Massachusetts. Wisconsin, the fourth overall seed, is the top seed in the Midwest Regional in Cincinnati.

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