New Hampshire vs. Notre Dame
Manchester, NH Regional
8 p.m. ESPNU
Though New Hampshire relied on offensive output by its high-flying seniors Paul Thompson, Mike Sislo and Phil DeSimone during the regular season, it’s the contributions of freshman Kevin Goumas and junior Stevie Moses that is powering them through the playoffs. Goumas had two goals last night in the Wildcats’ surprising shut down of the regional’s number one seed, Miami.
Sunday night, New Hampshire will need to avoid little mistakes and lapses of judgment. Notre Dame took advantage of Merrimack’s slip-ups to sneak by in overtime to advance to today’s game. However, Notre Dame made several key mistakes themselves on Saturday night, and will need to spread the puck around a bit more in order to work through one of college hockey’s best defenses. New Hampshire’s top defensive line of Blake Kessel and Brett Kostolansky was quite successful in shutting down three of the nation’s top scorers Saturday, and will focus their efforts on Notre Dame freshmen left wing Anders Lee, whose hockey IQ is off the charts.
Denver vs. North Dakota
Green Bay, WI Regional
5 p.m. ESPNU
Denver and North Dakota are set for what has the makings of a epic showdown for a spot in the Frozen Four. The two met last Saturday night for the WCHA Championship, going into double overtime before the nation’s best goal scorer, Matt Frattin, won the game for North Dakota.
Denver is a young team, led by a tag team of freshman James Zucker and sophomore Drew Shore. Zucker scored the game-winning goal in double overtime on Saturday to get them to the regional final. Denver split the regular season series against North Dakota back in October.
North Dakota will be looking to take their massive senior talent to their first Frozen Four berth since 2001. Frattin and defenseman Chay Genoway have overcome massive obstacles to play this season and lead the Fighting Sioux this season. They will try to overwhelm Denver’s youth with speed and energy.