Drew Deridder was a workhorse in the Michigan State net during his time with the Spartans (photo: Rich Gagnon).
North Dakota announced Wednesday the addition of goaltender Drew DeRidder from Michigan State for the 2022-23 season.
DeRidder will come to North Dakota for his fifth year of collegiate hockey and will be immediately eligible.
“We would like to welcome Drew to North Dakota,” said North Dakota coach Brad Berry in a statement. “He brings a bevy of collegiate experience to our group while also matching our program’s culture.”
DeRidder started 70 games during his four-year career at Michigan State, earning a pair of all-Big Ten honorable mention selections and was a finalist for the league’s goaltender of the year award as a junior.
He was named to the Mike Richter Award watch list in each of the last two seasons as the nation’s top goaltender, finishing with a .918 save percentage and 2.94 GAA in 25 starts this season for the Spartans.
Over his career, DeRidder carries a 2.95 GAA, a .916 save percentage and four shutouts in those 70 starts. Off the ice, he is a two-time all-Big Ten academic honoree.
Ty Glover was a steady forward over his two seasons with WMU (photo: Ashley Huss).
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed Western Michigan sophomore forward Ty Glover to a three-year, entry-level contract.
In signing the NHL deal, Glover will give up his junior and senior seasons with the Broncos.
Glover will report to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on an amateur tryout contract.
The London, Ont., native played 39 games this season, recording eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points. His 13 assists ranked eighth on his team, while his goal and point totals both ranked ninth among his teammates.
In 63 career games at Western Michigan, the undrafted Glover recorded 13 goals and 19 assists for 32 points.
Ronnie Attard collected 72 points in 94 games over three seasons on the Western Michigan blue line (photo: Ashley Huss).
Western Michigan junior defenseman has signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers that will begin immediately.
He will forgo his senior year with the Broncos.
Attard, a third-round draft pick (72nd overall) of the Flyers in the 2019 NHL Draft, leaves the Broncos after three seasons with 72 career points on 27 goals and 45 assists in 94 games. Attard was twice named the NCHC best offensive defenseman and was a first team all-NCHC selection this season. Last year, he was named an American Hockey Coaches Association first team All-American.
“Western Michigan has been a huge part of my life and I wouldn’t trade these past three years for the world,” said Attard in a news release. “I’d like to give a huge thank you to everyone that has helped put the program where it is at.”
This season, the native of White Lake, Mich., had a career-high 36 points on 13 goals and 23 assists in 39 games, helping the Broncos finish in third place in the NCHC. With Attard’s help, the Broncos advanced to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff finals and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Attard was named to the NCAA Worcester Regional all-tournament team after helping the Broncos defeat Northeastern 2-1 in overtime for the program’s first NCAA Tournament win.
“Ronnie Attard is a tremendous young man and great hockey player,” said WMU coach Pat Ferschweiler. “He led this program on the ice with his play and off the ice with his work ethic and inclusiveness. We are thankful to have Ronnie as part of our Bronco family and wish him the best of luck in his professional career.”
“We’re very happy to have Ronnie sign with us after a great career with the Broncos,” added Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher. “He is a big, mobile defenseman who has steadily improved his game each season. We are excited to have him join our group and look forward to his continued development at the pro level.”
All-American and Sid Watson Award winner Peter Bates leads a stellar group of players for the 2021-2022 All-USCHO teams (Photo by Patrick Ferron)
Thirteen schools are represented in this year’s All-USCHO teams for D-III men’s ice hockey led by the new national champions from Adrian and the UCHC champions from Utica who have three representatives each.
Peter Bates (28G – 30A – 58 Pts) from St. Norbert, the Sid Watson Award winner leads the first team forwards along with fellow All-Americans, Ryan Black (19G – 20A – 39 Pts) from Babson and Austin Martinson (16G – 22A – 38 Pts) from Augsburg. The defensemen include Justin Allen (8G – 32A – 40 Pts) from Utica along with Matt Eller (1G – 15A – 16 Pts) from Adrian. The goaltender is the CCC Player and Goaltender of the Year and Player of the Year, Conor O’Brien (1.41 GAA – .949 SP – 1 SO) from Endicott.
The second team features a dynamic pair of Utica forwards in Regen Cavanaugh (20G – 26A – 46 Pts) and Dante Zapata (16G – 27A – 43 Pts) along with Adrian’s Alessio Luciani (17G – 31A – 48 Pts). On the blueline are Brockport’s Ryan Romeo (12G – 25A – 37 Pts) and Aurora’s Brayden Sampson (7G – 24A – 31 Pts) with Adrian goaltender, Cameron Gray (2.23 GAA – .913 SP – 1 SO) backstopping this outstanding group.
The third team finds Geneseo’s freshman phenom, Peter Morgan (19G – 25A – 44 Pts) on the forward line with Sam Ruffin (19G – 28A – 47 Pts) from Adrian and Jordan Fader from UW – Stevens Point (15G – 16A – 31 Pts). The defensive pairing includes Norwich’s Devon Becker (2G – 21A – 23 Pts) and Artur Terchiyev (6G – 14A – 20 Pts) from UW – Superior in front of goaltender Luca Durante (2.09 GAA – .941 SP – 3 SO) from Cortland.
All-USCHO Teams
1st Team
G Conor O’Brien SR Endicott College
D Justin Allen SR Utica University
D Matt Eller SR Adrian College
F Peter Bates SR St. Norbert College
F Ryan Black SR Babson College
F Austin Martinson SR Augsburg College
2nd Team
G Cameron Gray SR Adrian College
D Ryan Romeo GR SUNY-Brockport
D Brayden Sampson SR Aurora College
F Regen Cavanaugh SR Utica University
F Alessio Luciani JR Adrian College
F Dante Zapata SR Utica University
3rd Team
G Luca Durante JR SUNY-Cortland
D Devon Becker SR Norwich University
D Artur Terchiyev SR UW – Superior
F Peter Morgan FR SUNY-Geneseo
F Jordan Fader SR UW – Stevens Point
F Sam Ruffin SR Adrian College
Congratulations to all of the All-USCHO team players on a fantastic 2021-2022 season and best regards to the seniors and graduate students who have concluded their college hockey careers.
UMD’s Gabbie Hughes was named a Patty Kazmaier Award finalist for the 2021-22 season (photo: Terry Cartie Norton).
So many college student-athletes thrive off the highly-regimented routines that come with the territory. When they have a lot of free time, they suddenly risk being unproductive.
Minnesota Duluth senior forward Gabbie Hughes doesn’t have that problem.
One of UMD’s two finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the country’s top women’s college hockey player, Hughes set a new career-high point this season total while helping the Bulldogs to a NCAA Tournament spot. While she takes pride in her on-ice accomplishments, though, what she’s doing off of it has the deepest impact.
Six months ago, Hughes and fellow founding members of a nonprofit organization called Sophie’s Squad held their first board meeting. The group, which raises awareness of childrens’ mental health issues and works to reduce the stigma of getting help, was named for Sophie Wieland, a 14-year-old from Sartell, Minnesota, who died of suicide July 12 of last year.
Hughes knew Wieland and her family through stickhandling clinics that Hughes taught, and the families became close. Following Wieland’s death, the Hughes family was determined to ensure that something good would come out of such a tragedy.
“My dad had a conversation with Sophie’s mom, Aimee and promised her that we’re going to do something about this,” Hughes said. “My brother, myself, my parents and a few other parents sat down and had a little conversation about what we would do.
“We originally came up with a golf tournament to raise money for kids who can’t afford to play summer hockey, and we came up with an idea to turn that over into a mental health awareness golf tournament. We created a board and (designated) committee members, and have had weekly meetings ever since.
“It’s been six months since our first board meeting, and we’re at almost $90,000 raised,” Hughes continued. “It’s been a very quick turnaround, but it has created a very big movement.”
Sophie’s Squad helps with chuck-a-puck during a recent Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey game (photo: UMD Athletics).
Sophie’s Squad is based near Hughes’ hometown of Lino Lakes, Minnesota, near Minneapolis. Hughes lives most of the length of the state away during the school year, but she remains as involved with the group as time allows. She has also become involved with the Green Bandana Project, an organization led by UMD student-athletes. In January, the Bulldogs women’s hockey team held fundraiser game nights for both mental health organizations.
Hughes is the first Hockey Humanitarian Award finalist to play under UMD coach Maura Crowell. For her, it comes as no surprise that Hughes has been so heavily involved in campaigns of such importance.
“I love that kid, and we have a great relationship,” Crowell said. “I feel like I’ve known her forever, just because of recruiting back in the day. I know her and her family really well, and I know how impactful Sophie was in her life, and when she passed like she did, I had a feeling Gabbie was going to be very moved by it and do something positive from that.
“Right when it happened, she reached out to us coaches asking if we could do helmet stickers, and I could see the wheels were turning her head. We’ve talked extensively about Sophie’s Squad and her involvement, and when it came to having a game here, she and I were spitballing ideas based on what they had done at high school games in the state, and Gabbie’s vision for what it should look like here. She really took the bull by the horns.”
The Sophie’s Squad group takes in a UMD women’s hockey game during the 2021-22 season (photo: UMD Athletics).
An integrated special education major, Hughes will play for UMD again next season as a graduate student, and is considering a sixth year of college in Duluth. All the while, on top of her work with the Green Bandana Project, she will be striving to help build the profile of Sophie’s Squad. The organization has become known for working with Minnesota hockey teams, but Sophie’s Squad is looking at casting its net out to more sports and groups from more states.
Hughes will remain plenty busy before and after her time at UMD is over. She is a highly-driven yet grounded individual, and that comes out when she talks about her work off the ice.
“Knowing that you’re doing something like this for a reason is important, because it can get pretty hard,” she said. “It’s definitely nice still having Sophie involved in my life every day, but I miss her all the time, and I can’t imagine how her family feels.
“It can be tough, but it’s about always remembering the greater good and the people that you can impact through it and having that passion inside of you for impacting people. You keep your eye on the goal of what you want to do, and never think your ideas are ridiculous or out of reach, because it’s not. If you have that passion and find the resources, you’ll get there.”
Michigan and Quinnipiac battled Sunday for a regional title, with the Wolverines coming out on top and advancing to the Frozen Four (photo: Bob Shank).
Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Paula: Dan, that weekend of college hockey was an absolute gift.
There’s so much to laud about it, from the four-day format to the four teams that move on to Boston. You and I texted a bit over the weekend about the quality of hockey played, and that’s how I’d like to begin.
When we talked about the field of 16 before, we talked about how good the top eight teams were and how little difference there seemed to be between them. The regionals proved us mostly right about that. The No. 1 seed overall, Michigan, advances. The top seeds in three regionals advance, and the No. 2 seed from the Worcester Regional advances – and that team, Minnesota, came within a breath of being the top seed in the tournament itself, and only dropped after losing the Big Ten championship game.
There were no real upsets, no real surprises. There was plenty of drama, like that cuckoo third period between Quinnipiac and Michigan, and eight one-goal games including three decided in overtime.
Is this the best tournament you’ve seen?
Dan: You know, the regionals are always a letdown for me.
We set these incredible expectations for what we want to see, and it permeates to a degree that the games can’t help letting us down. The action is either substandard, or we complain about the attendance or the buildings. Someone scores an upset, and we talk about it for a day or two.
I specifically think about the 2018 tournament when Boston University beat Cornell and Air Force beat St. Cloud. Those two teams were my favorites to advance to the national championship, but when BU and Air Force challenged them, neither was able to stand up to the task. Then came the Michigan win over BU and the Ohio State win over Denver, and it felt like the road to Minnesota was littered with these high-profile letdowns.
This year didn’t have any of that. Every single winner showed it could both dish and take punches. AIC didn’t let Michigan off the hook after its early 2-0 start and just kept coming at the No. 1 overall seed in a 5-3 loss. Quinnipiac had leads of 2-0, 3-2, and 5-3 over St. Cloud, but the Huskies kept coming. Denver rallied against a tough-minded UMass Lowell team. Harvard nearly recaptured its magic against Minnesota State. Three teams needed overtime to win their first game, including Minnesota, which vanquished UMass, a team that fought valiantly as a defending champion.
The best part was that it was only the first round. The second round saw Minnesota beat Western Michigan in only the second all-time meeting between the two teams, and Notre Dame, which beat North Dakota in the first round, became the latest recipient of “Dryden McKay recorded a shutout.”
If ever there was a period that encapsulated what we saw this weekend, the third period between Michigan and Quinnipiac was it. The Bobcats, who have long been derided as the best of a bad conference, earned a measure of respect against St. Cloud, cut a 4-0 lead to a one-goal deficit over half the period before pulling the goalie a little early, in my opinion. Michigan scored three times to go back up four, in total adding to a period that saw seven goals scored.
The one observation that I made to you as all of this broke down is that our best of the best made it to Boston. They might not be the top seeds, but we knew the top eight teams were going to be very good this year. We didn’t see the upset, but we saw good teams playing top-flight hockey. They all dealt with pressure in their own way, but they all earned their spots.
That’s something we’ve gotten away from in past years when teams felt like they coasted thanks to a properly-placed upset. I can’t think of another time when this happened.
Paula: I think that how each team emerged from its regional tells a little bit of the story of how it can win a national title – or lose one or be eliminated before they even have a chance to play for one.
You mention Michigan’s games against AIC and Quinnipiac. Against the Yellow Jackets, taking nothing away from AIC’s performance, some opening jitters and then some sloppy defense from the Wolverines kept that one closer than the score may indicate. AIC outshot Michigan 12-5 in the third period and scored an unanswered goal for it.
When the Wolverines played the Bobcats, Michigan had worked out its jitters and completely dominated a very, very good hockey team for two periods – and then let up in predictable but also unacceptable ways in the third. After allowing three unanswered goals to make a 4-3 Michigan lead, the fifth goal that the Wolverines scored should have been the absolute final nail in Quinnipiac’s coffin. Allowing a Quinnipiac goal after adding two more Michigan markers should be something that troubles the Wolverines. Michigan can score a lot of goals. They can also let down.
The other B1G team – the team you said was done in January – showed grit in their 4-3 OT win against Massachusetts. The only lead they had in that game Ben Meyers’ game winner. Against Western Michigan, Minnesota played a disciplined game with balanced scoring and good team defense, and Justen Close registered his third shutout in six games.
In their 4-3 over Harvard, the Mavericks saw their three-goal lead diminish with two late second-period Crimson goals. Even though Minnesota State outshot Harvard 40-22, the shots were even at six apiece in the third period and the Mavericks had to work to keep an increasingly confident Harvard team from tying it. The Mavericks obviously studied tape of their own performance in that game before facing Notre Dame in a tough defensive battle.
Then there’s Denver. The Pioneers may have had the most consistent and complete performance among the remaining four teams. Denver outshot opponents 62-43 for the weekend, and even more importantly, the Pioneers outscored opponents 3-1 collectively in the third period of both one-goal wins. Solid if not spirited work from the Pioneers.
Dan: I find myself often thinking back to the TMQ when I said Minnesota was dead. Jack LaFontaine signed with Carolina, and the impending Olympics were going to rob the Gophers of several key components for the better part of a month. I suspected it was going to drop the team enough in the Pairwise Rankings to cause an unfavorable draw, but instead, Minnesota rallied with the air of a champion. I picked that team to win it all (over Michigan, I might add), largely because I forced myself to watch it on a weekly basis after I made those comments.
I have no idea if the Gophers have copies of what I said in the locker room, but if they win the championship, I’m asking for a t-shirt as a finder’s fee.
For what it’s worth, I also picked Minnesota to see if there could be a form of Rubin Jinx involved. It still could rear its ugly head, but hey, at this point, it’s not on my dark-hearted soul.
As I typed that up, something occurred to me that I didn’t think about much after the weekend. Massachusetts teams admittedly went winless, but there is zero eastern representation in a Frozen Four held in Boston.
As a resident Bostonian, that hurt my head, and I really needed to reflect on this past season. I stand by my Quinnipiac comments, and the Bobcats win over St. Cloud vindicated how I felt about them, but the fact that UMass, UMass Lowell and Northeastern all lost in the first round is a sign of where the power brokers are now residing in this sport. I credit UMass for defending its championship as valiantly as possible, but I’m still flabbergasted a bit at how this is breaking down.
Watching the Big Ten and the NCHC develop into these powerhouse leagues is a big win for the first round of realignment, and Minnesota State is always lurking as the Gonzaga of our sport because it’s able to churn No. 1 seeds and 35-win years annually despite playing in a league that doesn’t have the same relative power. There’s always a hearty debate about the strength of those two leagues, but it’s very weird to me that there isn’t any Massachusetts representation in a tournament centered in the home of the Beanpot and Hockey East. The only way anyone would know about Hockey East is by looking into the rafters next week.
I am, in particular, looking at Denver, the team you said had the most complete performance of the remaining four. A couple of years ago, Minnesota-Duluth’s second championship illustrated just how good the NCHC is, and I wrote an article after that tournament about how the NCHC reflected the old WCHA. In many ways, this Frozen Four is going to feel like those old days. Three old WCHA teams against a CCHA team. Realignment is a topic in that regard, but when we talk about those days, I’m going to turn this one back to you:
The old WCHA’s run of championships, the NCHC’s run of championships at the end of the 2010s, the presence of the old WCHA at this year’s tournament in the home of Hockey East – is this just a continuation of that storyline, and is there a way to break that stranglehold, UMass’ championship last year aside?
Paula: Before Massachusetts won last year – and excluding the Frozen Four cancelled because of COVID – the NCHC had a four-year run of national champions with Minnesota Duluth’s consecutive wins in 2018 and 2019, Denver (2017) and North Dakota (2016).
A quick look at the NCAA website shows that five of the seven programs listed for most NCAA championships are “western” teams – Michigan, Denver, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota, who are responsible for 36 of the 73 championship titles. The other two teams included in that list are Boston College and Boston University, each with five titles.
Maybe the discussion shouldn’t be centered on geography so much as it’s centered on powerhouse programs. Maybe it’s not about the legacy of the old WCHA – and the old CCHA, for that matter – but about which schools have been able to establish such powerhouse programs and why.
Yes, there’s been a western stranglehold on the championship game for the last little while, but the three years immediately prior to that were three of the most exciting I’ve covered in college hockey, when we saw championships from Yale (2013), Union (2014) and Providence (2015). There was a lot of buzz during those three years about the parity of the sport, about how great it was to see schools not usually present during the Frozen Four, and about how that may help grow our sport.
I cannot explain how or why that didn’t last.
In this century – and I’m including the year 2000, just for the sake of argument – there have been 12 national champions combined from the NCHC, the old WCHA, and the old CCHA. There have been eight from Hockey East and the ECAC combined. That’s a western edge, certainly, but not dominance.
The most interesting thing to me is that among those 20 winners, there are a dozen programs, and among those dozen, five have won multiple times: Boston College (4), Denver (3), Minnesota Duluth (3), Minnesota (2), North Dakota (2).
And who’s going to the Frozen Four? Michigan, the team with the most titles in NCAA history (9) and the most Frozen Four appearances (26). Denver, with three titles in the last 20 years and the program with the second-most championships plus 17 Frozen Four appearances. Minnesota, with two titles in the last 20 years, five championships total, and 22 Frozen Four appearances.
Minnesota State is the only outlier here, making its second consecutive Frozen Four appearance, which is its second in history.
Yeah, it’s all western this year – but three of the four attending are among the NCAA’s usual suspects.
Dan: I suppose that’s what makes things great in any sport. Sure, it’s great to talk about parity, but truthfully, returning dynasties to their spots atop a sport is a breathtaking feeling. Think about the NHL’s Original Six franchises and what they mean to the sport whenever they win. That same emotion exists when a team adds to its Frozen Four legacy.
I sometimes worry that dynasties are a thing of the past. Parity is important because administrators, coaches, players, journalists – everyone wants to feel like everyone has a shot. But to see those teams do what they’re expected to – almost what they’re supposed to do – is a thing of beauty. Minnesota and Michigan are prime examples. Their conference changed, but their histories didn’t. It’s the same with Denver. Any of those teams winning will add to already beautiful history, and the pictures will display alongside the champions of our parents and grandparents.
For me, that’s a beautiful thing because I know how it felt when the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup. It connected me to my dad, who watched Bobby Orr, and my grandfather, who talked about Dit Clapper until he passed away. We all had something in common. Those teams appearing on this stage connect those pieces together…even if nobody knows it as it’s happening.
As for Minnesota State, I truthfully don’t include it in the same level as a Michigan or Minnesota, but a championship would finish a journey that started in the Division III and Division II ranks. I went to school in Division III, and I often wonder what it would feel like to see UMass Dartmouth competing with these schools.
To a student who went to school in Mankato in the 1970s or 1980s, this is that moment in the making. Winning a championship would entrench the Mavericks alongside those other schools, and while it wouldn’t play directly into the parity storyline, it would complement how we look at dynasties. It would mean the world for a championship to make its way back to Mankato, and I’m sure doing it against Minnesota and either Michigan or Denver would only mean that much more.
Do I root for parity? Absolutely. But I know I speak for a good number of us when I look forward to seeing dynasties fight it out for the next chapter of their storied histories.
Andre Lee spent three seasons with UMass Lowell after being drafted by Los Angeles in 2019 (photo: UMass Lowell Athletics).
UMass Lowell junior forward Andre Lee has signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings.
In signing with the NHL team, Lee will give up his senior season with the River Hawks.
Lee was drafted by the Kings in the seventh round (188th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft.
“We are extremely proud of Andre as he begins his professional career with the Los Angeles Kings,” said UML coach Norm Bazin in a statement. “Andre has improved significantly during his time at Lowell, and he has developed into an impactful offensive player. Andre’s desire to be a player is strong, and he has always approached his days with a good mindset and terrific smile.
“We appreciate what Andre has contributed to our culture and wish him the best.”
An offensive catalyst for the River Hawks, the native of Karlstad, Sweden led the team in scoring for the second consecutive year with 28 points off a team-best 16 goals and 12 assists. He topped the UMass Lowell scoresheet with four game-winning goals this season and ranked first amongst all forwards with 27 blocked shots.
For his efforts this season, Lee capped his year with Hockey East third team all-star recognition. His playmaking ability also helped lead the River Hawks to TD Garden for the 2022 Hockey East semifinals, as well as earn a bid to the 2022 regionals in Loveland, Colo.
In his 87 games across three seasons as a River Hawk, Lee amassed 31 goals and 33 assists for 64 points.
Ryan Fanti was sensational in goal for Minnesota Duluth in the 2022 NCHC tournament (photo: Jim Rosvold).
The Edmonton Oilers have signed Minnesota Duluth junior goaltender Ryan Fanti to a two-year contract beginning with the 2022-23 season.
Fanti, who will forgo his senior year with the Bulldogs, will join the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors on an amateur tryout contract for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign.
Recently completing his second full season with the Bulldogs, Fanti appeared in 37 games and recorded a 20-12-4 record, a 1.83 GAA, a .929 save percentage and seven shutouts.
The 22-year-old Thunder Bay, Ont., native followed up on his impressive regular season with back-to-back shutouts over Denver and Western Michigan to lead UMD to the NCHC playoff title. Fanti was selected as the most outstanding player of the NCHC tournament.
He then posted a third-straight shutout against Western Michigan to open the NCAA tournament, but Denver got its revenge on the Bulldogs in the regional final this past Saturday with a 2-1 decision as Fanti made 32 saves in the defeat.
Fanti ends his collegiate career with a 31-19-6 record, 2.01 GAA and .921 save percentage. He was also a two-time selection for the NCHC all-academic team.
Dartmouth goalie Clay Stevenson earned his first career shutout Feb. 12, 2022 in a 1-0 win over Yale (photo: Doug Austin).
The Washington Capitals announced Monday the signing of Dartmouth sophomore goaltender Clay Stevenson.
In signing the NHL contract, Stevenson will forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility.
“We want to congratulate Clay on signing with the Washington Capitals,” said Dartmouth coach Reid Cashman in a statement. “This is a great day for both Clay and Dartmouth hockey.
“It has been a pleasure watching Clay develop under the guidance of Jason Tapp the last couple of years. We wish Clay good luck and look forward to watching him as he embarks on his professional hockey career.”
Stevenson is coming off a stellar season with the Big Green in which he started all 23 games he played, including the three postseason contests. He finished with a 6-14-2 record, a .922 save percentage and a 2.70 GAA. In league play, he finished fourth in save percentage (.929) and saves (456) while posting two shutouts.
Stevenson received several league honors at the conclusion of the season as he was named a finalist for the ECAC Hockey Ken Dryden Goaltender of the Year Award, named to the all-ECAC Hockey third and rookie teams, and was an all-Ivy League first team selection.
Jacob Adkins and Andrew Walker have excelled on and off the ice at UMass Boston (photo: UMass Boston Athletics).
While blockbuster movies are great for audiences, many times the sequel falls short in comparison.
That is clearly not the case for two UMass Boston hockey players who have found ways to continue to raise money for an organization near and dear to their hearts, the American Cancer Society.
Having been finalists for the Hockey Humanitarian Award in the 2020-21 season, Jacob Adkins and Andrew Walker have doubled down on their efforts to raise monies to support patients despite the obstacles of the pandemic and remote learning activities that caused a shift from campus life. The sequel truly has moved well past the original for this “Men In Blades” duo.
You may remember our intrepid rollerbladers from a couple of years back when they skated from Boston to Walker’s hometown of Mason, Mich. The nearly 900-mile journey helped them raise an enormous amount of money on behalf of the American Cancer Society and launched the Men In Blades on social media where the hockey community and beyond helped them in the fundraising efforts. That event took a toll on the boys physically and while they knew they wanted to do more, their cross-country blading days were over and new and different approaches were already being planned for their return to school last summer.
“That trip to Michigan was a lot on our bodies,” said Adkins. “It was great that we did it, but we knew we wanted to focus on events where it wasn’t just the two of us doing the skating. We wanted to broaden the reach and possible support for ACS and started thinking about ways to get more people involved with our platform here at school and in the area.”
And so was born the 1st Annual Back-to-School Blade-A-Thon, a 10K event in Boston where anyone could skate with the Men In Blades and raise monies to support the American Cancer Society. Planning was detailed and signups were robust as the excitement about the event last August was peaking just before the start of the school year.
“It was great,” said Walker. “We had everything set to go, including some sponsors and prizes and giveaways for the participants, but then COVID guidelines changed and we had to postpone the actual event. We still raised some money for ACS ($4,000) and we now know how to run this so when we are clear to go next year, we will bring it back with a bigger focus on not just blading but people who want to run and/or walk to make it more inclusive, especially across the Beacons sports community.”
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, and the boys were not going to let the circumstances dictate their next philanthropic endeavor.
The UMass Boston cancer fundraising game was a rousing success in 2021-22 (photo: UMass Boston Athletics).
Despite still raising money for the Blade-A-Thon, the Men In Blades put together an event that brings another passion into play – hockey. The Beacons play in the ultra-competitive New England Hockey Conference which is considered amongst the best in the nation for D-III hockey. As players, it seemed like a very logical and practical way to focus attention on their cause and the first Hockey Fights Cancer game was scheduled this season.
“It was a great way to get the word out and have the singular focus on cancer with a platform that many are familiar with in the hockey community,” said Walker. “We also combined a toy drive with the game for pediatric patients being treated at Massachusetts General Hospital which we hoped would have an impact around the holiday season. It turned out great with the response and it is already something we look to repeat next year – bigger and better.”
“There are really three men in the MIB graphic we put together,” added Adkins. “My brother Tyler is a graphic designer, and he is the third member of the group. He designed the pink jerseys we played the HFC game in and really has helped with everything that Andrew and I come up with on the fundraising front. He has been a very important part of the fundraising success we have had to date and will in the future.”
Men In Blades raised over $5,000 in their Hockey Fights Cancer game along with a vast amount of new toys being donated to the hospital. They also repurposed some items donated for the canceled Blade-A-Thon to generate revenues through in-game raffles and are already planning the HFC game for next season.
Full-time students and hockey players, Adkins and Walker have found ways to prioritize their Men In Blades initiatives despite the heavy coursework associated with their post-school pursuits of medical and dental careers.
The Men In Blades were recognized during a recent Boston Bruins game at TD Garden (photo: UMass Boston Athletics).
“Time creation is always a challenge,” said Adkins. “For us, our passion equals prioritization. We focus on school, hockey and our charitable work because it is what we are passionate about. It isn’t always easy to accommodate all of the related stakeholders, so now we are focusing on branching out with our foundation to do more in more places.”
“We would love for there to be other MIB ‘franchises’ out there anywhere in the country to grow the fundraising opportunities,” added Walker. “We are leveraging our close-knit athletic community here on campus and broadening participation in events to other activities for people who prefer to walk or run. We would be thrilled if others want to leverage our platform and we can grow contributions to this and other causes. It would be an organic model for others looking to get into fundraising, but Jake and I could still have a bigger impact beyond the things we continue to do locally in the Boston area and here on campus.”
With over $40,000 raised so far, the Men In Blades have shown that sometimes the sequel is better than the original. They continue to explore new ways to generate donations and explore other avenues for events and participants to contribute now and in the future. The Blade-A-Thon will be back later in 2022, bigger and better than the original planned for last year.
By the way, Adkins’ mother, a cancer survivor, just celebrated her seventh anniversary in remission, something the Men In Blades want to make sure happens for other cancer patients as well.
Josh Lopina proved to be an offensive catalyst over his two seasons in a UMass uniform (photo: Rich Gagnon).
Massachusetts sophomore forward Josh Lopina has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks.
Lopina will give up his junior and senior seasons with UMass.
In two seasons with the Minutemen, Lopina helped UMass to back-to-back Hockey East tournament titles and NCAA berths and a national championship in 2020-21.
The Minooka, Ill., native, who was selected in the fourth round (98th overall) by the Ducks in the 2021 NHL Draft, is the 11th player in head coach Greg Carvel’s UMass tenure to sign an NHL contract, the seventh in that group to do so after coming to Amherst undrafted.
“Josh Lopina adds to the list of student-athletes who came to UMass as an undrafted and under-the-radar player who developed quickly into an NHL prospect,” said Carvel in a statement. “We knew that Josh was going to be a solid, high-character player with good hockey sense who just needed time to develop. In two years, he became a dominant center who was effective in every situation. He’s a big strong kid who dominated on faceoffs, scored around the net and played a physically demanding style of hockey. He came to the rink every day with a smile and an amazing attitude, and he will be missed as both a great player and a phenomenal person who made our program and our culture better.
“We wish him all the best as he starts his professional career with the Anaheim Ducks and thank him for everything he has done for UMass hockey.”
Lopina became first Minuteman to earn Hockey East co-rookie of the year recognition and was selected to the Hockey East all-rookie team while helping UMass to its first NCAA Division I national championship in 2020-21. He finished sixth in the nation in freshman scoring with 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists over 29 games last season, 10th in points per-game by a freshman (0.79). He logged four power-play goals and two game winners and put up six points (two goals, four assists) in the postseason. Lopina tied for fourth in the nation among freshmen in assists and ninth in goal scoring, while he tied for eighth nationally in plus-minus at plus-21. The centerman led all rookies nationally in faceoff wins (312) and held a .545 (312 of 573) faceoff percentage.
Despite missing 10 games mid-season in 2021-22 due to injury, Lopina still managed to put up 27 points on 12 goals and 15 assists, all career highs for the center who also added six power-play goals and four game winners with a plus-21 rating.
For his career in a UMass uniform, Lopina logged 50 points over 56 games on 21 goals and 29 assists with 10 power-play tallies, six game winners and was plus-42.
Matt Kessel was a rock on the back end over his three seasons at UMass (photo: Rich Gagnon).
Massachusetts junior defenseman Matt Kessel has signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the St. Louis Blues.
Kessel will forgo his senior year with UMass.
Kessel, a two-time Hockey East all-star and 2021-22 assistant captain, helped the Minutemen to the 2020-21 national championship and back-to-back Hockey East tournament titles (2021 and 2022).
The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native, a 2020 fifth round pick of the Blues, becomes the 10th player in head coach Greg Carvel’s UMass tenure to sign an NHL contract, the sixth in that group to do so after coming to Amherst undrafted.
“We are very excited and proud of Matt as he moves on to his professional career with the St. Louis Blues,” said Carvel in a statement. “During his time at UMass, Matt went from a low-key defensive player to one of the best and toughest two-way defensemen in college hockey. He far exceeded our expectations as a player and became an offensive threat from the blue line while also serving as a tough physical player in his own zone. Matt’s development as a player has been impressive.
“Beyond his performance on the ice, Matt has acted like a professional in every way since the day he stepped on campus. His discipline, maturity and consistency of character made him an important part of the championship teams he played on and led. On behalf of all our coaches and staff, I want to sincerely thank Matt for all he has done for our program and our culture.”
Kessel earned a spot as a Hockey East third team all-star for a second straight year this spring after receiving the honor for the first time in 2020-21. He appeared in all 37 games for the Minutemen, totaling 17 points on six goals and 11 assists and was plus-9 with two power-play goals and one game winner.
In Hockey East play, Kessel saw action in all 24 league games in 2021-22 and contributed 12 points on four goals and eight assists, including two power-play tallies and one game winner. Over those league contests, he was plus-7 and tied for the team lead in blocks with 21.
As a sophomore, he was a 2021 Hockey East third team all-star and registered 23 points on 10 goals and 13 assists over 29 games in 2020-21 with a plus-15 rating and a team-best six power-play goals. He led all defensemen nationally in goals, goals per-game (.34) and power-play goals. An all-tournament team selection at the 2021 Frozen Four, Kessel ended the year tied for fourth nationally in points by a defenseman, ninth in points per-game (.88) and tied for 10th in power play points (9).
Kessel ends his three-year collegiate career having appeared in 100 career games with 23 goals and 28 assists for 51 points, nine power-play goals, two game winners and a plus-37 rating.
North Dakota defenseman Jake Sanderson skated two seasons and 45 games with the Fighting Hawks (photo: North Dakota Athletics).
The Ottawa Senators announced Sunday that the team has signed North Dakota sophomore defenseman Jake Sanderson to a three-year, entry-level contract, effective immediately.
In signing with the NHL club, Sanderson gives up his last two years of NCAA eligibility.
A native of Whitefish, Mont., Sanderson recently completed his second season with the Fighting Hawks, leading team defensemen while ranking third in overall scoring with 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists) despite playing only 23 of his team’s 39 games.
“We’re very pleased to get Jake under contract,” said Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion in a statement. “An important cog to our future on defense, Jake is an effortless skater who possesses all the tools to be a complete NHL defenseman. A mature leader despite his young age, he played big minutes in college with a blend of poise and confidence. While he still has progress to make in overcoming a current injury, we are hopeful of seeing him in our lineup before the end of the season.”
In the midst of recovery from a hand injury, Sanderson, who recorded 41 points (10 goals, 31 assists) and 10 penalty minutes over 45 career games at North Dakota, will join the Senators this week and could appear in regular-season games for the club within the month.
Recognized as a second team all-NCHC honoree this season, Sanderson was limited to only 10 conference games on account of having represented the United States at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship (where he served as American captain) and at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Drafted by the Senators with the team’s second of three first-round selections (fifth overall) at the 2020 NHL Draft, Sanderson served as a UND alternate captain in 2021-22.
Michigan celebrates making the Frozen Four after a victory against Quinnipiac on Sunday in the Allentown Regional final (photo: Bob Shank).
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — No. 1 Michigan scored twice in each of the first two periods Sunday night, then held off a furious third-period opposing rally by scoring two empty-net goals to oust second-seeded Quinnipiac 7-4 in the Allentown Regional final at the PPL Center.
Michigan will meet Denver in a Frozen Four semifinal in Boston on April 7.
“We have two weeks to prepare for Denver,” Wolverines forward Brendan Brisson said. “I can’t wait to play in that game.”
Michigan is seeking its first NCAA title since 1998, which also occurred in Beantown, when coach Mel Pearson was an assistant coach with the Wolverines. Now he’s headed back with his own team.
“We’re going to Boston,” Pearson said. “These guys earned it. They earned it.”
The Wolverines took only 33 seconds after the opening faceoff to get going. Owen Power’s try at a loose puck in front was stopped by Quinnipiac goaltender Yaniv Perets but assistant captain Nolan Moyle followed up to chip it home for the early lead.
The two teams then went up and down the ice, trading intermittent chances, but it was Michigan that next put one home. Following a faceoff to the right of Perets, Luke Hughes took the puck at the center of the blue line and skated into the right circle. He then threaded a backhand pass through the low slot for Jimmy Lambert to redirect home at the far post to make it 2-0 at 14:36.
Michigan goaltender Erik Portillo kept the opposing Bobcats at bay early in the second stanza, when he turned away successive in-close shots by Jacob Quillan and TJ Friedmann. The Wolverines then went on the game’s first power play minutes later and made it 3-0 when Power and Brendan Brisson fed Thomas Bordeleau in the slot for a shot that got through Perets at 6:06.
Quinnipiac had two power plays in the second period but couldn’t convert. The second one proved deadly, but to the Bobcats. Just 13 seconds into that man advantage, Michigan captain Nick Blankenburg got loose down the right side and passed across to Garrett Van Wyhe, who poked the puck past Perets in the crease for a four-goal Michigan lead. It was Van Wyhe’s second goal in as many games in the regional, and Michigan’s eighth short-handed marker this season.
“Congratulations to Michigan,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “They had an outstanding first two periods tonight, and found a way to keep it going in the third.”
Dylan St. Cyr replaced Perets (19 saves) in net to start the third period, just before the Bobcats’ second power-play opportunity came up empty. Quinnipiac, however, got on the board just over four minutes into the final frame when Jayden Lee did a 360-degree spin dropping down from the left point, then wristed a low shot through a screen that slipped just inside the right post.
“Yaniv was outstanding, and we have the luxury of having Dylan,” said Pecknold. “We thought he would energize our team, and he did.”
The Bobcats then cut the lead in half almost midway through the period when Ethan De Jong chased down a loose puck in the Michigan zone after a Wolverines defenseman fell down. He picked it up along the right wing boards, curled back towards the net and set up Wyatt Bongiovanni for a perfect tap-in at the far post at 9:01 for his 16th goal of the year.
“We had to give it all we had in the third or we were going home,” Quinnipiac forward Zach Metsa said of the comeback. “We knew what we had to do.”
The Bobcats weren’t finished. Two minutes later, Ty Smilanic rounded the Michigan net left to right and fed Desi Burgart right in front, who pushed the puck home to make it a one-goal game.
“We got a little casual,” Pearson said. “They (Quinnipiac) won 30 games. They’re a good team, and I give them a ton of credit.”
Quinnipiac pulled St. Cyr for a sixth skater with just under four minutes remaining in regulation before a faceoff in Michigan’s zone, but Michael Pastujov scored into an empty net soon after for the Wolverines. Another empty-netter followed just over two minutes later by Moyle, his second goal of the game. Michigan’s Brendan Brisson (power play) and Quinnipiac’s Metsa then traded goals in the final minute of play to close out the scoring.
“We’re a young team,” said Pearson. “You don’t realize how difficult it is to close out teams, with their season on the line, and it’s a good lesson for us.”
Big Ten champion Michigan is 31-9-1 overall on the season, as is Portillo, who finished with 30 saves, while Power notched four assists. Quinnipiac, which was the last ECAC Hockey school left in this year’s tournament, finished at 32-7-3.
“I’m really proud of our group,” said Pecknold. “It was an awesome year for us, a great year, with 32 wins, and this is a tough pill to swallow.”
Minnesota celebrates its berth in the Frozen Four after a 3-0 victory against Western Michigan in the Worcester Regional final (photo: Rich Gagnon).
WORCESTER, Mass. — For the first time since 2014, Minnesota is headed to the Frozen Four.
Matthew Knies, Aaron Huglen and Blake McLaughlin scored goals and Justen Close pitched a 24-save shutout to lift the second-seeded Golden Gophers to a 3-0 win over top-seeded Western Michigan in Sunday’s Worcester Regional final at DCU Center.
“This was a really strong weekend for our team,” said Minnesota coach Bob Motzko, whose team beat defending national champion Massachusetts in overtime in Friday’s semifinal. “We played as tight together for two games as you need to do and you want to do. I couldn’t be more proud of our group.”
Knies scored the only goal that Minnesota needed at 10:10 of the first period. He took defenseman Brock Faber’s backhand feed from behind the goal line and picked the top corner for his second goal and third point of the weekend.
With two goals and an assist in the two games, Knies earned regional Most Outstanding Player honors. Sunday marked his 13th multi-point effort of the season and sixth in seven games since returning from his assignment with the U.S. Olympic team.
“You’re all seeing it,” Motzko said. “He’s a big-time player and he’s going to keep getting better too.”
The Gophers (26-12-0) focused on limiting the potent Western Michigan attack’s opportunities on the rush and also blocked 15 shot attempts.
“We knew they were a team that liked to get in transition and move the puck really well,” said Close, who assumed the starting role in the Gophers net when Jack LaFontaine signed a pro contract in January.
“I thought we did a good job staying above pucks all night and we handled the rush remarkably well and that was a key to our success,” the goaltender added.
Knies scored the first goal and two more came in the third period to put the game even further out of reach.
Huglen doubled the Gophers lead by burying a one-time feed from linemate Ben Meyers at the 33-second mark. McLaughlin chipped in a short-handed, empty-net goal with 1:57 to play to make it 3-0.
Meyers had two assists in the game and four on the weekend, joining Close, Knies, fellow defenseman Jackson LaCombe, and Western forward Luke Grainger and defenseman Ronnie Attard on the regional all-tournament team.
Attard looked to have tied the game at 1-1 with 8:44 left in the second, but his rebound shot from the slot was called back on video review because officials ruled the Broncos were offside.
“They really made it hard to create anything clean offensively,” first-year Western coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “I thought we worked and put their defense under pressure. I thought we created turnovers and some offensive-zone time but not a ton of clean looks. That’s credit to them and how hard they competed.”
Though the Broncos didn’t find the back of the net, junior Brandon Bussi had a strong night in goal. Twelve of his 24 saves came in the second period, including a big stop on Sammy Walker at the end of a 2-on-1.
“I thought he was great,” Ferschweiler said of Bussi. “Calm and big, exactly what he should be in there. That save was exceptional, and he stopped a breakaway (on Jaxon Nelson earlier in the second) which was huge for us.”
When the Gophers next take the ice, they will do so about an hour east of Worcester at TD Garden in Boston. A Frozen Four semifinal against Minnesota State has been set for April 7.
There is no place they’d rather be.
“We talked about the fact that we really liked Massachusetts and we had no choice but to stay in the state for the next few weeks,” Motzko said. “That’s one of the things we talked about, coming to Massachusetts and playing the rest. One weekend is accomplished.”
Western’s season ended at 26-12-1 after it won its first national tournament game Friday against Northeastern.
Michigan celebrates a goal in its victory against Quinnipiac in the Allentown Regional final (photo: Bob Shank).
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Another top seed emerged victorious from the NCAA regionals at the PPL Center. No. 1 Michigan scored twice in each of the first two periods, then held off a furious third-period rally in the regional final on Sunday to oust second-seeded Quinnipiac 7-4.
Michigan alternate captain Nolan Moyle scored just 33 seconds into the contest, followed by a tap-in goal at the far post 14 minutes later by Jimmy Lambert. Thomas Bordeleau then made it 3-0 for the Wolverines early in the second period with a power-play goal, before Garrett Van Wyhe made it 4-0 with a short-handed goal later in that same stanza.
Jayden Lee scored his second goal in as many games to get Quinnipiac on the board early in the third period, before Wyatt Bongiovanni and Desi Burgart tallied goals two minutes apart to pull the Bobcats within 4-3. Quinnipiac then pulled backup netminder Dylan St. Cyr with just over four minutes remaining in regulation, but Michigan’s Michael Pastujov scored into an empty net to seal it, followed by another empty-netter by Moyle, before the two teams traded late goals.
Michigan will meet Denver in a Frozen Four semifinal at TD Garden in Boston on April 7.
Denver celebrates a goal by Cole Guttman, not pictured, in Saturday’s Loveland Regional final against Minnesota Duluth (photo: Katie Schroeck).
The top four offenses in NCAA Division I men’s hockey are the four teams left in the running for the 2022 national championship.
The Frozen Four will start in Boston on April 7 with Michigan facing Denver at 5 p.m. ET and Minnesota State playing Minnesota at 8:30.
Denver has the most prolific scoring team in the country (4.28 goals per game), followed by Minnesota State (4.1), Michigan (4.02) and Minnesota (3.61).
The Wolverines, Mavericks and Pioneers were No. 1 seeds in their regionals. It’s the first time since 2017 that three top regional seeds advanced to the Frozen Four and just the second time in 19 tournaments with a 16-team format that there have been three No. 1 seeds and a No. 2 seed (Minnesota).
Denver (29-9-1) is making its 17th Frozen Four appearance, not including a trip in 1973 that was vacated for using ineligible players. It has been in four of the last six Frozen Fours and won in 2017.
The Pioneers, who defeated UMass Lowell 3-2 and Minnesota Duluth 2-1 in the Loveland Regional, are looking to tie Michigan for the all-time lead with a ninth NCAA title.
This is the ninth time that the Frozen Four has been played in the Boston area, and the Pioneers have been in six. They won at Matthews Arena (then known as Boston Arena) in 1960 and at TD Garden (then known as FleetCenter) in 2004.
Minnesota State (37-5) joined UMass as teams making their first Frozen Four trip during the 16-team tournament era who also made it back in the next tournament. The Minutemen lost in the 2019 championship game before winning the title in 2021; the 2020 tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mavericks would love to follow in those footsteps, and they’ll be looking to erase memories of last year’s 5-4 semifinal loss to St. Cloud State. That was only the second time all season they allowed more than four goals.
Minnesota State got past Harvard 4-3 and Notre Dame 1-0 in the Albany Regional, with Dryden McKay earning his 10th shutout of the season in the final.
The team just up the road is waiting for the Mavericks in the semifinals. Minnesota (26-12) moved into a tie with North Dakota and Boston University for third all-time with its 22nd Frozen Four berth by downing UMass 4-3 in overtime and Western Michigan 3-0 in the Worcester Regional.
It’s the first time in the semifinals for the Gophers since 2014, when they lost to Union in the championship game. They have never played another team from Minnesota in the Frozen Four but that’ll end on April 7. Minnesota leads the all-time series 37-16-6 but the Mavericks won the last meeting, a 4-0 decision in the 2021 NCAA Loveland Regional final.
The Gophers were on the other side of a shutout in a regional final on Sunday, with Justen Close making 24 saves. The Minnesota-Minnesota State game will mark the second time in three Frozen Fours that one of the semifinals features two teams that qualified with a shutout. The other was Denver vs. UMass in 2019; It had never happened before then.
Michigan (31-9-1) completed the Frozen Four field with a 7-4 victory against Quinnipiac on Sunday, two days after it won an Allentown Regional semifinal 5-3. The Wolverines lost the last two games of the regular season to Notre Dame but went 6-0 in March to break a tie with Boston College by qualifying for their 26th Frozen Four.
Boston also has a special place in Michigan fans’ hearts: The Wolverines won their last of a record nine NCAA titles there in 1998. They’re the first No. 1 overall seed to advance to the Frozen Four since Denver in 2017.
Michigan has the NCAA record with 27 tournament victories but it was held out of last year’s event because of COVID-19.
Minnesota players celebrate Matthew Knies’ first-period goal against Western Michigan in the Worcester Regional final on Sunday (photo: Rich Gagnon).
WORCESTER, Mass. — Matthew Knies, Aaron Huglen and Blake McLaughlin scored goals and Justen Close pitched a 24-save shutout to lift Minnesota past top-seeded Western Michigan 3-0 in Sunday’s Worcester Regional Final.
The Golden Gophers advanced to their first Frozen Four since 2014 after improving to 26-12 on the season.
Knies put the Gophers in front at 10:10 of the first period, taking Brock Faber’s backhand feed from behind the goal line and picking the top corner. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the Worcester Regional after recording two goals and an assist.
It turned out to be the only goal Minnesota needed. Western’s Ronnie Attard looked to have tied the game with 8:44 left in the second, but his shot from the slot was called back for an offside call.
In the third, Huglen doubled the Gophers lead by burying a one-time feed from linemate Ben Meyers at the 33-second mark and McLaughlin chipped in an empty-net goal with 1:57 to play.
The Gophers are going to their 22nd Frozen Four, tied for third all-time with Boston University and North Dakota. They’ll face Minnesota State in Boston on April 7.
