Minnesota-Duluth Beats Notre Dame for NCAA Men’s Hockey Title

In last season’s NCAA men’s hockey tournament, Minnesota-Duluth made it all the way to the finals before losing 3-2 to Denver University. This season, it looked like the Bulldogs wouldn’t even make the 16 team tournament. After losing to Denver and North Dakota in the NCHC Conference Tournament, the Bulldogs had to wait and see if they would be selected to one of the ten at large berths in the tournament. They just made it in as the final team selected.

As the lowest seed, it would be an uphill battle for the Bulldogs to return to the final. What followed was a series of close games. UMD beat Minnesota State 3-2 in overtime in the West Regional Semifinal in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Bulldogs then advanced to the Frozen Four with a 2-1 win over Air Force.

The 2018 Frozen Four was held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, which isn’t quite a home ice advantage for UMD, but it’s pretty close with plenty of Bulldog fans from throughout Minnesota converging on the Twin Cities. It was Minnesota-Duluth versus the Big Ten at the Frozen Four, with Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame (which plays men’s hockey in the Big Ten) rounding out the field.

Minnesota-Duluth faced off against Ohio State in a National Semifinal, and the Bulldogs again pulled out a 2-1 victory. They advanced to the Final and faced Notre Dame for the Championship on April 7th; the Fighting Irish defeated Michigan 4-3 in that semifinal.

UMD made the most of its second chance in two years to win the National Championship. The Bulldogs got first period goals from Karson Kuhlman and Jerod Thomas, allowed a Notre Dame power play goal by Andrew Oglevie in the second period, and then shut it down the rest of the way for yet another 2-1 win and the championship.

It’s the second NCAA title for UMD; the first was in 2011. Coincidentally, the 2011 Frozen Four was also held in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center, and UMD beat Notre Dame in a semifinal. The Bulldogs beat Michigan to win the title that year.