NCAA hockey: Minnesota beats Canisius 9-2, will challenge St. Cloud for Frozen Four spot
Update: 3:30 p.m.
Minnesota Golden Gophers men's hockey fans brought maroon and gold pride to the NCAA Fargo Regional Thursday night. The top-seeded U beat Canisius, the no. 16 seed Buffalo, NY team, 9-2 in an impressive win.
The sold-out game topping 5,000 filled seats at Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.D. was electric — goal after goal after goal.
After a bit of a rocky start, the Gophers scored six times in the third period.
“It was awesome,” said fan Brigitte Martiff, who sat behind senior Bryce Brodzinski's parents as he finessed a hat trick all in the last period.
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Ask anyone donning University of Minnesota merch that night, and they’ll agree.
“You don't have the firepower to keep up with Minnesota,” said Gopher fan Tom Schlichting.
Honorable mentions from the night include U of M players Luke Mittelstadt, Jimmy Snuggerud and Brody Lamb.
The Gophers play at Scheel’s at 5:30 p.m. Saturday against St. Cloud State, which beat Minnesota State Mankato 4-0 Thursday afternoon. Watch on ESPNU or fuboTV.
The winner advances to the Frozen Four in Tampa Bay, Fla. — if the Gophers (27-9-1) take the NCAA trophy it’ll be their first in 20 years; St. Cloud (25-12-3) has played the final game but never won.
Semifinals are set for Thursday, April 6 and the championship is Saturday, April 8. Other remaining brackets as of Friday morning are: Penn State vs. Michigan Tech; Michigan vs. Colgate and Quinnipiac vs. Merrimack.
No matter how Saturday’s game ends, we'll have our Minnesota representation on that coveted Frozen Four ice.
Correction (March 24, 2023): This article has been updated to accurately reflect team standings.