No. 13 River Hawks Punch Ticket to NCAA Tournament

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LOWELL, Mass.–Making its 14th appearance in program history, the No. 13 UMass Lowell men’s hockey team (21-10-3, 15-8-1 Hockey East) has punched its ticket to the 2022 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Tournament, as announced Sunday evening during the NCAA Selection Show.

“This is well deserved. We get another chance to play hockey, and I think we have something better than what we showed last game,” said Head Coach Norm Bazin to the team following the announcement.

Tabbed the No. 4-seed at the Loveland Regional, the River Hawks will face No. 1 seed Denver in the opening clash on Thursday, March 24, at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colo. Puck drop for the semifinal matchup is set for 7 p.m. MT (9 p.m. EST). With a win, UMass Lowell would face the winner of No. 2-seed Minnesota Duluth and No. 3-seed Michigan Tech on Saturday, March 26.

The River Hawks return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2016-17 season when they advanced to Northeast Regional Finals against Notre Dame. The River Hawks face off against the Pioneers for the 12th time in program history and the first time in an NCAA game. The teams last met on Dec. 29, 2018, when Denver claimed a 4-1 victory over the River Hawks at the Tsongas Center.

UMass Lowell finished the regular season tied for second in Hockey East with a 15-8-1 record in conference action. After taking down Merrimack in a 7-2 rout at the Tsongas Center in the Hockey East Quarterfinals, the River Hawks earned a spot in the 2022 Hockey East Semifinals at TD Garden last weekend.

Following this weekend, the four regional champions will advance to the 2022 NCAA Frozen Four the weekend of April 7-9 at TD Garden in Boston, Mass.