Mavericks Draw Harvard In South Bend
Mar 22, 2015 | Hockey
OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha hockey team will play Harvard in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional in South Bend, Ind. on Saturday, March 28 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The announcement of all NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship seeds were made on Sunday morning on ESPNU.
Omaha will be selling its allotment of all-session passes for the regional beginning Tuesday, March 24 at 9 a.m. at the Sapp Fieldhouse box office. Passes will cost $60 and will provide access to all three games of the regional.
Fans are encouraged to get their passes on Tuesday as UNO athletics will have a limited amount of time to sell tickets before those that are unsold are returned to the NCAA.
“Definitely happy that we're one of 16 teams and happy that we're seeded eighth,” said UNO head coach Dean Blais. “Knowing (Harvard head coach) Teddy Donato, he's got players who can think and skate because that's how Teddy was.
“I've heard a lot about his teams and how hard they compete, and it doesn't surprise me. Teddy played for me on my 1992 Olympic team. I traveled the whole year with him, and he got to be a friend. And now we get to be enemies here next Saturday.”
The Mavericks, who are making their third appearance in the NCAA tournament in school history, will be the No. 2 seed in the regional, their highest-ever seeding. WCHA regular season and playoff champion Minnesota State, coached by former Maverick assistant coach Mike Hastings, is the number one overall seed and in the region. Harvard out of ECAC Hockey is the number three seed and RIT, the Atlantic Hockey playoff champion, is the fourth seed.
The Mavericks are 18-12-6 overall this season. They last played on March 13-14 when they were swept by St. Cloud State in the quarterfinals of the NCHC Playoffs.
Omaha will be looking for its first NCAA tournament win this coming weekend. They made their first appearance in 2006 as a fourth seed, losing to Boston University in Worcester, Mass., 9-2. They made the tournament most recently in 2011 when, as a No. 3 seed, they lost to Michigan in overtime, 3-2, at St. Louis, Mo.
The Mavericks have very little history with Harvard, having played the Crimson just twice during the 1998-99 season, their second season of existence. Harvard won 4-1 and 4-3 in a series in Omaha.
The Crimson won the ECAC playoff championship with a 4-2 win over Colgate on March 21 in Lake Placid, N.Y. Harvard is 21-12-3 overall and finished sixth in the ECAC with a record of 11-8-3.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 on shown tape delay on Sunday, March 29 at 7 a.m. CT.
