Men's hockey headed to Frozen Four

For the first time since Harry Truman was president, the Yale men's hockey team is headed to the Frozen Four, the final rounds of the NCAA hockey tournament. The No. 15–seeded Bulldogs knocked off two Midwestern hockey powers—Minnesota and North Dakota—in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this weekend to earn their trip to the national semifinals on April 11 in Pittsburgh.

The Bulldogs have made it to the 16-team NCAA tournament four times in the last five years, and to the national quarterfinals in 2010 and 2011, but this is the first time since 1952 that they've ascended to the Frozen Four. (In those days, in fact, only four teams were invited to the tournament.)

After beating No. 2 seed Minnesota 3–2 on a stunning goal just nine seconds into overtime, the Bulldogs faced No. 8 seed North Dakota today. North Dakota got on the board early, and the Bulldogs trailed 1–0 for most of the first two periods despite having more opportunities on offense. With under nine minutes left to play in the game, Josh Balch ’13 put in the tying goal. Jesse Root ’14 (who scored yesterday's game winner) soon followed with the go-ahead score, and by the time it was over, Stu Wilson ’16 and Kenny Agostino ’14 had added insurance goals for a 4–1 win.

The Bulldogs will play UMass—Lowell in Pittsburgh on April 11 in the semifinals. The other side of the bracket is still being decided.