The 2011 NCAA Hockey Tournament comes down to a matchup between Bulldogs and Wolverines. Minnesota-Duluth and Michigan each advanced on Thursday night to the championship game following their Frozen Four victories.
The No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs played a tight game with No. 3 Notre Dame in the first fame of the day. After one period, Duluth emerged with a 3-2 lead and increased it to 4-2 in the second period. However, Notre Dame added a third goal at 2:05 in the third period to keep itself the game. Ultimately, they were not able to overcome the deficit, falling 4-3.
In the other game, the No. 1 North Dakota Fighting Sioux (the second overall seed) looked to remain as the only No. 1 seed in the tournament (the others bowing out earlier), but the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines made things otherwise. Ben Winnett put the Wolverines up, 1-0, at 13:26 in the first period. It would be a scoreless game after that until Scooter Vaughan added an empty net goal with 36 left in the game.
Minnesota-Duluth will make its second appearance in the championship game, having lost in 1984 to Bowling Green, 5-4 (OT). Michigan will look for its 10th NCAA Hockey championship, last winning it all in 1998.
April 9
No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs vs. No. 2 Michigan Wolverines, 5:00 p.m. MT, ESPN/ESPN3.com