Men’s ice hockey advances to Frozen Four for first time in program history

The men’s ice hockey team won a thrilling contest with Nichols College in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament March 17 to advance to the Division III Frozen Four for the first time in program history.

Salve Regina (21-5-2) advances to the NCAA semifinals to face the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 3 p.m. Friday, March 23 in Lake Placid, New York.

“In October, when we first met as a team, we said ‘if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together,'” said head coach Zech Klann. “As a coaching staff we tried to instill this principle with in the team. This is a very close group of players who, over the last six months, have taken on a ‘go together’ mentality. Having this opportunity to represent Salve Regina in the Frozen Four is an honor for our team.”

The Seahawks’ hard-fought 4-3 victory over Nichols was sparked by a quartet of first-year players. Frankie Sullivan ’21 scored twice, including the game winner. John McClean ’21 was a physical force for the Seahawks, scoring 32 seconds into the game and adding an assist. Erik Udahl ’21 had a power-play goal, and Danny Eruzione ’21 handed out three assists in the game.

Blake Wojtala ’19 made 23 saves in the victory to improve to 19-5-2 on the season.

Salve Regina’s early season success helped the Seahawks gain the University’s first-ever at-large bid to an NCAA tournament despite losing to Nichols in the conference semifinals.

Wins over perennial NCAA contenders in non-conference play, coupled with regular-season success throughout the difficult conference schedule, helped the Seahawks work their way into the national conversation. The Seahawks went 8-1 this season when facing opponents who were ranked at the time of the contest.