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NEWS: 19 Vees Alum To Play In NCAA Tournament

PENTICTON, BC. – The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced the 16 teams that will be competing for the National Championship with plenty of Vees alumni in the mix for college hockey’s top prize.

19 Vees alumni will head to their regional matchups in the first round, beginning on Friday, March 26th, and battle it out to move onto the quarterfinals and try and work their way into the Frozen Four tournament, taking place this year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Penticton will have 10 teams represented with former players in the tournament, beginning with the overall #1 seed in the University of North Dakota. Forward Jackson Keane, defenseman Gabe Bast and goaltender Adam Scheel will look to lift the Fighting Hawks to victory, playing out of Fargo Regional in Fargo, North Dakota.

Taking on the Fighting Hawks will be the American International College, AIC, who won the Atlantic Hockey conference for the second straight season. Forward Darwin Lakoduk and defender Nico Somerville will be looking to upset the tournament favourite. Steve Holtz and the University of Michigan round out the Vees alumni that will hit the ice in Fargo as they are set to take on the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the opening round.

Action in Bridgeport, Connecticut will see the Bemidji State Beavers face-off against the tournament’s #4 seed, the Wisconsin Badgers. The Sillinger brothers, Lukas and Owen, along with goaltender Zach Driscoll will look to help BSU into the quarterfinals.

Loveland, Colorado will boast at least one Vees alumni into the Frozen Four as Penticton has former players on every team in the region. Beginning with the #3 seed, the University of Minnesota, and their steady senior between the pipes in the way of Jack LaFontaine as well as defender Sam Rossini.

The Golden Gophers first round matchup comes against a pair of Vees alumni with the likes of forward Taylor Ward and defenseman Jonny Tychonick suiting up for the University of Nebraska-Omaha while forward Ryan Sandelin and Minnesota State University will go head-to-head against goaltender Yaniv Perets and the Quinnipiac Bobcats.

In the final region, located in Albany, New York, forward Danny Weight and #2 Boston College will square off against the University of Notre Dame. Forwards Ty Amonte, Jay O’Brien and defender Cade Webber suit up for the Boston University Terriers and will battle St. Cloud State.

Luckily for fans in Canada, The Sports Network (TSN) has made watching the NCAA Tournament easier than ever! The station is carrying a large majority of the tournament games with a link to their schedule found here.