The ACHA M3 division wrapped up the Regional tournaments this past weekend, and despite some outstanding performances from Indiana and Indiana Tech, the hockey gods did not cast their favor on our boys.  The opportunity was there for both teams to earn a trip to the ACHA National Championships, but each lost out on their quest for a bid, falling to the favored Oakland Grizzlies, who earned the North Regions’ final spot in the Big Dance.

The Warriors entered the regional tournament with the #9 seed, facing #4 Oakland in the opening round.  A darkhorse favorite for many, Tech gave the Grizzlies all they could handle before eventually succumbing 3-2.  Indiana scrapped and clawed their way to a 4-3 victory over rival Michigan in round one, setting up a showdown against Oakland with a ticket to Columbus on the line.  The Hoosiers had ridden a stingy defense and solid goaltending all the way to the North’s #7 seed, but the fierce Grizzlies forwards would not be denied.  Oakland tallied seven goals en route to the 7-3 win, a disappointing end to Indiana’s second straight postseason appearance.

Despite a very abbreviated regular season schedule that gave them far fewer reps than most of their opponents, the Notre Dame women’s team made a late-season push to reach the CCWHA Playoffs with a bid to Nationals at stake.  The roll of Underdog suited them well, as the Irish rattled off three straight wins over Northern Michigan (4-2), Loyola-Chicago (4-3) and Adrian (4-2) to reach the title game.  The Ramblers served up a big, steaming bowl of revenge though, nipping the Irish 2-1 to snatch the crown.

Now their fate rests in the hands of the seeding committee as to whether their tournament run would be enough to earn a bid to the National Championships.  Having entered the CCWHA playoffs ranked ninth in the East region, the Irish would need to move up three spots to receive an invitation.  The top six in each region are seeding into the championship, and although their remarkable run included wins over three teams ranked about them, only time will tell if it is enough to sway the committee.

Taking a much different – and preferable – path, Trine’s M2 team spent the week honing their game plan, having earned an automatic bid to Nationals as reward for their 22-0-2 record and #2 ranking in the Central region.  The Thunder should know soon who their first opponent will be as seeding for the tournament should be released sometime today.

After stumbling through much of the second half, the Indiana Tech NAIA squad closed out the regular season in resounding fashion.  The Warriors found their first-half form just in time, posting two shutouts and three straight wins to earn the #2 seed in both the WHAC Tournament and the NAIA National Championships.  While a rare weekday trip to Adrian College still remains on the slate, the outcome of that contest will have no bearing on either tournament.  Indiana Tech will face third-seed Aquinas in the WHAC tournament, a tall order to be certain as the Warriors dropped three of four regular season meetings to the Saints.  Tech has home-ice advantage though, as the tournament is being played in Fort Wayne where the Warriors went 10-3-1 this season.

The Fighting Irish had wrapped up the Big Ten regular season title some time ago, making the last couple of series somewhat anti-climactic.  Still, dropping four of your final five games is no way to prepare for the post-season, even if you are the top seed.  Probably safe to assume that practices may be a little…  intense this week, but that Head Coach Jeff Jackson will have his boys ready to play come March 10th.