2015 NHL Draft
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Boston University, Minnesota State lead NCAA field

Sunday, 03.22.2015 / 1:13 PM / NCAA Update

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Boston University, Minnesota State lead NCAA field
Jack Eichel and Boston University will be the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Regional and open the 2015 NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament against fourth-seeded Yale at Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday after the bracket was announced Sunday.

Jack Eichel's potential path to the 2015 Frozen Four will go through Manchester, N.H.

Eichel and Boston University will be the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Regional and open the 2015 NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament against fourth-seeded Yale at Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday after the bracket was announced Sunday. The other three top seeds are North Dakota in the West Regional, Minnesota State in the Midwest Regional and Miami (Ohio) University in the East Regional.

Minnesota State is the No. 1 overall seed in the field. The Mavericks will play fourth-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology at Compton Family Ice Arena on Notre Dame's campus Friday. Minnesota State has never won an NCAA tournament game, losing in the opening round in its previous three trips.

RIT is the lone potential "Cinderella" in the tournament. Every other team finished in the final 16 of the PairWise Rankings, while the Tigers were 38th and won the Atlantic Hockey tournament to secure an automatic bid. The No. 2 seed in the Midwest will be Nebraska-Omaha, and the Mavericks will face third-seeded Harvard in the nightcap of the doubleheader. Harvard's Jimmy Vesey, the Nashville Predators' pick (No. 66) in the 2012 NHL Draft, leads the nation with 31 goals and is second in points with 57.

Eichel is the NCAA's top scorer with 66 points, which is the most by a freshman since Paul Kariya had 100 in 1992-93. Yale features Alex Lyon, the nation's top goaltender in save percentage, goals-against average and shutouts.

No. 2-seeded Minnesota-Duluth will face No. 3 seed Minnesota in the second game. Minnesota was the No. 1 overall seed and reached the championship game in 2014 but was upended by Union College in the final.

North Dakota, which will play about 80 miles south of campus at Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.D., faces fourth-seeded Quinnipiac in the second game Saturday. Second-seeded Michigan Tech plays No. 3 seed St. Cloud State in the early game. Michigan Tech's Jamie Phillips and North Dakota's Zane McIntyre, a Boston Bruins' draft pick in 2010 (No. 165), are two of the five finalists for the Mike Richter Award, given to the top goaltender in the NCAA, along with Lyon.

Miami (Ohio) not only has the farthest to travel of the top seeds, but the RedHawks will face Providence College in Providence, R.I., in the East. The first game of the Saturday doubleheader will feature No. 2 seed Denver University and third-seeded Boston College.

The Eagles feature freshman defenseman Noah Hanifin, who is widely considered the third-best player eligible for the 2015 NHL Draft. In a normal season Hanifin might be the NCAA's top rookie, but Eichel could become the second freshman in NCAA history to win the Hobey Baker Award, joining Kariya.

The 2015 Frozen Four will take place April 9th and 11th at TD Garden, which is where Eichel and the Terriers captured the Hockey East tournament title last weekend against Massachusetts-Lowell.

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