UND to play Western Michigan in opening round of the national tournament

(WDAZ Sports) - From 11th place in the WCHA to a one-seed in the West Regional of the National tournament. It's been a long road for the Sioux, kind of like the drive from Grand Forks to St. Paul. Which the team and it's fans will gladly do again next weekend.

After the Broadmoor Trophy Saturday, UND found out this morning it will play Western Michigan in the opening round of the national tournament. The Broncos, a future NCHC opponent for the Sioux, won the CCHA conference tournament.

It gets better for hockey fans. Minnesota joins UND in the bracket, leaving open the potential for a UND-Minnesota rematch for a spot in the Frozen Four. UND will be the first game, a 12:30 start on Saturday, while the Gophers and Boston University play at 4. The title game would be 4:30 on Sunday. Boston College, Michigan and Union are the other 1 seeds.

For the 3rd year in a row, the Sioux hoist the broadmoor trophy with a 4-0 win over Denver. UND becomes the first team ever to 3-peat as Final Five champions and will enter the National Tournament on fire.

MARIO LAMOUREUX - UND Sr. Forward: “I think we came into the weekend, we had a goal. We tried not to get ahead of ourselves. We had to come in Thursday and get a win. Then we had to come into the next one and get a win. We just tried to take it one game at a time. I think we played pretty confident all weekend. We stuck together and I'm really proud of the guys.”

BROCK NELSON - UND So. Forward: “We've put together a couple of good weekends. So hopefully we'll carry that momentum into next weekend. That's are main focus right now. We need to stay focused on our game and just keep improving in our little areas to keep doing what we need to do.”

BEN BLOOD - UND Sr. Defenseman: “It's a fun place to play. We've been pretty successful over the last few years in this building. But, we're really worrying about ourselves right now and we're focusing on our game and what we can do better going into next weekend.”

UND is required by the NCAA to wear new jerseys next weekend, without the Sioux logo or nickname. They will debut when the team hits the ice.

Tags: grand forks, sports, und, hockey