Michigan Hockey advances to 26th Frozen Four, seeks 10th national title

It’s been more than two decades since Michigan hockey has won a national championship but with another berth in the Frozen Four, the Wolverines are one step closer.

There were some nervous minutes in the third period of Michigan hockey’s 7-4 win over Quinnipiac in the regional final last night but the Wolverines prevailed after a dominating start and clinched their first berth at the Frozen Four since 2018.

Michigan hockey has a long tradition of being one of the best college hockey programs and actually holds the record with nine national championships. However, the last one of those came back in 1998, meaning the drought has reached 24 years.

Mel Pearson’s Michigan hockey team came into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed following its win in the Big Ten Championship over Minnesota and now, the Wolverines are headed to the Frozen Four needing two wins to become national champs.

Michigan hockey punches Frozen Four ticket

And early on in Sunday’s game, it looked like Michigan was going to cruise to victory as the Wolverines found the back of the net twice in the first and second periods.

But just as American did in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Quinnipiac was able to find success in the third period and scored a goal (its fourth of the stanza) with around eight minutes left.

Struggling to get shots on net, Michigan hockey was called for a penalty at the worst time, giving Quinnipiac a golden opportunity to even the score on a power-play goal. However, the Wolverines killed the penalty and later Quinnipiac pulled its goalie with just under four minutes to go in order to gain an advantage with an extra attacker.

Yet, it led to a Brendan Brisson goal on the other end of the ice. Michigan tacked on two more before it was all said and done, and the celebration was on as the Wolverines will head to Boston for the Frozen Four, where they will meet Denver on April 7.