St. Norbert to Host St. Thomas Wednesday in First-Round NCAA Division III Tournament Game

From Sports Information Director, March 4, 2012 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College earned the top seeding in the West Region of the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament for the tenth time in 11 years but will still play a first-round game Wednesday against the University of St. Thomas.

The game between the Green Knights and Tommies will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Cornerstone Community Center. The St. Norbert-St. Thomas winner will face either Gustavus Adolphus College (16-6-5) or the Milwaukee School of Engineering (22-6-1) in a national quarterfinal on Saturday. The winner of Saturday's quarterfinal will advance to the NCAA Division III Frozen Four on March 16-17 at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.

The Green Knights (17-5-5) won the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season and Peters Cup championships. St. Norbert is 10-1-1 in its last 12 games, and won the Peters Cup championship on Saturday with a 4-0 win over UW-Stevens Point. The Green Knights are 10-2-1 at the Cornerstone Community Center this season.

This tournament appearance is St. Norbert's 13th, with the Green Knights also making appearances in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011. All first-round and quarterfinal-round games except for 1997 have come at home. The Green Knights are 18-10-1 all-time in the NCAA tournament and won the 2008 and 2011 national championships.

St. Thomas (18-5-1) won the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season championship but have been idle since Feb. 25 when it lost a semifinal-round game in the MIAC Tournament 4-3 to St. Olaf. The Tommies are making their 15th NCAA Division III Tournament appearance, and are 9-17-4 all-time in the tournament. St. Thomas finished as the national runner-up in 2000 and 2005.