NCAA hockey schedule, results, previews, highlights
The 2025 men’s Frozen Four started with two newcomers and two blue bloods. The championship game will feature one of each.
In the title game, Western Michigan, making its Frozen Four debut, will face Boston University, which is in the national title game after losing in the semifinals the last two years, Saturday night at 7:30 ET on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
In the first semifinal Thursday night, Western Michigan knocked off defending national champion Denver 3-2 in double overtime on Owen Michaels’ second goal of the game 26 seconds into the second extra period. The Broncos held a 2-0 lead after dominating the first 40 minutes, but the Pioneers turned the tables in the third period and tied the game at 17:21 on Jared Wright’s goal off a scramble out front.
In the nightcap, BU used a pair of goals in a dominant second period, from Jack Hughes and Cole Eiserman, to eliminate Penn State 3-1. The Terriers are seeking the sixth national title in program history, but the first in 16 years. The Nittany Lions were making their Frozen Four debut.
Every NCAA tournament game will be available on ESPN+. Subscribe to watch.
Below is the schedule for entire tournament, which will be updated with results as games are played, plus highlights from the Frozen Four games, features of the top storylines of the tournament and a look at each of the 16 teams.
Jump to a section:
Frozen Four highlights
Top storylines | Teams at a glance
Schedule
All times Eastern
Toledo (Ohio) Regional
Semifinals, March 27
Boston University 8, Ohio State 3
Cornell 4, Michigan State 3
Final, March 29
Boston University 3, Cornell 2 (OT)
Boston University wins Toledo Regional
Fargo (N.D.) Regional
Semifinals, March 27
Western Michigan 2, Minnesota State 1 (2 OT)
UMass 5, Minnesota 4 (OT)
Final, March 29
Western Michigan 2, UMass 1
Western Michigan wins Fargo Regional
Manchester (N.H.) Regional
Semifinals, March 28
Boston College 3, Bentley 1
Denver 5, Providence 1
Final, March 30
Denver 3, Boston College 1
Denver wins Manchester Regional
Allentown (Penn.) Regional
Semifinals, March 28
UConn 4, Quinnipiac 1
Penn State 5, Maine 1
Final, March 30
Penn State 3, UConn 2 (OT)
Penn State wins Allentown Regional
FROZEN FOUR
at Enterprise Center, St. Louis
National semifinals, April 10
Western Michigan 3, Denver 2 (2 OT)
Boston University 3, Penn State 1
National championship game, April 12
Western Michigan vs. Boston University, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
Highlights
BU-PENN STATE
0:35
Jack Hughes gives Boston University early lead
Jack Hughes scores to give Boston University a 1-0 lead over Penn State.
0:46
Cole Eiserman doubles Terriers’ lead
Cole Eiserman scores to give Boston University a 2-0 lead over Penn State.
WESTERN MICHIGAN-DENVER
0:52
Jared Wright ties the score late for Denver
Denver’s Jared Wright pokes the puck past the goalie to help the Pioneers tie the score late in the third period.
0:32
Owen Michaels’ wrister adds to Western Michigan’s lead
Western Michigan’s Owen Michaels finds the net on a wrister to give the Broncos a 2-0 lead in the second period.
Tournament storylines
‘Till the rafters ring’: Maine’s resurgence has its fans believing again
Once a perennial power, the Black Bears fought through tragedy and tough times to be a Frozen Four contender 25 years after their last national title. Read more
8:17
The Maine awakening
It’s been 18 years since Maine hockey’s last Frozen Four appearance, but as John Buccigross reports, a resurgence up in Orono has the Black Bears sights set on a return to St. Louis.
‘Have fun out there’: A simple message keeps Trey Augustine on his game
The Spartans goaltender, who hopes to lead his team to its first national title since 2007, recalls his late grandfather’s words every time he steps on the ice. Read more
6:13
The legacy and lineage of Trey Augustine
Jen Lada profiles the Spartans’ superstar goaltender, Trey Augustine, focusing on his relationship with his inspiration and namesake.
Top seed Boston College plays with Gaudreaus, Voce close to hearts
Three former Eagles — Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Gaudreau and Tony Voce — died this past summer. This year’s team, which has been No. 1 in the country most of the season, looks to win a national championship in their memory. Read more
9:44
Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau forever BC hockey family
Jeremy Schaap reports on how the Eagles are honoring the legacies of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.
Roundtable: Teams and players to watch, plus Frozen Four picks
Are BC and Michigan State on a collision course for a title game matchup? What lower seed will be the toughest out? And who will make it to St. Louis? Andrew Raycroft and Sean Ritchlin break it all down. Read more
Teams at a glance
(Statistics entering NCAA tournament)
Toledo Regional
No. 1 Michigan State
Record: 26-6-4
PairWise rating: No. 2
How the Spartans got here: Big Ten champion
Last 10 games: 6-3-1
History lesson: This is Michigan State’s 29th NCAA appearance. The Spartans have been to the Frozen Four 11 times and have won three national titles, the last in 2007. Michigan State lost to Michigan in the regional finals last season, which was its first time in the tournament since 2012.
No. 2 Boston University
Record: 21-13-2
PairWise rating: 7
How the Terriers got here: At-large bid
Last 10 games: 6-3-1 (lost Hockey East semifinal to UConn)
History lesson: This is BU’s 40th NCAA appearance, including three of the past four years. The Terriers have been to the Frozen Four 24 times and have won five national titles, the last in 2009. The Terriers lost in overtime to Denver in the national semifinals last season, the second straight year they lost in the national semis.
No. 3 Ohio State
Record: 24-13-2
PairWise rating: 10
How the Buckeyes got here: At-large bid
Last 10 games: 5-5 (lost Big Ten final to Michigan State)
History lesson: This is Ohio State’s 12th NCAA appearance and its second in three years. The Buckeyes have been to the Frozen Four twice, most recently in 2018, and have never won the national title.
No. 4 Cornell
Record: 18-10-6
PairWise rating: 17
How the Big Red got here: ECAC champion
Last 10 games: 8-2
History lesson: This is Cornell’s 27th NCAA appearance, including the past three years in a row. The Big Red have been to the Frozen Four eight times and have won the national championship twice, most recently in 1970. Cornell lost to Denver in the regional finals last season.
Fargo Regional
No. 1 Western Michigan
Record: 30-7-1
PairWise rating: 4
How the Broncos got here: NCHC champion
Last 10 games: 8-2
History lesson: This is Western Michigan’s 10th NCAA appearance, including the past four years. The Broncos lost in overtime to Michigan State in the first round last season, falling to 1-10 all time in NCAA tournament play.
No. 2 Minnesota
Record: 25-10-4
PairWise rating: 5
How the Golden Gophers got here: At-large bid
Last 10 games: 5-4-1 (lost Big Ten quarterfinal series to Notre Dame)
History lesson: This is Minnesota’s 42nd NCAA appearance, including the past five years. The Gophers have been to the Frozen Four 23 times and have won five national titles, the last in 2003. Minnesota lost to Boston University in the regional finals last season.
No. 3 UMass
Record: 20-13-5
PairWise rating: 11
How the Minutemen got here: At-large bid
Last 10 games: 5-2-3 (lost Hockey East quarterfinal to BU in overtime)
History lesson: This is UMass’ seventh NCAA appearance, including five of the past six tournaments. The Minutemen have been to the Frozen Four twice and won one national title, in 2021. UMass lost to Denver in double overtime in the first round of last year’s tournament.
No. 4 Minnesota State
Record: 27-8-3
PairWise rating: 14
How the Mavericks got here: CCHA champion
Last 10 games: 9-0-1
History lesson: This is Minnesota State’s 12th NCAA appearance, including six of the last seven tournaments. The Mavericks have been to the Frozen Four twice and are still looking for their first national championship. Minnesota State didn’t make the tournament last year and lost to St. Cloud State in the first round in 2023.
Manchester Regional
No. 1 Boston College
Record: 26-7-2
PairWise rating: 1
How the Eagles got here: At-large bid
Last 10 games: 6-3-1 (lost Hockey East quarterfinal to Northeastern)
History lesson: This is BC’s 39th NCAA appearance. The Eagles have been to the Frozen Four 26 times and have won five national titles, the last in 2012. BC lost to Denver 2-0 in last year’s championship game after not making the tournament the previous two years.
No. 2 Providence
Record: 21-10-5
PairWise rating: 8
How the Friars got here: At-large bid
Last 10 games: 5-4-1 (lost Hockey East quarterfinal to UConn)
History lesson: This is Providence’s 16th NCAA appearance, its first since 2019. The Friars have been to the Frozen Four five times and won the national title once, in 2015.
No. 3 Denver
Record: 29-11-1
PairWise rating: 9
How the Pioneers got here: At-large bid
Last 10 games: 7-3 (lost NCHC final to Western Michigan in double overtime)
History lesson: This is Denver’s 34th NCAA appearance, including 15 of the past 16 tournaments. The Pios have been to the Frozen Four 18 times and won 10 national titles, the most ever. Denver beat BC for the national championship last season, its second title in three years.
No. 4 Bentley
Record: 23-14-2
PairWise rating: 22
How the Falcons got here: Atlantic champion
Last 10 games: 8-2
History lesson: This is Bentley’s first NCAA appearance in the program’s 26th season in Division I and the second year with Andy Jones as coach. The Falcons have set a school record for victories and are enjoying their first winning season since 2020.
Allentown Regional
No. 1 Maine
Record: 24-7-6
PairWise rating: 3
How the Black Bears got here: Hockey East champion
Last 10 games: 6-2-2
History lesson: This is Maine’s 21st NCAA appearance. The Black Bears have been to the Frozen Four 11 times and have won two national titles, the last in 1999. Maine lost to Cornell in the first round last season, its first tournament appearance since 2012.
No. 2 UConn
Record: 22-11-4
PairWise rating: 6
How the Huskies got here: At-large bid
Last 10 games: 8-1-1 (lost Hockey East final to Maine)
History lesson: This is UConn’s first NCAA appearance in the program’s 27 years in Division I. The Huskies set a school record for wins as a Div. 1 team in Mike Cavanaugh’s 11th season at the helm.
No. 3 Quinnipiac
Record: 24-11-2
PairWise ranking: 12
How the Bobcats got here: At-large bid
Last 10 games: 7-3 (lost ECAC semifinal to Cornell in overtime)
History lesson: This is Quinnipiac’s 11th NCAA appearance, including each of the last six tournaments. The Bobcats have been to the Frozen Four three times and won one national title, in 2023. Quinnipiac lost to Boston College in overtime in the regional finals last season.
No. 4 Penn State
Record: 20-13-4
PairWise rating: 13
How the Nittany Lions got here: At-large bid
Last 10 games: 7-2-1 (lost Big Ten semifinal to Ohio State in overtime)
History lesson: This is Penn State’s fifth NCAA appearance. In 2023, the Nittany Lions lost in the regional finals to Michigan in overtime. Penn State has never been to the Frozen Four.
-
Mark Schlabach
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Georgia coach Kirby Smart lost four straight games against Tennessee as a Bulldogs defensive back in the 1990s.
After No. 6 Georgia came from behind to beat No. 15 Tennessee 44-41 in overtime at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, the Volunteers might feel like they will never beat the Bulldogs again as long as Smart is their coach.
After Georgia overcame a 14-point deficit and scored the tying touchdown and 2-point conversion with about 2½ minutes left in regulation, running back Josh McCray scored on a 1-yard run in overtime to give the Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0 SEC) their ninth straight victory over Tennessee and their fifth consecutive on the road.
McCray was initially ruled down at the 1-yard line, but the call was overturned by replay.
“I lost a lot of times here as a player,” Smart said. “It still sticks with me. I have a lot of memories, good and bad, about playing here. Five in a row is a lot.”
For a long time Saturday, it seemed as if the Volunteers (2-1, 0-1) would end their losing streak. Tennessee kicker Max Gilbert missed a 43-yard field goal wide left with three seconds to go in regulation that would have won the game.
The Volunteers had the ball first in overtime and gained only 1 yard on three plays. Gilbert kicked a 42-yard field goal to give his team a 41-38 lead.
“Unfortunately, he didn’t make the one before, but he had his head high,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “That’s the life of being a kicker, you know what I mean? I love the way he responded. He’ll continue to grow, and we have great trust in him. Unfortunately, he didn’t finish that one.”
On Georgia’s first play in overtime, tailback Nate Frazier ran for 21 yards to the UT 4. McCray plowed his way for 3 yards on the next play, then scored the winning touchdown.
The Bulldogs trailed 38-30 late in regulation. On fourth-and-6, Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton threw a perfectly placed 28-yard touchdown to London Humphrey with 2:32 to go. Zachariah Branch caught a pass and scored on a 2-point conversion attempt to tie the score.
“We were just going to take a shot there, and we needed to score fast,” Smart said. “We didn’t need to keep milking time. It felt like they were defending the sticks, and we were trying to get a touchdown. Sometimes, you get an advantage when people play the sticks and you’re willing to take a shot.”
Stockton completed 23 of 31 passes for 304 yards with 2 touchdowns and ran for another score.
“As you all can see, he’s a dog,” Georgia safety KJ Bolden said. “The whole team is behind him. He never let any of the scores phase him. Our defense kind of started off really slow, but it never fazed him. He always came back ready with a plan and ready to attack.”
The Bulldogs took plenty of blows early, especially on defense. The Volunteers drove down the field on their first possession, and quarterback Joey Aguilar scored on a 4-yard run. He threw touchdowns of 72 yards and 14 yards to Chris Brazzell II to take a 21-7 lead late in the first quarter.
“We talked about coming in here and conquering this place, which is not easy to do,” Smart said. “When you do something like that, you have to make your own way. You have to absorb blows. I don’t think I had any idea how many blows we’d have to absorb, but we did, and we’ve got a resilient group.”
Georgia’s defense bounced back from there, stopping the Vols on five straight possessions, including two interceptions. The Bulldogs scored 20 straight points to take a 27-21 lead late in the third quarter.
But then Georgia’s defense gave up another long touchdown — Aguilar found Brazzell for the third time on a 56-yard pass to give the Vols a 28-27 lead.
The Bulldogs went back in front 30-28 on Peyton Woodring‘s 24-yard field goal, before the Volunteers scored 10 straight points to go ahead by eight, setting up Stockton’s heroics late in the fourth quarter.
Aguilar completed 24 of 36 passes for 371 yards with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Brazzell had six receptions for 177 yards.
“Losses never ever feel good, taste good, that’s not the expectation inside of this locker room, just to play somebody tight,” Heupel said. “I think the disappointment of tonight can be a moment, something in our journey together that can springboard and propel us if we choose to use it that way.”
Smart says his team is far from a finished product. The Bulldogs are still shuffling players on the offensive line because of injuries, and their inexperienced defensive backs struggled in coverage against the Vols’ high-octane offense.
The Bulldogs will get a week off before hosting No. 19 Alabama at home Sept. 27.
“We’re nowhere near where we need to be; we’re a long way from being there,” Smart said. “But, boy, we’ve got some kids that aren’t afraid to fight.”
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Adam Rittenberg
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Texas A&M safety Bryce Anderson has feeling in his limbs after being taken to a local hospital following a play that left him motionless late in the first half at Notre Dame.
Anderson was carted to the locker room with 55 seconds left in the half. His head collided with Notre Dame tight end Eli Raridon on a 25-yard completion. Teammates immediately summoned medical personnel, who spent about 10 minutes stabilizing Anderson’s neck. The senior from Beaumont, Texas, gave a thumbs-up as he left the field.
Texas A&M’s entire team came off the sideline and knelt on the field while Anderson was down, and several players came over to him before he left.
Anderson had four tackles in the game.
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Jorge Castillo
BOSTON — The New York Yankees outlasted the Boston Red Sox for the second straight day Saturday, beating their rivals 4-3 in front of a sellout crowd at Fenway Park to expand their lead for the top American League wild-card spot to 1½ games.
The Yankees’ 83-65 record ranks third in the American League, three games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. With 14 games remaining, New York has an outside shot at claiming the AL East title and the league’s top seed for the second consecutive year.
But Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. doesn’t believe the standings accurately represent the league’s hierarchy. To him, the Yankees are the team to beat in the American League.
“I feel like any team that thinks they’re better than us, they should know that when we step on the field, that we’re coming with relentlessness and we’re coming to step on necks,” Chisholm said. “We’re not here to play around. We’re going to do the job and get the job done.”
After going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases Friday, Chisholm finished Saturday 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs to move within one home run of becoming the third Yankee ever to post a 30/30 season and the first since Alfonso Soriano in 2003.
He said a recent “talk” among the players that occurred away from the ballpark helped spark the Yankees’ recent turnaround after the team squandered a comfortable lead in the AL East in mid-June.
“Honestly, everybody just started locking in,” Chisholm said.
The Yankees are 13-5 since Aug. 24, a stretch that began with a win over the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. The success was buoyed by winning six of seven games against the Washington Nationals and Chicago White Sox — two of the worst teams in the majors — but it has also included the Yankees going 7-4 against the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers — four AL clubs positioned to reach the postseason.
New York will complete the four-team gauntlet with Sunday night’s series finale at Fenway Park, facing AL Cy Young Award candidate Garrett Crochet. It will be the Yankees’ final regular-season game against a team over .500; they finish the schedule with three games against the Minnesota Twins, three against the White Sox and seven against the Baltimore Orioles.
“All these games are super important,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “So, to get another win in this place against, obviously a really good opponent and Crochet waiting tomorrow, so this was a good one to get. Hopefully, we can go out and finish off a great series.”
Through Saturday, the Yankees are 45-43 against teams over .500 this season. They’re 26-29 against AL teams with winning records. They’ll have to be better in October to reach the World Series again.
“We said it all year long, that we’ve been playing to everybody else’s level instead of our own level,” Chisholm said. “We’ve been letting games go. We’ve been losing games ourselves. Making errors, just having poor at-bats and stuff like that.
“So, at the end of the day, we finally looked ourselves in the mirror and realized we’re the team to beat, and that’s how we’ve been stepping on the field for the last two weeks.”
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