NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame hockey team has made the NCAA Championship field for a fifth consecutive edition of the tournament.
The Fighting Irish will be the No. 4 seed in the Albany Regional and will take on No. 1 seed Boston College in the first round this Saturday, March 27 at 1 p.m. ET on ESPNews. The Regional’s other first round game will feature No. 2 seed St. Cloud State versus No. 3 seed Boston University at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The Regional Finals are slated for Sunday, March 28 at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
2021 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament Bracket
With the Pairwise not utilized to select the NCAA field this season due to the lack of non conference play across the country this season, the Irish had to wait until Sunday evening’s NCAA Selection Show (ESPNU) to learn their fate after a challenging Big Ten season in which Notre Dame tied for the national lead with 28 regular season games played.
Notre Dame, which made back-to-back Frozen Four appearances in 2017 and 2018 and advanced to the 2018 national title game, has made the NCAA tournament for the 12th time in program history and for the 11th time under head coach Jeff Jackson. The Irish have also appeared in seven of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments (due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 NCAA tournament did not take place and all appearance streaks remain intact).
Jackson guided the Irish to Frozen Four appearances in 2008, 2011, 2017 and 2018. Notre Dame is 12-11-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament games (12-10-0 under Jackson).
Boston College enters the NCAA Tournament with a 17-5-1 mark and having won the regular season Hockey East crown. The Irish and Eagles have met on 46 previous occasions, with Boston College holding a slight edge in the all-time series, 23-20-3.
The series began Dec. 20, 1969 and, since 1995, the teams have met every season except for three (1999-2000, 2005-06 and 2017-18).
Notre Dame’s All-Time NCAA Tournament Results
2004 – Midwest Regional (at Grand Rapids, Michigan)
L — Minnesota 5, Notre Dame 2
2007 – Midwest Regional (at Grand Rapids, Michigan)
W — Notre Dame 3, Alabama-Huntsville 2 (2 OT)
L — Michigan State, 2 Notre Dame 1
2008 – West Regional (at Colorado Springs, Colorado)
W — Notre Dame 7, New Hampshire 3
W — Notre Dame 3, Michigan State 1
2008 – NCAA Frozen Four (at Denver, Colorado)
W — Notre Dame 5, Michigan 4 (OT)
L — Boston College 4, Notre Dame 1
2009 – Midwest Regional (at Grand Rapids, Michigan)
L — Bemidji State 5, Notre Dame 1
2011 – Northeast Regional (at Manchester, New Hampshire)
W — Notre Dame 4, Merrimack 3 (OT)
W — Notre Dame 2, New Hampshire 1
2011 – NCAA Frozen Four (at St. Paul, Minnesota)
L — Minnesota Duluth 4, Notre Dame 3
2013 – Midwest Regional (at Toledo, Ohio)
L — St. Cloud State 4, Notre Dame 1
2014 – West Regional (at St. Paul, Minnesota)
L — St. Cloud State 4, Notre Dame 3 (OT)
2016 – Midwest Regional (at Cincinnati, Ohio)
L — Michigan 3, Notre Dame 2 (OT)
2017 – Northeast Regional (at Manchester, New Hampshire)
W — Notre Dame 3, Minnesota 2
W — Notre Dame 3, UMass Lowell 2 (OT)
2017 – Frozen Four (at Chicago, Illinois)
L — Denver 6, Notre Dame 1
2018 – East Regional (at Bridgeport, Connecticut)
W — Notre Dame 4, Michigan Tech 3 (OT)
W — Notre Dame 2, Providence 1
2018 Frozen Four (at Saint Paul, Minnesota)
W — Notre Dame 4, Michigan 3
L — Minnesota Duluth 2, Notre Dame 1
2019 – Northeast Regional (at Manchester, New Hampshire)
W — Notre Dame 3, Clarkson 2 (OT)
L — Massachusetts 4, Notre Dame 0
—ND—