HUNT & YIP PLAYING FOR NCAA CROWN

Brandon Yip's Boston University Terriers and Brad Hunt's Bemidji State Beavers have a shot at College Hockey's top prize. Both of their squads advanced to the Frozen Four in Washington after this past weekend's college hockey action.

Hunt's Beavers is the biggest surprise of 4 teams remaining.

Bemidji State opened up their weekend by knocking off the number 1 seed in the Midwest Region by upsetting Notre Dame in the regional semi final. Hunt had 1 assist in the win while Matt Dalton stopped 33 of 34 shots between the pipes.

Up next in the Midwest regional final, Bemidji advanced to Washington with a 4-1 win over Cornell.

Bemidji State becomes the first team not from college hockey's Big 4 conferences to advance to the Frozen Four. The Beavers play in the College Hockey America conference.

For Yip's BU Terriers, they were ranked number 1 in the Northeast Region. They started their weekend off with a bang by defeating Ohio State in the regional semi final 8-3. Yip had 1 goal and 1 assist. Former Vernon Viper Hunter Bishop had 1 goal and 1 assist as well in a losing effort.

The Northeast final saw BU earn a date with the New Hampshire Wildcats. This one was a tight game and BU needed a powerplay goal by Jason Lawerence with 15 seconds remaining in the 3rd period to break a 1-1 tie and send BU to the Frozen Four.

Two other Express alum were looking to earn a birth in the Frozen Four, but Tyler McNeely's Northeastern Huskies saw their season end when they lost to Cornell by a score of 3-2 in the Midwest semi final. Patrick Wiercioch's first season in Denver came to an end when they lost their West region semi final 4-2 to Miami.

The tournament begins Thursday April 4th as Boston University will play Vermont in one semi final. That will be followed by Bemidji State facing Miami.

The winners meet in the championship game Saturday April 11th.

In Canadian college hockey, Mark Soares was seeking the Canadian crown, the University Cup. The Express all time leader in points and games played is a member of Lakehead University Thunderwolves.

The University Cup was played this past weekend. The host Thunderwolves lost to the University of New Brunswick in a semi final game 3-1 on Saturday. UNB went on to win the Canadian championship as they defeated the University of Western Ontario Mustings 4-2 in the final.