The Sioux Falls Regional of the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship gave fans a top-tier double-header on Thursday at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. 16 teams in all competed on day one. The regional winners advance to the Men’s Frozen Four.

Boston U. vs. Rochester Institute of Technology

In the first match the No. 1 overall seed Boston College faced No. 4 Rochester Institute of Technology. The Terriers posted a 6-3 victory in the semifinals.

Hobey Baker finalists Lane Hutson and Macklin Celebrini each tallied a goal and an assist for the Terriers, who also got goals from graduate student Sam Stevens, sophomore Ryan Greene and freshman Jack Harvey. Senior Dylan Peterson provided BU's last goal with an empty-netter and also added an assist.

Sioux Falls Regional 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship

For RIT fifth-year defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro was credited with his 18th goal of the season to go along with an assist, while graduate-student forward Elijah Gonsalves netted his team-high 20th goal and senior forward Cody Laskosky scored his 14th.

BU advances to the regional final on Saturday against Minnesota.

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Minnesota vs. Omaha

In game-2 some local flavor in Jaxon Nelson from Luverne, Minnesota was the hero for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Sioux Falls Regional 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship

Nelson's two goals in the final 11 minutes turned a one-goal deficit into a 3-2 victory for the No. 7 Minnesota men's hockey team over No. 11/12 Omaha.

All square after 40 minutes of hockey, Jack Randl took a puck in down low for the Mavericks and fed Ty Mueller on the back door who buried it into a yawning Gopher net.

Both of Nelson's third-period tallies were setup by fellow fifth-year Bryce Brodzinski before their classmate Justen Close and the defense shut down Omaha to the finish, moving one win away from a spot in the NCAA Frozen Four.

Sioux Falls Regional 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship

Finishing the season with the second most wins in program history, Omaha wrapped up the 2023-24 campaign with a record of 23-13-4.

The Gophers advance to the regional final for the fourth-straight season where they will face the region's top seed, Boston University, with a spot in St. Paul on the line. The game is set for 5:30 PM Saturday night at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.

Source: Boston University/University of Minnesota

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