By The Huffington Post News Editors
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh will host the Frozen Four for the first time ever next month. And in a season of firsts, three of four teams will be headed to the national hockey showcase for the first time.
UMass Lowell (28-10-2), St. Cloud State (25-15-1) and Quinnipiac (29-7-5) all clinched berths in the national semifinals for the first time this weekend, setting up a new look at the Consol Energy Center April 11-13. And the fourth member, Yale (20-12-3), hasn’t been this far since 1952, when the entire tournament field featured just four teams.
The River Hawks, who won both the Hockey East regular season and conference tournament titles, will meet the Bulldogs in an all-New England matchup. The Bobcats, the No. 1 overall seed who won just their first NCAA tournament game Saturday in Providence, R.I., and raced to the nation’s No. 1 ranking for the first time this season, will meet the Huskies, who upended Miami, Ohio, on Sunday to win the Midwest Regional.