UND to open NCAA tournament against Notre Dame in Albany

North Dakota vs Western Michigan — North Dakota Head Coach Brad Berry talks with players during a break against Western Michigan during the first period Friday, March 18, 2022, in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

By Brad Elliott Schlossman

March 21, 2022 at 5:01 PM

GRAND FORKS — The last time UND played in Albany, N.Y., it lost in the NCAA national championship game in overtime.

Brad Berry was an assistant coach on that team. Karl Goehring was the starting goalie.

This week, Berry, Goehring and the Fighting Hawks will have a chance to grab a new memory in Albany.

UND is headed back to New York's capital city for the first time in 21 years and it will take on Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Fighting Hawks (24-13-1) and Fighting Irish will play at 5 p.m. Central on Thursday (ESPNU). The regional's top seed, MSU-Mankato, will take on ECAC playoff champion Harvard at 11 a.m. Thursday.

The regional semifinal winners will play in the region final at 3 or 5:40 p.m. Saturday with a trip to the NCAA Frozen Four in Boston on the line.

Notre Dame (27-11) has been playing well as of late, going 10-3 in the last 13 games. The Fighting Irish notably had Michigan's number during the regular season, beating the NCAA tournament's No. 1 overall seed in all four regular-season meetings.

Notre Dame's star player is goaltender Matthew Galajda, a former Hobey Baker Award finalist. The Cornell transfer is 17-7 with a .930 save percentage.

Up front, the Irish are led by junior forward Max Ellis (16 goals, 28 points) and Colorado Avalanche draft pick Ryder Rolston (10 goals, 27 points).

On the back end, Nashville Predators draft pick Spencer Stastney (27 points) and Colorado Avalanche draft pick Nick Leivermann (26 points) are the leaders.

It has been almost 10 years since UND has played Notre Dame. The last meeting between the teams occurred on Nov. 23-24 in South Bend, Ind., The teams split that series. They have never met in the NCAA tournament.

A year ago, UND reached the NCAA regional final, but fell to Minnesota Duluth 3-2 in five overtimes.

Albany Regional

1. MSU-Mankato vs. 4. Harvard, 11 a.m. Thursday, ESPNU
2. North Dakota vs. 3. Notre Dame, 5 p.m. Thursday, ESPNU

Loveland Regional

1. Denver vs. 4. UMass Lowell, 8 p.m. Thursday, ESPNU
2. Minnesota Duluth vs. 3. Michigan Tech, 2 p.m. Thursday, ESPNU

Allentown Regional

1. Michigan vs. 4. American International, 2 p.m., ESPNU
2. Quinnipiac vs. 3. St. Cloud State, 7 p.m. ESPNEWS

Worcester Regional

1. Western Michigan vs. 4. Northeastern, 11 a.m. Friday, ESPNU
2. Minnesota vs. 3. UMass, 5 p.m. Friday, ESPNU