2023 NCAA Championship Bracket
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s hockey team has earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Championship and will travel to Bridgeport, Conn., for the NCAA East Regional, the NCAA announced Sunday. The No. 3 seed Buckeyes will take on No. 2 Harvard at 2 p.m. Friday in Total Mortgage Arena, with the game televised by ESPNU.
The other Bridgeport Regional matchup is No. 1 seed Quinnipiac (the No. 2 overall seed) vs. No. 4 Merrimack, with the teams meeting at 5:30 p.m. Friday on ESPNews. The first-round winners will face off at 4 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2 for a spot in the 2023 NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla. The national semifinals are April 6, with the national championship game April 8.
This marks Ohio State’s 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The squad reached the Frozen Four in 2018 and 1998 and also earned a spot in 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2017 and 2019.
The Buckeyes and Harvard have met just once, a 4-2 Buckeye victory in the Ohio Hockey Classic in Columbus Dec. 29, 2008.
All smiles when @OhioStateMHKY is going dancing! 💥 pic.twitter.com/42z8IDQXn0
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) March 20, 2023
The 2022-23 Buckeyes, under 10th year head coach Steve Rohlik, are 20-15-3 on the year and finished third in the Big Ten with an 11-11-2-0-0-1 record. The squad reached the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Ohio State squad is led by defenseman Mason Lohrei and forward Jake Wise, who both were named Second Team All-Big Ten, along with forward Stephen Halliday and goalie Jakub Dobes, who were honorable mention all-league picks. Halliday, a freshman, is first for the Buckeyes with 31 assists and 40 points, while fifth year Wise is second with 35 points, including 23 assists. Lohrei, a sophomore, has 26 assists and 29 points. Freshman forward Davis Burnside has a team-high 14 goals, followed by sophomore forward Cam Thiesing with 13. Dobes has started all 38 games in net and has a 2.33 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.
The Scarlet and Gray leads the nation on the penalty kill (.895) and is in the Top 17 nationally in scoring offense (3.21 goals per game), scoring defense (2.53 goals allowed per game) and power play (.224).
