ITHACA, N.Y. – For the third consecutive season and 25th time in program history, the Cornell men's hockey team will be participating in the NCAA Division I Men's Hockey Championship as fourth-seeded Cornell (18-10-6), fresh off its ECAC Hockey-leading 14th Whitelaw Cup title after defeating Clarkson, 3-1, on Saturday night in Lake Placid, N.Y., will face top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Michigan State (26-6-4) on Thursday, March 27, at 5:30 p.m. ET at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio.
Game action will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, cortacatoday.com).
Michigan State enters this year's Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship earning the Big Ten's automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament after defeating No. 9-ranked Ohio State, 4-3, in double overtime on Saturday night in East Lansing, Mich. The Spartans have won its last four games, defeating Notre Dame three times (twice in the regular season, once in the Big Ten Tournament) and Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game.
Junior forward Isaac Howard, who scored the Spartans' game-winning goal on Saturday night, paces Michigan State's offense, leading the team in all three major scoring categories (26-25—51). Howard's point total is ahead of second-place holder Karsen Dowart (12-17—29) by 22 points. Goaltending duties have favored Trey Augustine (19-6-4, 2.01, .927) this season, who has started in all 29 appearances. Augustine has started each of Michigan State's last 15 contests, compiling a 2.04 goals-against average and .924 save percentage during the span with one shutout and has notched three assists.
Cornell is appearing in the Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship for a third consecutive season, its first time making three straight NCAA Tournament appearances since doing so between 2017 and 2019. It is the third instance in Big Red program history that it has reached the tournament in at least three consecutive seasons, joining a four-year stretch between 1967 and 1970. Last year in Springfield, Mass., Cornell defeated No. 6-ranked Maine, 3-1, in the semifinal of the Springfield Regional before falling to the eventual national champions, No. 3-ranked Denver, 2-1.
Thursday's contest will be the 12th meeting between the Big Red and Spartans, a series that currently favors Michigan State, 6-4-1. It will be the first time the two programs are playing since Cornell swept a two-game series at Munn Arena on Nov. 1-2, 2019, to begin the 2019-20 campaign. It will be the first time the two programs will meet in the NCAA Tournament.
Following Thursday's contest, the winner between Cornell and Michigan State will play the winner of the first semifinal game between No. 8-ranked Boston University (21-13-2) and No. 9-ranked Ohio State (24-13-2) on Saturday. Puck drop will be at 4 or 6:30 p.m. and broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN+.
