Bowdoin travels to Oswego for First Round game, Trinity left out of NCAA Tournament

Selection committee has a very difficult job. Best of luck to the 11 teams in the tourney.
— Trinity Men's Hockey (@TCBantamsHockey) March 10, 2014

The NCAA announced the 11 team field for the D-III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament on a live webcast tonight. Bowdoin (17-8-2), who won the NESCAC championship today in double overtime against Amherst today as a fifth seed, is headed to Oswego, NY  to face the Lakers, the automatic qualifiers from the SUNY-AC. The perennial powerhouse Lakers were supposed to be in rebuild mode this year, but had a solid season at 20-6-2 and upset Geneseo (21-6-0), 7-6, in a shootout of a SUNYAC championship game.

Ironically enough, the Lakers might have held Trinity (21-5-0) from getting an at large bid. Geneseo ended up taking one of the three at-large Pool-C bids. The other two went to Norwich (19-6-3), the ECAC East runner-up and Adrian (22-2-4) of the NCHA. The Bantams are shutout from the tournament after coming it at the first spot in the East in each of the three public NCAA regional rankings, which are supposedly used for seeding and deciding at-large bids.

In order for Bowdoin to get to the NCAA D-III Frozen Four they are hosting in Lewiston, the Polar Bears will have to beat the Lakers and then the ECAC-E champion Babson Beavers (22-4-2). The Lakers are no stranger to Bowdoin, as the Polar Bears lost 7-5 to Oswego in the 2011 NCAA Quarterfinals and the year before, 9-2, also in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Bowdoin has faced Babson 53 times with the Polar Bears holding a 32-19-2 edge. The Beavers and Bowdoin last met in 2010 with Terry Meagher's team winning 7-3. Babson faced off against three NESCAC teams this year, defeating Amherst and Colby at home and losing to Williams in Williamstown.

Below is the full NCAA Tournament bracket from NCAA.com .

First Round
March 12

SUNY Geneseo

MAR. 12

Nichols

Norwich

MAR. 12

Salem State

Oswego State

MAR. 12

Bowdoin

Quarterfinals
March 15

St. Norbert

MAR. 15

Adrian

MAR. 15

Babson

MAR. 15

St. Thomas (Minn.)

MAR. 15

Wis.-Stevens Pt.

Semifinals
March 21, Lewiston, Maine

MAR. 21

4:00P.M.

MAR. 21

Championship
March 22, Lewiston, Maine

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

MAR. 22