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NCAA tournament day 3 recap: North Dakota punches ticket to Frozen Four
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Photo credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff
Ryley Delaney
Mar 29, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 29, 2026, 13:56 EDT
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Two teams are heading to the Frozen Four, with the other two teams being decided on Sunday.
The regionals of the NCAA National Tournament are quickly wrapping up, with Sunday being its final day. On Saturday, three Flames prospects punched their ticket to Sin City, while another Flame prospect has the chance to do the same on Sunday afternoon.
Let’s take a look at the game involving the Flames prospects, how the other game turned out, and the two games on Sunday.

Quinnipiac vs North Dakota

At least one Flame prospect was set to play in the Frozen Four once Ethan Wyttenbach’s Quinnipiac defeated Providence earlier this week. After North Dakota defeated Trevor Hoskin’s Merrimack, that set up a match-up between two of the Flames’ best prospects.
Six minutes into the game, North Dakota opened the scoring thanks to a goal from Jack Kernan. Just over two minutes later, Cody Croal scored to double their lead, with Flames’ prospect Abram Wiebe picking up an assist. Wiebe picked up a second assist for the Fighting Hawks, keeping the puck in the zone and winning a puck battle.
North Dakota led 3-0 heading into the second period, but added a fourth goal to snuff any comeback, this one thanks to Dylan James. To round salt into the wound, Flame prospect Cole Reschny scored the Fighting Hawks’ fifth goal midway through the second period, the final goal of the game.
There are a few storylines from this game. For starters, North Dakota hasn’t allowed a goal in the National Tournament, as their win over Merrimack was a 3-0 victory. Additionally, this was the conclusion of Ethan Wyttenbach’s season, finishing his sophomore season with 25 goals and 59 points in 40 games, not too shabby for a fifth-round pick.
As of now, Wyttenbach still leads the entire NCAA in points and is tied for second in goals. With Michigan’s T.J. Hughes still in the tournament, it’s possible he makes up the three points to match Wyttenbach.

Other brackets and setting up Sunday’s games

The other team to punch their ticket to the semi-finals was Wisconsin, as they defeated Michigan State in overtime. That’ll set up a match-up between North Dakota and Wisconsin on Apr. 9 in the Frozen Four.
There’ll be another Flame prospect in action on Sunday, as Eric Jamieson’s Denver plays the reigning National Tournament champions, Western Michigan. They played in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff tournament, with Denver pulling out a 2-1 overtime victory. Denver is coming off a 5-0 victory over Jonathan Castagna’s Cornell on Friday. Sunday’s game is at 1:00 PM MT.
The other game on the docket is Michigan against Minnesota Duluth at 3:30 PM MT. Of course, Henry Mews is still out of the lineup and won’t be back until next season, but has still been skating. If Denver wins, they’ll play one of these two teams on Apr. 9.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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