The NCAA national tournament regionals opened on Thursday, with both Vancouver Canucks representatives taking the ice.

The regional round is divided into four brackets, each featuring four teams. All teams play a single-elimination opening game, with the winners advancing to the regional final. From there, the four regional champions earn their tickets to the Frozen Four in Las Vegas on April 9 and 11.

The regional brackets are as follows:

Worcester — Michigan State, Wisconsin, Dartmouth, UConn
Sioux Falls — North Dakota, Providence, Quinnipiac, Merrimack
Albany — Michigan, Minnesota-Duluth, Penn State, Bentley
Loveland — Western Michigan, Denver, Cornell, Minnesota State

Both the Worcester and Sioux Falls regionals got underway on Thursday, setting the stage for Saturday’s regional finals. Those brackets featured Canucks prospects Anthony Romani (Michigan State) and Matthew Lansing (Quinnipiac).

Michigan State opened its tournament with a tightly contested matchup against UConn.

After both teams traded goals in the opening period, Philadelphia Flyers prospect Porter Martone restored Michigan State’s lead midway through the second. From there, the Spartans leaned heavily on their goaltender, Trey Augistine — a Detroit Red Wings prospect — who turned aside 41 shots in an outstanding performance to secure the 2-1 win.

Skating alongside his usual linemates, Ryker Lee and Eric Nilson, Romani recorded two shots on goal but did not register a point. Romani has 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) through 36 games in his freshman year.

Wisconsin advanced to the regional final with a convincing 5-1 win over Dartmouth in the later game, setting up a matchup with Michigan State on Saturday at 1:30 PM.

Over in the Sioux Falls Regional, Matthew Lansing and Quinnipiac picked up an impressive 5-2 win over Hockey East regular-season champion Providence.

After a scoreless opening period, Quinnipiac broke the game open with three straight goals in the second. Providence pushed back to make it a one-goal game in the third, but two empty-net goals sealed the result.

Lansing did not record a shot on goal, continuing to play in a depth role in Quinnipiac’s bottom six. Lansing has enjoyed an intriguing freshman season as a bottom-six player, with 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 39 games.

North Dakota secured the other semifinal victory, setting up a regional final matchup with Quinnipiac on Saturday at 4:00 PM.

Saturday, March 28

Michigan vs. Wisconsin @ 1:30 pm PT
Quinnipiac vs. North Dakota @ 4:00 pm PT

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