Northern Colorado’s hockey team made a just-short of Cinderella run in the ACHA Western Regional Tournament. The Bears were a part of 12 teams in the regional tournament looking to take the top two spots and move onto the ACHA National Tournament. The top four teams in the tournament got a bye while the other eight played day one. The remaining seeds were matched highest and lowest for day two play. On day three the last four teams were matched highest and lowest again with the two winners punching their ticket to the ACHA Nationals in Boston/Marlborough, Massachusetts.

#8 Northern Colorado played #13 California-Berkeley on day one. The Bears took a hot start with a 3-0 first period. The Golden Bears tried to match UNC’s pace with two goals, but Greeley’s Bears were able to match their first period with another trio. UNC almost lapped Berkeley in shots on goal 21-11 by the end of the second period. A chippy third period ended the Golden Bears run as UNC put up another 16 shots and two more goals to stamp an 8-3 win on day one.

#8 Northern Colorado moved on to play #5 Weber State on day two. The Bears were able to get on the board early and secure a lead through the first period. Weber State regrouped after the first intermission to storm back with two unanswered goals. The Wildcats had 16 less shots on goal, but were able to make them count twice as much in the second period. UNC stormed back with two more goals to force the lead to shift in their direction before Weber would answer once again. The Bears scored the go-ahead goal with 2:34 left in the game. Throughout the chippy, back-and-forth contest there were several good hits and penalties that built up to a full scale brawl at the end of the game instigated by the sour Wildcats.

#8 Northern Colorado pulled off the upset so that they could face the #6 Dakota College Bottineau on day three. The winner of this game and the Metro State/ Utah State game would punch their ticket to the 2023 ACHA Nationals. While the Bears were having a magical run, two days of tough, physical play may have caught up with them as Dakota put together a trio of goals. UNC would shut out Dakota throughout the rest of the game and put up two more goals, but penalties and lack of opportunity for a third goal kept the Bears from clawing back to another nationals appearance.

While the Bears will not add to their nationals appearances their gritty performance against fierce regional competition gave fans a better than average ending to the season. The Big Mountain Hockey Conference will be hosting 2nd annual All-Star Event – Futures vs. Legends game held at the Ice Center at the Promenade in Westminster, CO on Saturday, April 15th. All ticket sale proceeds will be donated to Ashton Stephenson. Adults: $10 Students: $5
5 Years & Under: Free