March 18, 2007
NCAA Tournament
Midwest Regional Capsules | Grand Rapids, Mich.

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Van Andel Arena
Friday, March 23

5 p.m. ET: No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 4 Alabama-Huntsville

8:30 p.m. ET: No. 2 Boston University vs. No. 3 Michigan State

Saturday, March 24

8:30 p.m. ET: Regional Final

NO. 1 SEED NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

Location: Notre Dame, Ind.
Record: 31-6-3 (21-4-3 CCHA, first)
Qualified: CCHA tournament champions
NCAA Championships: None
NCAA Appearance: Second (most recent, 2004)
Head Coach: Jeff Jackson
Key Players: David Brown, G, Sr. (29-5-3, 1.58, .931); Erik Condra, F, So. (40 GP, 14-33—47); Ryan Thang, F, Fr. (40 GP, 18-21—39); Kevin Deeth, F, Fr. (40 GP, 17-22—39)
What You Need to Know: For a team with a reputation of thinking defense first, the Fighting Irish can score a little bit, too. Notre Dame ranks eighth in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 3.48 goals per game, and eight players have scored 20 or more points this season.
How They'll Advance: Of the four No. 1 seeds, the Fighting Irish would appear to have the clearest path to the Frozen Four, especially since the weaknesses of the other teams in the region play right into Notre Dame's strengths. If they can stay true to their systems and avoid trying to be something they're not, Notre Dame's superior depth, excellent special-teams play, and the goaltending of David Brown should be enough to get them through to St. Louis.
What Might Trip Them Up: It's hard to find a chink in Notre Dame's armor other than inexperience. Still, this year's juniors and seniors played in the Midwest Regional three years ago, losing to Minnesota in the first round, in the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament, and Jeff Jackson's ledger in big games more than compensates whatever experience his team lacks.

Most Recent Notre Dame Line Chart
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Notes
23-M. Van Guilder	25-C. Hanson	26-T.J. Jindra	Notre Dame's top five scorers — Condra, Thang, Deeth, Van Guilder, and Regan — are underclassmen.
33-G. Regan	22-J. Paige	18-E. Rankin
9-R. Thang	21-K. Deeth	11-E. Condra
8-J. Sciba	10-J. White	27-M. Bartlett
Defense	Defense	Goalies
14-B. Sheahan	6-N. Babin	30-D. Brown	Sr. Wes O'Neill turned 21 on March 3. Fr. Brett Blatchford turns 21 on June 5.
19-W. O'Neill	20-T. Sawatske	1-J. Pearce
3-B. Blatchford	2-K. Lawson	31-T. O'Brien

NO. 2 SEED BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS

Location: Boston, Mass.
Record: 20-9-9 (13-6-8 Hockey East, third)
Qualified: At-large bid
NCAA Championships: Four (1995, 1978, 1972, 1971)
NCAA Appearance: 30th (most recent, 2006)
Head Coach: Jack Parker
Key Players: Pete MacArthur, F, Jr. (38 GP, 16-20—36); Chris Higgins, F, So. (38 GP, 13-19—32); Matt Gilroy, D, So. (38 GP, 9-16—25); John Curry, G, Sr. (17-9-8, 1.92, .931)
What You Need To Know: BU has allowed 1.92 goals per game this season, the second-best mark in the country. But the Terriers have only scored 2.58 goals per contest, 42nd in the nation and dead last among tournament teams. BU also has nine ties, the most of any team in the country.
How They’ll Advance: They’ll need John Curry to return to the form he showed when he was the leading candidate for the Hobey in mid-February. Still, Curry enters the tournament with a .931 save percentage (tied for second in the nation) and a 1.92 goals against average (third).
What Might Trip Them Up: BU’s power play, like the team's offense, ranks No. 42 in the nation. Its inability to light the lamp has been a mystery, considering the Terriers have two very good scoring lines. If they fall behind by a couple goals, their chances of coming back are very slim.

Most Recent Boston University Line Chart
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Notes
6-K. Roche	22-J. Lawrence	27. B. Ewing	BU is 10-0-0 this season when it leads after one period, and 14-1-1 when leading after two periods.
16-P. MacArthur	10-C. Higgins	17-E. Thomassian
9-R. Weston	26-L. Popko	18-B. Yip
28-B. McGuirk	15-J. McCarthy	19-D. McGoff
Defense	Defense	Goalies
4-S. Sullivan	97-M. Gilroy	36-J. Curry	Average size of the Terriers' defensemen: 6-foot-2 and change, 202 pounds.
21-T. Morrow	2-E. Gryba	29-K. Gillespie
5-K. Kielt	7-B. Strait	31-B. Bennett

NO. 3 SEED MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS

Location: East Lansing, Mich.
Record: 23-13-3 (15-10-3 CCHA, fourth)
Qualified: At-large bid
NCAA Championships: Two (1966, 1986)
NCAA Appearance: 25th (most recent, 2006)
Head Coach: Rick Comley
Key Players: Tim Kennedy, F, So. (38 GP, 15-22—37); Bryan Lerg, F, Jr. (37 GP, 23-12—35); Justin Abdelkader, F, So. (34 GP, 14-15—29); Jeff Lerg, G, So. (22-13-3, 2.53, .909)
What You Need to Know: The Spartans are in the tournament in back-to-back years for the first time in the Rick Comley era, thanks in large part to an 11-1-2 stretch in the midst of an up-and-down season.
How They'll Advance: A team that has been terrific at times needs to put together one of those stretches, and it begins in goal with sophomore Jeff Lerg. His numbers are down from last season, when he came on strong in the second half of the year and nearly led the Spartans to the Frozen Four, but he still has the ability to steal games. When he’s on his game, there’s plenty of talent in the sophomore and junior classes to put the puck in the net.
What Might Trip Them Up:As we allude to above, consistency has been a concern for the Spartans, both in stretches of the season and stretches of games. Failure to play a full 60 minutes will almost always cost teams at this stage, something that’s true for every team but especially so for MSU.

Most Recent Michigan State Line Chart
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Notes
22-N. Sucharski	11-B. Lerg	25-J. McKenzie	The Kennedy-Abdelkader-Crowder line was MSU's best in the tourney last year when they were all freshmen.
10-T. Kennedy	9-J. Abdelkader	40-T. Crowder
24-M. Schepke	19-C. Mueller	8-B. Warner
20-C. Lawrence	14-Z. McClellan	27-D. Sturges
Defense	Defense	Goalies
16-T. Howells	28-D. Vukovich	1-J. Lerg	Howells, who has played forward in the past, is the most offensive of the D.
6-B. Gentile	3-C. Snavely	35-B. Jarosz
4-E. Graham	13-R. Turek	30-S. Mnich

NO. 4 SEED ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE CHARGERS

Location: Huntsville, Ala.
Record: 13-19-3 (7-11-2 CHA, fifth)
Qualified: CHA tournament champions
NCAA Championships: None
NCAA Appearance: First
Head Coach: Doug Ross
Key Players: David Nimmo, F, Sr. (35 GP, 14-22—36); Grant Selinger, F, Sr. (35 GP, 17-16—33); Brett McConnachie, F, Sr. (34 GP, 12-16—28); Shaun Arvai, D, Sr. (34 GP, 2-20—22)
What You Need to Know: The CHA's last-place team became the first to earn a bid to the NCAAs when it erased a 4-0 deficit against Robert Morris to post its third win in as many days at the CHA Tournament two weeks ago. The experienced Chargers' top six scorers are all seniors.
How They'll Advance: Undoubtedly, a near-perfect game is necessary against the Irish. The Chargers are fairly adept at putting pucks in the net, averaging a healthy 3.14 goals per game. An early goal or two would be a nice confidence booster and keep the pressure off the team's suspect defense. They'd also benefit by relishing their status as a surprise entry into the tournament.
What Might Trip Them Up: Goaltending and team defense. Alabama-Huntsville enters the NCAA Tournament with the nation's 55th-ranked scoring defense — that's fourth worst in the country — and gives up an average of 3.83 goals per game. Two weeks ago, the Chargers fell behind by a minimum of two goals in each of their three games at the CHA Tournament. That won't cut it against Notre Dame.

Most Recent Alabama-Huntsville Line Chart
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Notes
19-G. Selinger	22-D. Nimmo	12-J. Murray	Nimmo and Selinger have played together all year, joined only recently by Murray.
25-K. Morrison	20-J. Federoff	18-S. Canter
10-D. Rozman	55-M. Sweazey	3-B. McConnachie
14-C. Tanaka	9-T. Hilbert	16-T. Train
Defense	Defense	Goalies
8-M. Salekin	15-S. Arvai	33-M. Narduzzi	Narduzzi has played the most in net, but MacNichol won the CHA title game in relief.
6-A.J. Larivee	5-S. Kalinchuk	29-B. MacNichol
4-B. Roshko	28-D. Nicholetti	30-J. Erickson