FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TOP FOUR SEEDS ADVANCE TO WCHA SEMIFINALS Top-seeded Minnesota State to host fourth-seeded Lake Superior State; No. 2 seed Northern Michigan hosts No. 3 seed Bowling Green in best-of-three semifinals, March 15-17

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – March 10, 2019 – The race for the Jeff Sauer Cup is down to four teams as the 2019 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Postseason Tournament moves to the best-of-three semifinal round, March 15-17, with the top four seeds advancing out of last weekend’s quarterfinals. The semifinal winners will advance to the single-game, 2019 WCHA Championship, held at the home venue of the top remaining seed Saturday, March 23.

The winner of the 2019 WCHA Postseason Tournament receives the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship.

Pairings, locations and start times for the Friday-Sunday, March 15-17 best-of-three, semifinal round of the 2019 WCHA Playoffs (* denotes if necessary):

No. 4 Lake Superior State at No. 1 Minnesota State (Verizon Center; Mankato, Minn.) • Game 1 (Friday, March 15): 7:07 p.m. CT • Game 2 (Saturday, March 16): 7:07 p.m. CT • *Game 3 (Sunday, March 17): 7:07 p.m. CT

No. 3 Bowling Green at No. 2 Northern Michigan (; Marquette, Mich.) • Game 1 (Friday, March 15): 7:07 p.m. ET • Game 2 (Saturday, March 16): 7:07 p.m. ET • *Game 3 (Sunday, March 17): 7:07 p.m. ET

Nationally fourth-ranked Minnesota State (29-7-2 overall / 22-5-1-1 WCHA, 68 points), swept No. 8 seed Alabama Huntsville, 3-1 and 4-1, last weekend to advance to this weekend’s semifinals and will host No. 4 seed Lake Superior State (23-11-2 / 16-10-2-0 WCHA, 50 pts), which advanced with a sweep of fifth- seeded Bemidji State. The Lakers downed BSU by scores of 4-2 and 3-1 to earn the trip to Mankato for the semifinals. The Mavericks took three of the four meetings between the two school this season, sweeping a two-game set at Lake Superior State, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 and splitting a home series in Mankato, Jan. 18-19.

Northern Michigan is looking for its second-consecutive trip to the WCHA Championship Game this weekend. The Wildcats (21-14-2 overall / 18-8-2-0 WCHA, 56 pts.) are looking for their first WCHA postseason crown since winning back-to-back titles in 1991 and 1992. The Wildcats swept seventh-seeded Alaska in the WCHA Quarterfinals to open the postseason. They will host No. 3 seed Bowling Green (23-9-5 / 16-8-4-3 WCHA, 55 points). The Falcons eliminated the two-time defending WCHA Postseason champion last weekend to reach the Semifinals.

Fans can catch all of the Semifinal action live on FloHockey.tv.

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The 2019 WCHA Postseason Tournament is brought to you in part by supporting sponsors Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup, SPIRE Credit Union, Jostens, UNRL and Eckerline Wealth Management

About the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Men’s League The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, among the most historic, tradition-rich and successful conferences in all of collegiate athletics, will proudly mark its 67th season of men’s competition in 2018-19. The 10-team Division 1 conference consists of the University of Alabama in Huntsville (Chargers), the University of Alaska Anchorage (Seawolves), the University of Alaska Fairbanks (Nanooks), (Beavers), Bowling Green State University (Falcons), (Bulldogs), Lake Superior State University (Lakers), Michigan Technological University (Huskies), Minnesota State University (Mavericks) and Northern Michigan University (Wildcats). For more information, visit wcha.com.

MEDIA CONTACT MORE INFORMATION Todd Bell Website: wcha.com Marketing & Communications Manager Twitter: @wcha_mhockey E: [email protected] Instagram: @wcha_mhockey O: 952.681.7668 Facebook:

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