By Jared Shafran, News Staff

For the first time since 1994, the men’s hockey team is headed back to the NCAA tournament.
After winning 25 games during the season, which tied the school record set during the 1981-82 season, the team was placed in the Midwest regional as the second seed and will face the Cornell Big Red in the first round.
The selection show was shown on ESPN2 yesterday morning at 11:30 in front of a large crowd of fans in Stetson West dining hall.
The game is Saturday at 4 p.m. and will be played at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.
‘We’re excited. It should be a fun experience,’ said senior captain Joe Vitale. ‘We’re looking forward to the challenge.’
Cornell, the third seed in the Midwest region, is 21-9-4 (13-6-3 ECAC) on the season and finished as the runner-up in the ECAC tournament last weekend. The Big Red last made the NCAA tournament in 2006.
This season, they have wins over Princeton, North Dakota and UMass.
There are several players to watch out for on this Big Red team. Most notably, junior goaltender Ben Scrivens, a Hobey Baker candidate, who has played in every game this season. With a goals against average of 1.76, he doesn’t let in many easy ones.
‘When you think about Cornell, you think about defense,’ said Northeastern junior goaltender Brad Thiessen, who is also a Hobey Baker candidate. ‘It’s probably going to be a tight checking, low scoring game.’
On offense, Cornell is led by sophomore forward Riley Nash, who leads the team with 34 points. Junior forward Colin Greening leads the team in goals with 14.
The winner of this game will move on to face the winner of the Notre Dame and Bemidji State game Sunday at 8 p.m.
After going 31-5-3 (21-4-3 CCHA) this season, Notre Dame was given the second overall No. 1 seed.
They have sustained long runs at the top of the rankings and will look to get back to the Frozen Four for the second consecutive year.
Bemidji State, located in Bemidji, Minn., was given an automatic bid into the tournament after winning the College Hockey America title last Saturday over Robert Morris in overtime. They went 18-15-1(12-5-1 CHA) this season.
All games in the first two rounds will be televised by ESPNU.
Northeastern was one of four Hockey East teams to be chosen for the tournament. Boston University, Vermont and New Hampshire are the others.
‘You work so hard and you put so much sweat and energy into this thing,’ Vitale said. ”hellip; So many people put so much into this organization and to see it blossom is really something special. Slowly and surely we have built up to this moment and I think we still have a lot of work to do.’