Former Rochester, Dodge County stars highlight local connections to NCAA hockey tournaments

The NCAA Division I men’s hockey tournament begins at 1 p.m. today when Boston University meets Ohio State, at Toledo, Ohio. It’s the start of the road to the Frozen Four, which takes place April 10 and 12 in St. Louis.

Here’s a look at players in the Division I and III men’s tournaments, and the Division III women’s Frozen Four, with southeastern Minnesota ties:

• Campbell Cichosz, junior, D, Minnesota State: The Albert Lea native has played in every game this season for the CCHA champion Mavericks (27-8-3), who face Western Michigan at 4 p.m. Thursday (ESPNU). Cichosz has one goal and eight points this season and is second on the team with 53 blocked shots.

• Riley Colvard, assistant coach, Bentley: Colvard, the former Austin Bruins standout forward and assistant coach, is in his second season as an assistant coach at Bentley (located in the Boston suburb of Waltham, Mass.), after five seasons as an assistant coach and Director of Scouting with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. Colvard played two seasons for the Bruins (2011-13) and served as the team’s captain in 2012-13. Bentley is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time; it takes a 23-14-2 record into a 1 p.m. game against Boston College on Friday (ESPNU).

• Pat Ferschweiler, head coach, Western Michigan: The Rochester John Marshall graduate is one of the front-runners to be named Division I national Coach of the Year, after winning that same honor at the conference level. His Broncos (30-7-1) are the NCHC regular season and playoff champions, and the No. 1 seed in the Fargo Regional. They will face Minnesota State at 4 p.m. Thursday (ESPNU) in their tournament opener. He is in his fourth season as WMU’s head coach.

• Tyler Haskins, junior, F, Minnesota State: Haskins, a Rochester native, has played in seven games this season for the Mavericks. He’s in his second season at MSU after playing one year at Denver. In his college career, Haskins has played in 38 games, recording four goals and seven points.

• Brody Lamb, junior, F, Minnesota: Lamb, the 2021 AP Minnesota High School Player of the Year, at Dodge County, is the sixth-leading scorer for the No. 5-ranked Gophers (25-10-4), with 16 goals and 25 points this season. He leads Minnesota with eight power-play goals. Lamb and the Gophers face UMass at 7:30 p.m. today (ESPN2) in a first-round game at Fargo, N.D.

• Hugh Larkin, grad, F, UConn: The former Austin Bruins forward and captain is in his first and only season at Connecticut — another team making its NCAA Tournament debut — after four seasons at Western Michigan. Larkin has two goals and five points for the Huskies, who face Quinnipiac at 4 p.m. Friday in Allentown, Pa. (ESPNU). He had 41 goals and 84 points in his two seasons in Austin (2018-20).

• John Larkin, junior, D, Ohio State: The former Austin Bruins defenseman — and Hugh Larkin’s cousin — has played in 20 games over his three seasons with the Buckeyes. Ohio State will be close to home, playing in the Toledo Regional, against Boston U. at 1 p.m. Thursday (ESPNU). Larkin had 27 points for the Bruins in his lone season in Austin (2021-22).

• Bob Motzko, head coach, Minnesota: Motzko, an Austin native, is in his seventh season as the Gophers head coach after 13 seasons at St. Cloud State. He led the Gophers to back-to-back Frozen Fours in 2022 and 2023, including a trip to the national championship game in 2023. Motzko has a 161-81-21 as the Gophers head coach, including a 25-10-4 mark this season.

• Harrison Scott, senior, F, Maine: Scott played briefly for the Austin Bruins in the 2018-19 season. He then played two seasons at Bentley before transferring to Maine last season. He has flourished for the Black Bears, with 33 goals and 62 points in 74 games, including 18 goals and 35 points in 37 games this season. Maine faces Penn State at 7:30 p.m. Friday (ESPN2) in Allentown, Pa.

• Tiernan Shoudy, junior, F, Michigan State: The 23-year-old Shoudy is in his third season with the Spartans; he has eight goals and 17 points in 36 games this season. He played for the Austin Bruins in the 2019-20 season, recording 11 goals and 34 points in 51 games. Shoudy and the No. 2 overall seed MSU (26-6-4) face Cornell at 4:30 p.m. Thursday (ESPN+).

• Zach Wiese, junior, G, Minnesota: The Owatonna native and former national champion goalie for the Rochester Grizzlies is in his third season as the Gophers’ third goalie. The 5-foot-10, 210-pound Wiese was an Academic All-Big Ten selection last year, when he saw his only game action — so far — as a Gopher, making 12 saves in an exhibition game victory against Bemidji State.

• Kennedi Bieleberg-Howarth, So., D, UW-River Falls: The Rochester native and former Century and Shattuck St. Mary’s defender has played in all 29 games for UW-River Falls, recording four goals, nine points and 16 blocked shots. UW-RF (24-3-2) meets Augsburg at 7 p.m. Friday, at River Falls, in a national semifinal game.

• Elizabeth Fagerlind, Sr., D, Augsburg University: The former Dodge County girls hockey standout is a two-sport athlete at Augsburg, excelling in golf and hockey. She has one goal, five points and 24 blocked shots this season for the Auggies (24-3-1), who face River Falls in the Division III women’s Frozen Four on Friday.

• Abby Simons, Fr., D, Augsburg University: Another former Dodge County standout, Simons is in her first season at Augsburg, where she has three points in six games. She scored her first college goal on Jan. 13 in a 7-0 win at Northland College.

• Gio Fiorillo, freshman, D, SUNY Geneseo: The former Austin Bruins defenseman has fit in well at Geneseo, which is in the Division III Frozen Four and faces Hobart at 2 p.m. Friday in a national semifinal. Fiorillo has a goal and four points in 15 games this season for the Knights (24-4-1). He played in 113 games for the Bruins from 2022-24.

• Shane Soderwall, soph., G, Curry College: The former Rochester Grizzlies goalie has been a star for Curry, just as he was when he backstopped the Grizzlies to the Fraser Cup, the NA3HL championship tournament, in 2021. Soderwall is 24-3-0 with a 1.45 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage this season. He has given up just 38 goals in 27 games. Curry faces Utica College at 6 p.m. Friday in the Division III Frozen Four.