The Regional Phase of the NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament took place last weekend, with a few surprising results.

One surprise did not come from the East Region as Hobey Baker finalist Kevin Porter, a Coyotes draft pick, led Michigan through past Niagara with a 4-goal performance and then added his 5th goal of the weekend in a 2-0 win over Clarkson, who beat St. Cloud State 2-1 the day before.

Michigan will play Notre Dame in the second game, who scored two improbable upsets. First the Irish beat top seed New Hampshire 7-3, who did not turn in an inspired performance outside of a few sorrowed souls. Then, they lucked out again with a 3-1 win over defending champ Michigan State, who had beaten regional hosts Colorado College. Notre Dame, who were upset last year as a 1 seed, advance to the Frozen Four for the first time, and the other three teams in the region are left searching for answers.

Worcester perhaps staged the most interesting regional. Miami U struggled to an overtime win over Air Force on Saturday. For the second year in a row, Air Force blew a 3rd period lead and did not have any answers late in the game, despite a phenominal performance from goalie Andrew Volkening. Justin Mercier scored an unassisted goal 15:21 into overtime. Boston College stopped a red-hot Minnesota team, who struggled to a 7th-place regular season in the WCHA but almost managed to slip their way through the WCHA Final Five. BC scored 3 3rd period goals in a 5-2 win. Boston College also ended up beating Miami U in overtime in a wild affair on Sunday. After jumping out 2-0 midway through the game, Miami had an all-out meltdown that saw them give up 3 goals in the last two minutes in the period. After tying the game in the 3rd, Joe Whitney’s goal sent BC to Denver 12:12 into overtime for a 4-3 BC win.

Order was restored, somewhat, in Madison. Wisconsin, a team many people believed shouldn’t have been in the tournament, handily upset Denver U, winners of the WCHA Final Five in a 6-2 win. Ryan Duncan powered North Dakota over Princeton to set up a matchup that would produce the WCHA’s only rep in the Frozen Four. Wisconsin, like Miami, jumped out 2-0, but North Dakota rallied early in the 3rd with Andrew Kozak scoring in overtime to send the Badger fans home unhappy. North Dakota won 3-2 in OT, and they will play Boston College in the first game next Thursday.