2021 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

2021 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Dates	March 12–20, 2020
Teams	8
Finals site	Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center Mankato, Minnesota
Champions	Lake Superior State (1st title)
Winning coach	Damon Whitten (1st title)
Most Outstanding Player	(Lake Superior State)
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2020

The 2021 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 62nd and final tournament in the history of the men's Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The tournament was held between March 12 and March 20, 2021. Quarterfinal games were played on home campus sites while semifinal- and championship-round games were held at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, the home venue for Minnesota State. By winning the tournament, Lake Superior State received the WCHA's automatic bid for the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

After the 2020–21 season, the men's WCHA disbanded after seven of its members left to reestablish the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Two other members dropped men's hockey after the season. The WCHA remains in operation as a women-only league.^[1]

Format[]

The first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format, while the semifinals and final were single games held at the campus site of the highest remaining seed. The top eight conference teams participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded No. 1 through No. 8 according to their final conference standings, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The higher seeded teams each earned home ice and hosted one of the lower seeded teams.^[2]

Conference standings[]

2020–21 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Standings v t
	Conference record											Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	3/SW	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#4 Minnesota State †	14	13	1	0	1	1	0	39	56	15		27	22	5	1	100	46
#14 Lake Superior State *	14	9	5	0	2	2	0	27	39	34		29	19	7	3	86	63
#18 Bowling Green	14	8	5	1	0	2	0	27	46	34		31	20	10	1	108	67
#10 Bemidji State	14	8	5	1	3	2	0	24	42	34		29	16	10	3	82	70
Michigan Tech	14	7	7	0	1	0	0	20	38	35		30	17	12	1	78	63
Northern Michigan	14	6	7	1	2	2	1	20	40	47		29	11	17	1	79	103
Alabama–Huntsville	14	3	11	0	1	0	0	8	18	49		22	3	18	1	31	80
Ferris State	14	0	13	1	0	1	1	3	28	59		25	1	23	1	55	103
Alaska	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		0	-	-	-	-	-
Alaska Anchorage	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		0	-	-	-	-	-
Championship: March 20, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Bracket[]

	Quarterfinals March 12–14							Semifinals March 19					Championship March 20
	1	Minnesota State	3	3	—			1	Minnesota State	1
	8	Ferris State	0	1	—			6	Northern Michigan	5
	2	Lake Superior State	6	4	—
	7	Alabama-Huntsville	1	1	—								6	Northern Michigan	3
													2	Lake Superior State	6
	3	Bowling Green	3	5	1
	6	Northern Michigan	4	0	5
	4	Bemidji State	3	4	—			2	Lake Superior State	4
	5	Michigan Tech	1	1	—			4	Bemidji State	1

Note: * denotes overtime periods

Results[]

Quarterfinals[]

(1) Minnesota State vs. (8) Ferris State[]

March 12, 2021 6:07 PM

Minnesota State

3 – 0 (0–0, 0–0, 3–0)

Ferris State

Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, Mankato, Minnesota Attendance: 250

Game reference
	Dryden McKay	Goalies		Referees: Bruce Vida Ryan Gordon Linesmen: Matt Tyree Kyle Domin
	(Smith, Borchardt) (10) – GW – 48:49 1–0 (Zmolek, Livingstone) (3) – 49:42 2–0 (McMahan) Walker Duehr (8) – 55:28 3–0
	2 min	Penalties	4 min
	27	Shots	15

March 13, 2021 4:07 pm

Minnesota State

3 – 1 (0–0, 1–0, 2–1)

Ferris State

Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, Mankato, Minnesota Attendance: 250

Game reference
	Dryden McKay	Goalies		Referees: Bruce Vida Ryan Gordon Linesmen: Matt Tyree Kyle Domin
	(Spooner, McMahan) Walker Duehr (9) – 29:03 1–0 (Gerads) (4) – GW – 42:19 2–0 (Gerads) (4) – EN – 59:15 3–0 3–1 53:00 – PP – (4) (Norris, Pokorny)
	2 min	Penalties	4 min
	31	Shots	24

Minnesota State Won Series 2–0

(2) Lake Superior State vs. (7) Alabama–Hutsville[]

March 12, 2021 7:07 PM

Lake Superior State

6 – 1 (2–0, 4–1, 0–0)

Alabama–Hutsville

Taffy Abel Arena, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Attendance: 0

Game reference
	(40:00) (20:00)	Goalies	(36:20) (23:40)	Referees: Scott Roth Shane Paskey Linesmen: Eric Froberg Jamie Grace
	(Calder, Boudon) (12) – 03:14 1–0 (Nordqvist, Riedell) (5) – GW – 45:17 2–0 2–1 21:35 – PP – (2) (Neudecker, Corrow) (unassisted) (13) – 21:41 3–1 (Calder, Boudon) (1) – 33:50 4–1 (Nordqvist, Posa) (1) – 36:20 5–1 (Eriksson) (5) – 38:40 6–1
	24 min	Penalties	20 min
	27	Shots	14

March 13, 2021 5:07 pm

Lake Superior State

4 – 1 (0–0, 3–1, 1–1)

Alabama–Hutsville

Taffy Abel Arena, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Attendance: 0

Game reference
		Goalies		Referees: Scott Roth Shane Paskey Linesmen: Eric Froberg Jamie Grace
	(Jeffers, Eriksson) (8) – PP – 20:18 1–0 (Puricelli, Eriksson) (6) – PP GW – 27:15 2–0 (Oliver, Veillette) Hampus Eriksson (5) – PP – 30:25 3–0 (Manz) (6) – 53:20 4–0 4–1 18:41 – PP – (1) (Merkley, Scoville)
	10 min	Penalties	18 min
	35	Shots	17

Lake Superior State Won Series 2–0

(3) Bowling Green vs. (6) Northern Michigan[]

March 12, 2021 7:00 PM

Bowling Green

3 – 4 (1–0, 0–4, 2–0)

Northern Michigan

Slater Family Ice Arena, Bowling Green, Ohio Attendance: 630

Game reference
		Goalies		Referees: Rick Nelson Mike Forys Linesmen: Marty Shaffer Paul Tunison
	(Theocharidis, Craggs) (8) – 13:32 1–0 1–1 29:48 – PP – (4) (Van Unen, Schultz) 1–2 30:37 – (2) (unassisted) 1–3 33:26 – PP – (5) (Vanderbeck, Van Unen) 1–4 37:05 – GW – (5) (Vanderbeck) (Wells, Wright) (9) – 41:45 2–4 (Cullen, Theocharidis) (10) – 49:29 3–4
	10 min	Penalties	10 min
	33	Shots	21

March 13, 2021 7:07 PM

Bowling Green

3 – 4 (2–0, 0–0, 3–0)

Northern Michigan

Slater Family Ice Arena, Bowling Green, Ohio Attendance: 630

Game reference
		Goalies	(44:42) (15:18)	Referees: Rick Nelson Mike Forys Linesmen: Marty Shaffer Paul Tunison
	(Johnson, Kruse) (8) – GW – 11:48 1–0 (Craggs, Cullen) (1) – 19:21 2–0 (Craggs, Johnson) (7) – 43:05 3–0 (Cullen, Theocharidis) (8) – 44:42 4–0 (Theocharidis, Craggs) (9) – PP – 47:40 5–0
	6 min	Penalties	23 min
	50	Shots	23

March 14, 2021 5:07 PM

Bowling Green

3 – 4 (0–2, 1–1, 0–2)

Northern Michigan

Slater Family Ice Arena, Bowling Green, Ohio Attendance: 630

Game reference
		Goalies		Referees: Rick Nelson Mike Forys Linesmen: Marty Shaffer Paul Tunison
	0–1 05:33 – (7) (Marritt, Keefer) 0–2 17:56 – GW – (3) (Ghantous, Nardi) 0–3 37:04 – PP – (11) (Van Unen, Vanderbeck) (Dougherty, Barber) (4) – PP – 38:48 1–3 1–4 46:02 – PP – (4) (Ghantous, Vanderbeck) 1–5 58:08 – EN – (3) (unassisted)
	36 min	Penalties	24 min
	40	Shots	34

Northern Michigan Won Series 2–1

(4) Bemidji State vs. (5) Michigan Tech[]

March 12, 2021 7:07 PM

Bemidji State

3 – 1 (2–1, 1–0, 0–0)

Michigan Tech

Sanford Center, Bemidji, Minnesota Attendance: 250

Game reference
		Goalies		Referees: Robert Lukkason Brady Johnson Linesmen: Nathan Voll Tyler Landman
	0–1 02:33 – (8) (Ashbrook, Nardella) (Harris, Looft) (6) – 08:00 1–1 (Jubenvill, L. Sillinger) (7) – GW – 14:22 2–1 (O. Sillinger, Ierullo) (6) – 31:42 3–1
	6 min	Penalties	2 min
	26	Shots	34

March 13, 2021 6:07 PM

Bemidji State

4 – 1 (0–1, 2–0, 2–0)

Michigan Tech

Sanford Center, Bemidji, Minnesota Attendance: 250

Game reference
		Goalies		Referees: Robert Lukkason Brady Johnson Linesmen: Nathan Voll Tyler Landman
	0–1 12:09 – (6) (Swoyer, Thorne) (Kirkup) (3) – 36:58 1–1 (Rosén, Miller) (7) – GW – 37:49 2–1 (Zmolek) (2) – EN – 57:42 3–1 (Ierullo, Johnson) (4) – EN – 59:29 4–1
	8 min	Penalties	2 min
	31	Shots	34

Bemidji State Won Series 2–0

Semifinals[]

(1) Minnesota State vs. (6) Northern Michigan[]

March 19, 2021 2:07 PM

Minnesota State

1 – 5 (0–1, 0–4, 1–0)

Northern Michigan

Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, Mankato, Minnesota Attendance: 250

Game reference
	Dryden McKay (31:05) (28:55)	Goalies		Referees: Bruce Vida T. J. Likens Linesmen: Tyler Landman Nathan Voll
	0–1 01:16 – PP – (8) (Nardi) 0–2 20:24 – GW – (5) (Newhouse, Schultz) 0–3 28:56 – (12) (Sorensen) 0–4 31:05 – (8) (Frye, Schultz) 0–5 32:57 – PP – (9) (Nardi, Vanderbeck) (Furry, Gerads) (8) – PP – 42:49 1–5
	4 min	Penalties	4 min
	29	Shots	20

(2) Lake Superior State vs. (4) Bemidji State[]

March 19, 2021 7:37 PM

Lake Superior State

4 – 1 (1–0, 2–0, 1–1)

Bemidji State

Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, Mankato, Minnesota Attendance: 250

Game reference
		Goalies		Referees: Rick Nelson Mike Forys Linesmen: Matt Tyree Kyle Domin
	(Manz, Jeffers) (7) – 13:28 1–0 (Eriksson, Mucha) (2) – GW – 35:31 2–0 (Miura, Mucha) Hampus Eriksson (6) – 38:14 3–0 (Eriksson) (2) – 44:14 4–0 4–1 56:00 – PP EA – (5) (O. Sillinger, Rosén)
	8 min	Penalties	4 min
	21	Shots	27

Championship[]

(2) Lake Superior State vs. (6) Northern Michigan[]

March 20, 2021 7:07 PM

Lake Superior State

6 – 3 (2–0, 2–1, 2–2)

Northern Michigan

Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, Mankato, Minnesota Attendance: 250

Game reference
		Goalies		Referees: Robert Lukkason Brady Johnson Linesmen: Nathan Voll Tyler Landman
	(Puricelli, Nordqvist) (2) – 01:20 1–0 (Manz, Jeffers) (8) – 12:02 2–0 (Mucha, Henrikson) (3) – 30:50 3–0 (Veillette, Boudon) (13) – GW – 33:30 4–0 4–1 39:14 – PP – (10) (Vanderbeck, Van Unen) 4–2 43:05 – (5) (Frye) (Veillette, Kaelble) (14) – SH – 51:04 5–2 5–3 55:52 – (2) (Erkkila) (unassisted) (15) – EN – 57:24 6–3
	4 min	Penalties	2 min
	30	Shots	28

Tournament awards[]

Most Outstanding Player[]

(Lake Superior State)
^[3]

References[]