Golden Knights Prospect Competing in 2025 NCAA Tournament

The greatest tournament in college hockey is almost upon us. Today was Selection Sunday, and the committee chose 16 teams to compete in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The weekend’s big news was that the University of Michigan won’t be on the road to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2019, but when one team falls out, another takes its place. The Providence College Friars will participate in the tournament for the first time since 2019, which means that fans of the Vegas Golden Knights will have a prospect to watch.

The Friars have appeared in the NCAA Tournament five times in their 73-year history. They’ve taken home the title just once, in 2015, and were runners-up in 1985. 

Golden Knights prospect Trevor Connelly is among the Friars hopeful to take home the program’s second NCAA Championship. The Golden Knights selected Connelly with the 19th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. He has four goals and 13 points in 22 games this season. He dealt with an upper-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for five games, but Connelly is fully healthy now.

Read More: The Price of a Cup: Inside the Golden Knights Depleted Pipeline

The first obstacle standing between the Friars and their second title in program history is the reigning National Champion Denver Pioneers. Zeev Buium, Connelly’s teammate in the 2025 IIHF World Juniors, will lead the Pioneers into battle against the Friars. Connelly and Buium took home gold at the World Juniors; they’ll be rivals the next time they share the ice. 

The Friars will take on the Pioneers at 2:30 p.m. on March 28th. The Friars are the second-ranked team in the Manchester Region and are favored to win against the third-ranked Pioneers. The winner of that matchup will face off against the winner of the top-ranked Boston College and Bentley University.

The 2025 NCAA Tournament will officially begin on March 27th, and the second round ends on the 30th. The semi-finals will occur on April 10th, and the two surviving teams will play the championship game on April 12th.