At Least 10 Killed in Horrific Bus-Truck Collision on California Freeway

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A chartered bus taking high school students on a campus tour of Humboldt State University crashed into a tractor-trailer on Interstate 5 in California, killing at least 10 passengers and leaving 36 injured. The crash took place outside the town of Orland, north of Sacramento.

Eyewitnesses claim a Fed Ex tractor trailer crossed the median when it swerved to avoid a traffic accident in its lane and crossed over into oncoming traffic. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and California Highway Patrol were also looking into reports that the tractor trailer was on fire when it swerved into the opposite lane.

According to Fed Ex, the truck was hauling dual trailers. Fed Ex wasn't immediately aware of anything the truck was carrying that could be considered hazardous or volatile, although the company is double-checking records.

The passengers on the bus were mostly high school seniors from southern California and their chaperones who were invited up to Humboldt State University in far north California for a campus tour for prospective low-income or first generation college students. The bus belonged to San Luis Obispo, CA-based Silverado Stages, Inc and investigators were told that the driver of the motorcoach had recently relieved another driver after a stop in Sacramento. Silverado Stages reportedly has a good safety record as well.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius Announces Resignation

Kathleen Sebelius, the former Kansas Governor who was appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services by President Obama and in charge of the disastrous rollout of the healthcare.gov website, announced her resignation on Friday.

Sebelius entered the Cabinet in 2009, three months into Obama’s presidency, as a well-regarded former governor of conservative Kansas. She is leaving after months of intense criticism over the botched rollout last fall of the insurance marketplace.

During the firestorm, Obama made clear to his aides that he would not seek the resignation of his health secretary, and her departure is timed to brighter news for the White House as enrollment soared late last month.

Still, some White House allies said Thursday night that the troubled launch of HealthCare.gov had heightened tensions between Sebelius and the president’s staff members, who had become increasingly mistrustful of the department she led. Some Democrats, meanwhile, had argued privately that someone should be held accountable for the problems with the federal insurance exchange.

According to federal health officials, Sebelius approached Obama in early March and told him that, with the insurance enrollment period ending that month, the time had come for new leadership at HHS, the government’s largest domestic agency.

When the healthcare.gov website launched in late 2013, the White House said their enrollment goal was 7 million. After a problematic rollout of a website that only worked part of the time and was fraught with security problems, both the HHS and White House were mum about enrollment numbers for the last several months. According to some in the White House Press corps, the Administration became increasingly uncomfortable after Sebelius badly fumbled what was supposed to be a sympathetic interview on Comedy Central's The Daily Show in October.

This has also led to speculation that the White House was holding out for any semblance of good news to show Sebelius the door. That opportunity came earlier this month when after months of silence on the actual number of enrollees on the Obamacare website, President Obama held a press conference at the White House, claiming that exactly 7.1 million individuals enrolled through healthcare.gov- although they declined to break down how many of the enrollees had previously had insurance that was cancelled.

The top choice by the White House to replace Sebelius is reportedly OMB director Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who was reportedly responsible for directing the National Parks Service to shut down open-air war memorials during last year's government 'shutdown' (in which an estimated 17% of the federal government had actually shut down).

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Papi Clutch Once Again As Red Sox Rally Late Versus Texas; B's Fall to Wild Cards in Minnesota

Matt Stone- Boston Herald

RED SOX- After getting swept by the Brewers, the Red Sox were hoping to salvage their homestand during the three game series against Texas. Boston took Monday's Game 1 by a 5-1 final. On Tuesday night, Boston was trailing by 9-1 in the bottom of the 6th before rallying for three runs in the bottom of the 7th and three more in the bottom of the 9th- but ultimately fell short by a 10-7 final.

That set up the rubber game on Wednesday with Jake Peavy getting the start against Texas' Robbie Ross. Although Ross walked a lot of Red Sox batters, he was also able to get out of trouble by inducing a number of double-play balls. The Red Sox got on the board in the bottom of the 3rd when with one away and runners on first and second, Dustin Pedroia hit an infield single and Jackie Bradley Jr came home on Robbie Ross' throwing error to make it a 1-0 game.

However, the 1-0 lead wouldn't last and Mitch Moreland would lead off the top of the 7th with a solo homer to tie the contest up at 1-1. Peavy would get two more outs before Tazawa came out of the bullpen in relief. Elvis Andrus would lead off the top of the 8th inning with a double off of Andrew Miller before Miller got Prince Fielder to ground out to first- moving Andrus up to third. Alex Rios would then hit a sac fly to deep center to put the Rangers up 2-1.

In the bottom half of the 8th, Jackie Bradley Jr led off with a walk before AJ Pierzynski pinch hit for Jonny Gomes, getting a single off of Rangers reliever Alexi Ogando. Grady Sizemore then pinch ran for Pierzynski. Dustin Pedroia then grounded into a fielder's choice, erasing the runner at second but moving JBJ up to third base with a runner on first. With Big Papi on deck, Texas manager Ron Washington then called upon Neal Cotts to end the Red Sox rally. Instead, with two on, one out and a 1-1 count, this happened.



After a brief review and conference by the umpires, Ortiz's HR call was upheld and the Red Sox took a 4-2 lead. Koji Uehara then came on in the 9th and got all three batters he faced in order to end the ballgame and nail down Boston's first series win at home in the young 2014 season. Despite a good effort by Peavy, he got no decision after going 6 and ⅔ innings, allowing three hits, one run, four walks and striking out 8 batters. Despite giving up what was at the time the go-ahead run in the top of the 8th, Andrew Miller was credited with the win and Koji Uehara got his second save of the season. David Ortiz led all Red Sox batters on Wednesday going 2-4, including his go-ahead homer in the bottom of the 8th.

On Thursday, the Red Sox will travel to the Bronx for the first time this season to take on the Yankees. New York comes into Thursday night's game sporting an identical 4-5 record after dropping two out of three at Yankee Stadium to Baltimore [the Orioles also sport a 4-5 record while Toronto currently leads the AL East with a 5-4 record- NANESB!]. Clay Buchholz [0-0; 12.46 ERA] will go up against Michael Pineda [0-1; 1.50 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 ET and the game will be televised on NESN and the MLB network.


ELSEWHERE IN MLB- Barely a week into the 2014 season, the Los Angeles Angels were dealt a blow when outfielder Josh Hamilton suffered a torn ligament in his thumb after sliding into first in an attempt to beat out a throw in Tuesday night's game against the Seattle Mariners. Hamilton got off to a scorching start in the 2014 season with a .444 batting average along with two homers and 6 RBI. Hamilton was placed on the 15 day DL and is expected to miss anywhere from six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery.

NHL- With just 3 games remaining in the regular season, the Bruins continue their road trip through the upper Midwest on Thursday night when they make their one and only trip to Winnipeg to take on the Jets. The Bruins are coming off of a 4-3 shootout loss to Minnesota on Tuesday night The Bruins were leading 3-2 in the final 90 seconds of regulation when Ryan Suter got a game-tying goal with 1:05 left in the game.

After a scoreless OT, Mikko Koivu would then get the only tally in the shootout- the two points are enough for the Wild to lead the wild card race in the west for Minnesota.

Meanwhile, the Bruins bested the Jets at the Garden by a 4-1 final in their only previous meeting this season.

Today's Train of Though- Dogwood Bumstead, April 8, 2014

Today's Train of Thought takes us to the heart of Dixie at the start of springtime. In many places throughout the south, many of the railroads and highways are lined with blossoming trees as the winter months recede [although I suspect many trees will be 'late bloomers'- if the bloom at all- due to this year's cold snap in the Deep South- NANESB!].

One pretty common tree is the dogwood, which goes by the latin name Cornus Florida. Besides the white blossoms in springtime, the wood for these trees have been known to be used for anything from cutting boards to golf clubs to walking canes- but probably not railroad ties.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Frank Orona caught CSX SD40-2 #8199 and C40-8 #7530 trundling past a stand of trackside dogwood trees in bloom on March 17, 2009 at Calera, AL with symbol freight M721, the Calera turn assigned between Birmingham and Calera. Immediately behind the two units is a lengthy cut of hopper cars carrying lime from Calera- the town is also home to the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum.

40 Years Ago Tonight- Henry Aaron Breaks Babe Ruth's Career Home Run Record at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium

Tuesday night marks the 40th anniversary of Henry Aaron hitting career HR #715, breaking Babe Ruth's record. Aaron, who spent most of his career with the Braves, faced anonymous death threats in the run up to surpassing Babe Ruth's mark in a deep south not too far removed from Jim Crow- although this wasn't widely known until well after Aaron's 1976 retirement. In fact, journalists and MLB security briefly feared the worst when two white fans rushed out of the stands towards Aaron as he rounded the bases, but as it turned out they were fans who wanted to be the first to congratulate him.


At the time, Aaron was the last player from the Negro Leagues still playing in the big leagues, playing for the Indianapolis Clowns as an 18 year old. Aaron reportedly entertained offers from the Boston Braves and New York Giants- according to Aaron himself, the only thing that separated him from becoming teammates with Willie Mays was that the Braves offered an extra $50 a month. However, by the time Aaron made his MLB debut in 1954, the Braves had moved from Boston to Milwaukee.


By 1957, the Milwaukee Braves bested the New York Yankees in 7 games in the World Series- Aaron's only World Series title in his 22 year MLB career. In 1966 the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta, putting the Alabama-born Aaron back in the Deep South for the first time since he came up through the Braves farm system.


Aaron, who turned 80 a few weeks ago and still resides in the Atlanta area, will be honored during a pregame ceremony at Turner Field before the Braves/Mets game on Tuesday night.


Interestingly, out of the three broadcasters who were calling the game that April night in Georgia, two of them were calling games until 2012 season. Milo Hamilton was the Braves broadcaster that night and went on to become the Astros broadcaster until his 2012 retirement. The late Curt Gowdy called the game for NBC's national telecast that night- he passed away in 2006 and has a state park in his native Wyoming named after him. Since the Braves were playing the visiting Dodgers that night, that meant that Vin Scully was doing the play-by-play for Los Angeles that night. Scully began his 61st year as the Dodgers broadcaster this month.

Search for Missing Malaysian Jetliner Focuses on Southern Indian Ocean

Searchers attempting to track down Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are focusing their efforts on a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean thousands of miles off the coast of Western Australia ever since satellite imagery showed what appeared to be large metal debris churning on the ocean's surface.



Vessels and aircraft from Australia, China and the UK are combing the seas some 2000 km off the coast of Perth, WA are reportedly tracking down the most promising lead on the missing airliner since the Malaysia Airlines 777 vanished from radar tracking a month ago. Over the weekend, searchers have confirmed they've detected an unidentified 'Ping' that is reportedly consistent with a plane's black box.

Angus Houston, who is coordinating the multinational search, said an Australian navy ship had detected two sets of pulse signals which sounded "just like an emergency locator beacon". The development was, he said, a "promising lead".

The first set was heard on Saturday and lasted for two hours and twenty minutes. The Ocean Shield ship then lost contact with the "pings" but turned around and later heard further signals for 13 minutes. It has since lost contact again and was last night trying to relocate the signals.

Significantly, Mr Houston said, the second set included two distinct sounds which would be consistent with transmissions from separate pingers attached to the black box's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.

The new signals are not believed to be related to those detected by a Chinese ship about 345 miles to the south.

Adding to the urgency of the search, the black box pinger has passed the 30 day point at which its battery life is expected to end – though it could last a further two weeks. The aircraft and its 239 people on board disappeared on March 8.

"We're already one day past the advertised shelf life," said Mr Houston. "We hope that it keeps going for a little bit longer."

Mr Houston said it would probably take days to confirm whether the plane has been found and a potential recovery of the aircraft would take a "long time", possibly months.

"What I'd like to see now is us find some wreckage because that will basically help solve the mystery."

Mr Houston said the area in the Indian Ocean where the plane is believed to be located is 14,800 feet deep. An underwater autonomous vehicle will be dispatched to comb the ocean bed for possible wreckage but its depth limit is also 14,800 feet.

Relatives of some of the passengers as well as investigators have been critical of Malaysia's handling of the missing airliner with officials alternately withholding information from searchers or issuing contradictory statements. Recently, one Malaysian official speaking on the condition of anonymity speculated that the aircraft may have deliberately avoided Indonesian airspace after Indonesian military officials told him the missing airliner was never detected on Indonesia's military or civilian radar.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Strange Brew, Milwaukee Ruins Home Opener For Defending World Series Champion Red Sox; Bruins Staying Hot As Regular Season Winds Down

WEEI photo

RED SOX- Now that the weekend series is overI can honestly say the highlight of this weekend's series at Fenway was Friday's pregame ring ceremony.

The ceremony featured members of the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox being awarded their rings, which also included a 'Boston Strong' insignia on the side and a Bearded Band of Brothers on the interior of the ring. On hand for the ceremony were Pedro Martinez representing the 2004 World Series Champs, Mike Lowell representing the 2007 World Series team, Ty Law, Teddy Bruschi and Troy Brown representing the Patriots Superbowl Champion teams, Mark Recchi of the Bruins most recent Stanley Cup Championship team and Leon Powe of the 2008 Celtics NBA Championship team. A moment of silence was held before the ceremony to mark the deaths of Boston firefighters- Edward Walsh and Michael Kennedy- who were killed in a Back Bay brownstone fire last week.

The Red Sox came into the weekend winning two straight against AL East foe Baltimore and Friday's game where it was tied 2-2 headed into the 9th inning, but offseason acquisition Edward Mujica came on in the top of the inning with a disastrous outing, surrendering four runs to propel the Brewers to a 6-2 lead before Francisco Rodriguez came out in the bottom of the 9th to retire the Sox in order to go on to win by a 6-2 final.

On Saturday, the Red Sox fared no better when they lost in 11 innings to the Brewers by a 7-6 final. Sunday was their last chance to avoid the sweep and stop the bleeding with Lester on the mound. However, Yovani Gallardo and the Brewers pen would shut out the Red Sox [Boston would strand 13 runners on base- NANESB!] and Milwaukee would ruin opening weekend for the Red Sox by sweeping the series, going on to win by a 4-0 final on Sunday.

The Red Sox will hope to rebound on Monday night when they host the Texas Rangers- the first AL opponent they will see in Fenway this season. John Lackey [1-0; 3.00 ERA] will get the start against Tanner Scheppers [0-0; 15.75 ERA] and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN as well as locally on NESN. First pitch from Fenway is scheduled for 7:10 ET.




BOSTON BRUINS- After the Detroit Red Wings handed the Bruins their first regulation loss in nearly a month on Wednesday night, the Bruins would lose to the Maple Leafs in OT on Thursday night before heading home for their next-to-last home game of the regular season on Saturday.

The Bruins headed into Saturday's game hoping to clinch the top overall spot in the Eastern Conference and deliver a blow to the Flyer's playoff hopes. David Krejci got the Bruins on the board with just over 4 minutes remaining in the first, but that was a prelude to wild second half in which the Flyers would get on the board with just under five and a half minutes to go in the second thanks to a Wayne Simmonds power play goal. However, the B's would come right back with a goal from Milan Lucic 20 seconds later to take a 2-1 lead. But in the closing seconds of the 2nd stanza, the Flyers would once again pull even with Jay Rosehill beating Rask with 21 seconds remaining.

However, the Bruins would take the lead for good in the third when they scored three unanswered goals (from Boychuck, Lucic and Kelly) to make it a 5-2 game. Tukka Rask made 24 saves on 26 shots faced while Ray Emery stopped 37 of 41 shots faced [Kelly's tally was an empty-netter which didn't count against Emery- NANESB!].

The Bruins will hit the road once again, this time to take on the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday and Thursday before heading back to the Garden on Saturday for the final home game of the regular season where they'll face the Buffalo Sabres. Tuesday night's game is scheduled to get underway at 8:00 ET and will be televised on NESN.

NCAA HOOPS- As you can probably figure out by what's absent from my blog this time of year, I haven't been into bracketology for awhile. But with March Madness whittled down to the final two- 2012 Champion Kentucky and UConn. The Huskies bested the Florida Gators to advance to the Men's final while the Wildcats squeaked by the Wisconsin Badgers in a one point game during the Final Four. Tipoff from Dallas is scheduled for 9:10 ET and the game will be televised on CBS.

Gunman Kills Three at Fort Hood Before Shooting Himself

In a scene eerily reminiscent of the 2009 massacre, three soldiers were killed and 16 were hospitalized on Wednesday after a gunman, identified as 34 year old specialist Ivan Lopez, opened fire on base and shot himself as MP's closed in.

Officials say that Lopez, who was originally from Puerto Rico and served as a truck driver in Iraq in 2011, although he saw no combat. Department of Defense officials say that they're fairly certain Lopez had no ties to any international terror groups, but he had previously self-reported himself for an undisclosed mental health issue.

The 34-year old specialist had also served in the infantry and the Army band and had previously served in the Puerto Rico National Guard.

Lopez legally purchased the murder weapon- a 9-shot Smith & Wesson .45 semiauto- at a nearby store that also reportedly sold Nidal Hassan his gun before his November 2009 killing spree on base, murdering 13 soldiers and injuring more than 30. Lopez was carrying multiple clips and the weapon was not registered with officials on base as is required. Although Lopez was reportedly taking prescription medication and being evaluated from PTSD, there was nothing in his background that would've prevented him from legally purchasing the pistol after a background check.

Witnesses say that Lopez appeared agitated over initially being denied leave to attend his mother's funeral in Puerto Rico. Army investigators also are looking into the possibility that a verbal altercation had preceded Lopez's killing spree. Fox News Latino reports that in a Facebook update from earlier this month, Lopez claimed that he was robbed and- more ominously- he posted in Spanish "I have lost my inner peace, full of hatred. I think this time the devil will take me."

Lopez's mother passed away in November and the Army initially denied him bereavement leave before issuing him a 24 hour pass after his funeral. In October, Lopez's grandfather had also passed away in his Puerto Rican hometown of Guayanilla.

The Army has identified the fatalities as SFC Danny Ferguson of Mulberry, FL, Sgt Timothy Owens of Effingham, IL and Carlos Alberto Rodriguez of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

Massive Earthquake Jolts Northern Chile

At least six people were reported dead after a massive magnitude 8.2 earthquake rocked the northern part of Chile on late Tuesday. Local officials ordered an evacuation of low-lying coastal areas along the northern port cities of Iquique and Arica while President Bachelet dispatched 100 riot police officers and 300 soldiers to assist Carabineros [Chile's national uniformed police force- NANESB!] and local officers in rounding up an estimated 300 inmates who escaped a damaged prison and prevent looting.



Closed circuit TV cameras in pharmacies and shopping centers showed customers running for the doors as the massive temblor shook merchandise from shelves and knocked over displays. Evacuations were ordered for the coastal cities of Arica, Iquique, Tocopilla, Pisagua and Antofagasta. The earthquake was the most powerful to hit Chile since the February 2010 magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the central coast of Chile killed more than 500 and caused an estimated US $5 billion in damages. Tremors from Tuesday's quake were reportedly felt as far away as La Paz, Bolivia and tsunami warnings were issued in Peru and parts of Ecuador.



Chile is part of the "ring of fire"- an area of considerable seismic and volcanic activity that essentially circles the Pacific Ocean and also includes Colombia, Mexico, the west coast of the USA, Alaska, Russia's Far East, Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia. The relatively low death toll for such a powerful earthquake was attributed in part to the stricter building codes Chile has enacted since a devastating magnitude 9.5 earthquake off the coast of Valdivia in 1960- said to be the most powerful earthquake ever recorded- as well as northern Chile being sparsely populated compared to the central part of the country.

April Fool's Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Drop Season Opener to O's, Stop By White House for Customary Visit; Road Trip to Philly Wraps Up Hot March for Bruins; BC Advances to Frozen Four

RED SOX- The end of March heralded the beginning of the major league baseball season, with the Red Sox opening up on the road in Camden Yards. With Lester matched up against the O's Christ Tillman, the O's got on the board first when new acquisition Delmon Young grounded into a double play with nobody out and ex-Ranger Nelson Cruz at third in the bottom of the second.

The Red Sox managed to tie the game back up when Grady Sizemore- in only his second regular season MLB at-bat since July 2011- belted a solo homer to right field in the top of the 4th [His first at-bat was a single in the top of the 2nd- NANESB!].

However, Nelson Cruz would then lead off the top of the 7th inning with a solo homer off of Lester to give Baltimore the 2-1 lead. Tommy Hunter came out of the bullpen for the O's on the top of the 9th and led off the inning by hitting Will Middlebrooks with a pitch. Daniel Nava popped out the third for the first out of the inning but Pedroia followed that up with a single before Big Papi flew out to left field for the second out. With two away, John Farrell decided to have Jackie Bradley Jr come into the game as a pinch-hitter for Mike Napoli, but Bradley struck out to end the ballgame.

So the Red Sox open up the season with a 1-run loss in Baltimore. Not surprisingly, the Opening Day loss was taken in stride and kept in the proper perspective by some members of Red Sox Nation.

OMG! THE SOX ARE IN LAST PLACE....FARRELL'S GOTTA GO....RIGHT NOW!!!!- Obligatory #RedSoxNation Freakout. #RedSox #BOSvBAL #OpeningDay #MLB

— Fenway Nation (@Fenway_Nation) April 1, 2014

However, the Red Sox took Tuesday off to head down to the customary visit to the White House by the World Series champions [their third trip in 10 years and first since Barack Obama was elected- NANESB]. Gone were most of the beards that made the 2013 Red Sox look like a Hub version of Duck Dynasty, although some of the outfits stood out more than others.

THIS IS WHY JOHNNY GOMES WILL ALWAYS BE THE MAN! pic.twitter.com/M8iiXMPG4f

— Glenndrick Lamar (@GlennMTyson) April 1, 2014

The Red Sox will resume play tonight with John Lackey getting his first start of the season while Ubaldo Jiminez, who the Orioles signed to a 4-year, $50 million contract back in February. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

BOSTON BRUINS- The only downside of March for the Boston Bruins is that it's come to an end. Heading into last weekend, they started a 4-game road trip that started with back-to-back games in Washington DC and Philadelphia. On Saturday afternoon, they managed to double up the Caps by a 4-2 final with Chad Johnson in net.



On Sunday afternoon, they headed up the I-95 to take on the Philadelphia Flyers. Just a little after five minutes into the game, Vinny Lecavalier got the Flyers on the board first before ex-Flyer Andrej Meszaros beat Steve Mason to make it a 1-1 game halfway through the first. However, Kimmo Timonen put the Flyers back on top with an even-strength goal in the last 45 seconds of the first period.

However, at 5:44 into the second period, Zdeno Chara would get a power play goal to even up the contest at 2-2 and Patrice Bergeron would get a go-ahead goal from a seemingly impossible angle to give Boston their first lead of the night at the 11:05 mark.

In the third, the Bruins had managed to hold off the Phillies throughout most of the period until inside the final 25 seconds when Vinny Lecalvalier once again broke through and tied the game at 3-3 in regulation with a few seconds left. Since nothing was decided in regulation and the 5 minutes of overtime, the contest then headed to a shootout with Bergeron scoring early for Boston and Claude Giroux for Philly. The Bruins' Reilly Smith finally broke through in the fifth round of the shootout, giving Boston the 4-3 win, although Philly does collect a much-needed point to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Tukka Rask turned aside 49 of the 52 shots he faced prior to the shootout while Steve Mason made 27 saves on 30 shots faced. The Bruins were 1 for 2 on their power play opportunities while Philly went 0-4 with the man advantage.

The Bruins road trip continues through Detroit on Wednesday night- this one will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network. Puck is scheduled to drop at 8:00 ET between the Bruins and Red Wings.

BOSTON COLLEGE HOCKEY- The BC Eagles survived a late challenge from a very game UMass-Lowell in Worcester on Sunday to advance to the frozen Four. Eagles defenseman Ian McCoshen broke a 3-3 deadlock in the 3rd and goalie Thatcher Demko made 29 saves in the Boston College win.

BC will advance to the Frozen Four to take on Union, who eliminated the Eagles last season by beating them 5-1 in the first round of the NCAA Eastern Tournament regional. This would be the Union Dutchmen's second trip to the Frozen Four since the 2011-2012 season, where they lost to Ferris State by a 3-1 final in the semifinal. The game is scheduled for 5:00 PM ET at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 10th.

Meanwhile, Minnesota bested St Cloud State in a 4-0 shutout to advance and face a resurgent North Dakota in Philly. The Fighting Sioux and Golden Gophers are scheduled to play at 7:30 PM ET and both the BC/Union Game and Minnesota/North Dakota games will be televised on ESPN.