Hoosiers set for title run

For the 12th year in a row the Hoosier hockey squad will vie for its first-ever national championship, starting Friday against the University of Pittsburgh Panthers.\nThe Hoosiers, 15-10-3 on the season, earned the No. 3 seed in the Southeast Region of the American Collegiate Hockey Association Championship Tournament, and must win both of their games in order to advance to the next round, held in Rochester, N.Y. \nThe timing of the tournament perhaps could not be any better for IU. The Hoosiers are riding the strongest stretch of their season, losing just one of their last 12 games. Pittsburgh sports a 10-16 mark and a No. 10 seed.\n"Going into the tournament as a top seed and playing the lowest, we must continue to focus on hard work," senior captain Bill Ravensberg said. "We can't underestimate anyone."\nIn a single-elimination tournament anything can happen, especially when a team is playing an unfamiliar opponent, IU head coach Rich Holdeman said.\n"We don't know a lot about Pitt," he said. "We have never played them before and we do not have many very common opponents. We are playing a single elimination game which is always nerve-racking, but we think our team is coming together at the right time."\nThe format for the ACHA Div. II Championship Tournament has seen some slight changes. Last season only 16 teams qualified for the national tournament with the top four seeds from each region competing. This year, it has expanded to 40 teams. The top 10 teams from each region now qualify, with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds automatically advancing. Teams seeded Nos. 3 to 10 in the Southeast Region travel to Aston, Pa., this weekend to play in a single elimination regional tournament, with two squads proceeding to the next round and joining the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds.\nSenior forward Pete Johnson believes the tournament is a great opportunity for the Hoosiers to showcase their skills.\n"We need to go up there with the mindset that we are going to run teams off the ice," he said. "We want to show teams that we should have been ranked higher."\nIf the Hoosiers manage to beat Pitt on Friday, they will play the winner of the Ohio State and William Peterson University match on Saturday. The Hoosiers have yet to beat the Buckeyes this year, losing 4-3 in double overtime and tying two games.\n"We need to practice hard this week," Johnson said. "If we work hard in practice, we play well in games. That's been the trend all year with this squad"