BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — For the first time in its brief three-year team history, the Bloomington Thunder will have a representative at the NCAA men's hockey Frozen Four in two weeks.

After helping Notre Dame to a pair of thrilling one-goal wins over the weekend, former Thunder forward Jack Jenkins and the Fighting Irish are Frozen Four bound for the third time in school history and first time since 2011. Jenkins and Notre Dame will face No. 1 overall seed Denver on April 6 at the United Center in Chicago.

Jenkins, who played 39 games for the Thunder in their inaugural season in 2014-15, is in the midst of his sophomore campaign for the Fighting Irish. He has 11 points (6 G, 5 A) in 32 games this season and suited up in both NCAA tournament games this past weekend. Notre Dame knocked off Minnesota, 3-2, in its tournament opener before taking down fourth-ranked UMass Lowell in overtime on Sunday.

The Thunder had five other representatives in the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but all five saw their seasons come to a close.

Following a magical season that saw Penn State win its first Big Ten Tournament championship and earn its first NCAA tournament berth in school history, the Nittany Lions won big in their first ever NCAA tournament game. Of the three Thunder alumni on Penn State’s roster (Vince Pedrie, Blake Gober, and Matt Mendelson), two tallied points over the weekend. A former Thunder forward, Gober picked up an assist as the Nittany Lions trounced Union, 10-3, on Saturday in their first NCAA tournament game. Gober had another assist on Sunday and Pedrie also picked up an assist in a 6-3 loss to Denver, which ended Penn State’s season. Pedrie finished sixth in scoring for the Nittany Lions with 29 points in his sophomore campaign, while Gober ended his freshman season with six points in 16 games. 

Former Thunder defenseman Pat Curry was part of Boston University’s thrilling double overtime win on Friday, a win that saw the Terriers oust reigning champion North Dakota. The site of that game was Scheels Arena, the home of the USHL's Fargo Force and a rink that Curry had played on with the Thunder during the 2014-15 season. Curry had an assist on BU’s first goal in the game against North Dakota, the 11th point of his freshman season. The Terriers fell short in overtime against Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, as their season came to an end.

The other Thunder alumni part of the NCAA tournament this past weekend was Cornell’s Matthew Nuttle. Nuttle and the Big Red dropped their opening game of the tournament to UMass Lowell, as they finished the season 21-9-5 overall. In his sophomore season with Cornell, Nuttle ended the season with seven points in 34 games.

The Thunder finish their final road trip of the weekend this Friday and return home on Saturday night to start the final homestand of the season. Saturday night is Miller Park Zoo Night, featuring a Zoo animal squeeze toy giveaway for the first 500 fans 12-and-younger and $1 hot dogs. There will be live animals from the Zoo at the game and ticket stubs from the game will get fans into Miller Park Zoo for free on Sunday, April 2.

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