Troy, NY-  The Keene State College Men's Ice Hockey Club Team is returning to the ACHA Men's Division 2 National Tournament for the third time in four seasons after defeating RPI, 6-3, in the Regional Championship on Sunday.

The Owls eliminated NECHA rival, Holy Cross, on Saturday in a Regional Semi-Final. 

After taking a 1-0 first period lead to the locker room, Keene State erupted for four more goals in the 2nd period and then survived a third period scare from the Engineers to puch one of 16 tickets to the National Tournament.

Keene joins The University of New Hampshire and fellow NECHA members, The University of Massachusetts and Northeastern University, representing the Northeast Region in competing for a National Championship. 

The National Tournament, sponsored by the NHL Dallas Stars, will be March 22-26 in Plano and Frisco, Texas.  The Owls will play in Pool D which is made up of Northern Arizona University, Lindenwood University and the University of Cincinnati.  The winner of pool D will will advance to the National Semi-Final on Monday, the 25th for a chance to advance to the Championship game on the 26th.

Traveling to Dallas is a monumental expense for the teams competing in the Tournament.  The Keene State team has set a goal of fundraising $10,000 to offset some of the expenses absorbed by the players.  The Owls will be posting information on their #10kIn10Days drive early this week.  More information about the National Tournament is available at achahockey.org