1959 NCAA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1959 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1958–59 NCAA men's ice hockey season, the 12th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 12 and 14, 1959, and concluded with North Dakota defeating Michigan State 4-3 in overtime. All games were played at the RPI Field House in Troy, New York.

1959 NCAA men's
ice hockey tournament

Teams	4
Finals site	RPI Field House Troy, New York
Champions	North Dakota Fighting Sioux (1st title)
Runner-up	Michigan State Spartans (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Boston College Eagles (6th Frozen Four) St. Lawrence Saints (4th Frozen Four)
Winning coach	Bob May (1st title)
MOP	Reg Morelli (North Dakota)
← 1958  NCAA men's ice hockey tournaments 1960 →

As of 2024, this was the last tournament to be won by an independent school.

Qualifying teams

Four teams qualified for the tournament, two each from the eastern and western regions. The Big Ten and Tri-State League champions received bids into the tournament as did two independent schools.

East							West
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type	Appearance	Last bid
1	St. Lawrence	Tri-State League	14–5–1	At-Large	4th	1956	1	Michigan State	Big Ten	16–5–1	At-Large	1st	Never
2	Boston College	Independent	19–7–0	At-Large	6th	1956	2	North Dakota	Independent	18–10–1	At-Large	2nd	1958

^[1]

Format

The Tri-State League champion was seeded as the top eastern team while the Big Ten champion was given the top western seed. The second eastern seed was slotted to play the top western seed and vice versa. All games were played at the RPI Field House. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game.

Bracket

	Semifinals March 12–13					National championship March 14
	E1	St. Lawrence	3
	W2	North Dakota	4*
						W2	North Dakota	4*
						W1	Michigan State	3
	W1	Michigan State	4
	E2	Boston College	3			Third-place game
						E1	St. Lawrence	6
						E2	Boston College	7**

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Semifinals

St. Lawrence vs. North Dakota

March 12

St. Lawrence

3 – 4

OT

North Dakota

RPI Field House

Michigan State vs. Boston College

March 13	Michigan State		4 – 3		Boston College	RPI Field House
(LaCoste, Roberts) Tom Mustonen - 03:50		First period			07:50 - Joe Jangro (Daley)
(Polano) Dick Hamilton - 03:11 (Mustonen) Jack Roberts - 05:33 (Polano) Terry Moroney - GW - 08:10		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			05:34 - Bill Daley (Jangro) 11:54 - Robert Leonard (Cusack)

Consolation Game

St. Lawrence vs. Boston College

March 14

St. Lawrence

6 – 7

2OT

Boston College

RPI Field House

National Championship

Michigan State vs. North Dakota

March 14^[2]

Michigan State

3 – 4

OT

North Dakota

RPI Field House

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	MSU	Ed Pollesel	Mustonen and LaCoste	14:38	1–0 MSU
2nd	UND	Ralph Lyndon	Morelli and Miller	27:21	1–1
	UND	Gerry Walford	King and Haley	28:57	2–1 UND
	UND	Stan Paschke	Lyndon	29:37	3–1 UND
3rd	MSU	Andre LaCoste	Roberts and Norman	48:05	3–2 UND
	MSU	Jack Roberts	LaCoste	56:20	3–3
1st Overtime	UND	Reg Morelli – GW	Miller and LaFrance	64:18	4–3 UND

Shots by period Team 1 2 3 OT T North Dakota 5 17 7 1 30 Michigan State 6 4 13 1 24

Goaltenders Team Name Saves Goals against Time on ice UND George Gratton 21 3 MSU Joe Selinger 26 4

^[3]

All-Tournament team

^[4]

First Team G: Joe Selinger (Michigan State) D: Joe Jangro (Boston College) D: Pat Presley (St. Lawrence) F: Reg Morelli* (North Dakota) F: Bill MacKenzie (Michigan State) F: Ed Thomlinson (North Dakota) * Most Outstanding Player(s)^[5]

Second Team G: Jim Logue (Boston College) D: Ralph Lyndon (North Dakota) D: Ed Pollesel (Michigan State) F: Larry Langill (St. Lawrence) F: Tom Mustonen (Michigan State) F: Joe Poole (North Dakota)

References

1. "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. from the original on July 4, 2009. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
2. (PDF). North Dakota. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 18, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
3. "NCAA Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
4. "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
5. "NCAA Division I Awards". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved July 17, 2013.