For the first time in school history, the Miami University men's ice hockey team has advanced beyond the regional finals and is slated to play in the Frozen Four April 9. After downing No. 1 seed Denver University 4-2 March 27 and No. 2 seed Minnesota Duluth 2-1 March 28, the RedHawks returned to a hero's welcome Sunday as about 100 fans braved the cold rain to congratulate them at the Goggin Ice Center.

Across Oxford, this exciting accomplishment still has yet to sink in for many fans, and the same rings true for the brotherhood.

"The excitement when we got back was very high," said freshman Cameron Schilling, member of the West Regional All-Tournament team. "It took me a while to realize that we won, and we were going to the Frozen Four."

For senior members of the squad, the victory was perhaps even more special. Each of the last three seasons, the Red and White have played in the NCAA tournament, including two regional final appearances in 2007 and 2008, only to fall short each year. This year, after so many career ups and downs, the senior class and has finally been rewarded for its patience and perseverance.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," senior captain Brian Kaufman said. "To be in the locker room the past four years after (losing) that (regional) game and to see the heartache and the tears, it's a hard locker room to be in, so to be able to celebrate this year with the guys and the coaching staff and all the other guys calling on the phone-all the guys that left after last year and the last couple years-it's really, really special."

This season's young team has had success that many may have deemed unlikely at the outset of the season, but aided by head coach Enrico Blasi's wise and patient leadership, by the tight-knit bonds of the brotherhood and by the passion and heart of the team, the Red and White has achieved what it believed in and gave Miami's hockey program a big boost in the process.

"A knock that's always been on Miami is they're a great team during the regular season, but they can't win the big game in the end," Kaufman said. "In order to get here we obviously had to win some big games and overcome some adversity and some doubt from a lot of people, so I think that was a big step for the program. We've had teams that, in my eyes, probably should have been here but weren't able to make it, so it's a big step for sure for this program."

That "knock" manifested itself in Miami's early departure from the CCHA tournament at the hands of the Northern Michigan Wildcats. Perhaps that loss was just the wake-up call the brotherhood needed and admission into the national tournament was a second chance the RedHawks felt lucky to have and didn't intend to waste.

"(If the season had ended with that loss to NMU I would have felt) bitter, bitter disappointment," senior Justin Mercier, member of the West Regional All-Tournament team and regional MVP, said. "The feeling of, not just (for) seniors, but it being potentially our last game, but the feeling of just ending your season on that low note, it just didn't sit well with the guys in the locker room. To get a second opportunity card felt right for us. We had teams win that we needed to win, and fortunately we were able to take advantage of our second opportunity and hopefully we'll continue that in Washington."

So now, the D.C.-bound brotherhood needs to focus on the task at hand-to make the most of that golden second opportunity and make a run for the national championship. This means staying focused and not getting carried away, which may be easier said than done in the midst of all the excitement and anticipation surrounding what is truly school history in the making.

"Last night we met for about an hour as a team, and we went through the experience again a couple days later and made sure everybody had a moment to share their favorite moment from Saturday night and then we basically put that to rest," Blasi said. "Now it's focused on Bemidji and what we need to do in preparation."

Blasi is adamant about keeping practices business as usual so the team can focus on its already well-intact strengths.

"We've got to stay as normal as we can," Blasi said. "We've got a little bit more time to prepare, and so we'll be specific in what we do from day to day."

Mercier echoed the same sentiment, acknowledging Bemidji State is "outstanding" and "in the Frozen Four for a reason," but still maintaining the RedHawks have the tools they need to beat the Beavers and just need to focus on their strengths.

"They've got some pretty potent weapons up front-they've got some guys, I think, that have put up a lot of points in the last four games, and their goaltender's hot," Mercier said. "We just have to approach it the way we have every other game this year, focus on what we can do, focus on our strengths."

The Red and White is slated to battle Bemidji State at 5 p.m. April 9 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Until then, Blasi's boys will be preparing to take on the completion of a dream many years in the making-winning a national championship.

"Obviously the goal the whole year has been to win championships," Mercier said. "You have the opportunity at Christmastime in that tournament to win a championship, you have the opportunity to win a regular season championship and then a playoff championship and we were unable to do that. We were unsuccessful, and now we had an opportunity to do something that no Miami team had ever done before. People remember winning championships and I think that just kind of motivated us and got us thinking, 'Hey, we could make history here.'"