Boston University hopes third straight Frozen Four ends in program's sixth National Championship
The Boston University Terriers are back in the Frozen Four for a third straight year, and are hoping to end a 15-year title drought for the program. The quest will for the school's sixth National Championship continues Thursday night in St. Louis.
The Terriers are one of the last four teams standing after an up-and-down 23-13-2 season, and will meet the bracket-busting Penn State Nittany Lions (22-13-4 on the season) in the nightcap of Thursday's Frozen Four. The two teams are set to take the ice at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis at 8: 30 p.m., after defending champion Denver faces off against Western Michigan at 5 p.m.
Boston University has come up short in their last two trips to the Frozen Four, and last year's semifinal loss to Denver still stings for the team's veterans. But the pain of that defeat has only given this squad more motivation heading into the semifinals.
"Our guys understand what is at stake here," captain Shane Lachance said Tuesday before the team left for St. Louis. "At the end of the day it's the Frozen Four. I don't think we'll have any problems getting up for that. We had a good couple days of battles [in practice] and we're ready to get there."
Fellow captain Ryan Greene said the team is in a good spot heading into Thursday's game and everyone understands what brand of hockey needs to be played to get through to the title round.
"You can't think about it too much. You win two games and you get a National Championship, but you kind of erase that from your mind and focus on yourself and the team, what you have to do as a collective to win," said Greene. "That's where we're at right now; we're just focused on Thursday."
"The standard here is to win National Championships," said Lachance. "It's a great accomplishment to get to the Frozen Four, but if you come up short it's no different than losing last week in Toledo. It's win or go home, and if you come home empty handed it's a disappointment."
Boston University in the Frozen Four
BU punched its ticket to this year's Frozen Four with a pair of thrilling wins in Toledo over Ohio State and Cornell. The Terriers trailed Ohio State 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 in the opening round of the tournament before scoring six straight goals for an 8-3 victory. Five of those goals came in the third period as Aiden Celebrini, Jack Hughes, Cole Eiserman, Jack Harvey, and Cole Huston all scored for the Terriers.
In the second game against Cornell, the Terriers surrendered a game-tying goal late in the third period before winning in overtime. Junior Quinn Hutson scored the game-winner (his 23rd goal of the season) for Boston University 6:25 into the extra frame to send the Terriers to their 25th Frozen Four.
This is the third time Jay Pandolfo has been to the Frozen Four as head coach of the Terriers, after he went all four years (and won a title in 1995) as a player. But BU has come up short in their last two trips to the Frozen Four, falling to Minnesota in 2023 and to Denver in last year's semifinal. Last year's 2-1 overtime loss to the eventual defending champs remains a big source of motivation for the Terriers.
"Obviously you don't want to have that feeling again and that's driving a lot of the guys in the room," said Lachance, who added that the loss to Denver has been on his mind since returning to campus in the fall. "This is another crack at it. There has been a buzz around the rink. We all remember that feeling [last year]. You want to remember how you felt after that game and use that as motivation."
The Terriers haven't made it to the Championship game since 2015, and haven't won a title since 2009.
BU's Hutson Brothers
The Terriers are led by junior forward Quinn Hutson, whose 23 goals are tied with Cole Eiserman for most on the team. Quinn also has 27 assists to give him a team-high 50 points on the season.
But he wasn't the Terriers leading assist-man, a title that belongs to his younger brother, Cole. The freshman defenseman dished out 32 assists during the season to go along with 14 goals, and led all first-year players in the NCAA with 46 points. Cole Hutson is one of the most dynamical players in the college game, and he has a knack for shining in the biggest moments. He was the MVP of the Beanpot in February after finishing with three goals and a pair of assists, and was named the Most Outstanding Player in Toledo after potting two goals and dishing out four assists over BU's two wins.
Mikhail Yegorov in net for Terriers
Freshman goalie Mikhail Yegorov didn't join the team until the end of January, but he's been lights out for the Terriers since allowing five goals to Northeastern back on Feb. 21. The 19-year-old from St. Petersburg, Russia is 6-1-1 with a .963 save percentage and 1.98 goals against average over his last eight starts. He went 10-5-1 with a .931 save percentage and 2.04 GAA overall for the season.
In tournament action, Yegorov stopped 33 of the 36 shots he saw against Ohio State, and 37 of the 39 shots he saw against Cornell.
Penn State in the NCAA tournament
Penn State is in the Frozen Four for the first time ever and is the hottest team in the tourney. The Nittany Lions have gone 14-3-3 since Jan. 11, and are fresh off beating two of BU's Hockey East counterparts in the Allentown Regional.
After giving up an early goal to Maine in their first tournament game, Penn State closed out the first period with three goals of its own. The Nittany Lions scored five unanswered to stun the Black Bears, 5-1, and then beat UConn, 3-2, on an overtime goal by Matt DiMarsico to clinch a spot in the Frozen Four.
Penn State center Charlie Cerrato had five assists over the team's two regional victories and has 27 for the season. He needs one more helper to set a new school record for a freshman.
Sophomore Aiden Fink leads the Nittany Lions with 23 goals and 30 assists on the year, and his 53 points are the most by an underclassman in the NCAA. Penn State Goaltender Arsenii Sergeev has been locked in during the tournament, logging 26 saves against Maine and 42 saves against UConn.
Thursday's game will be the first-ever meeting between Boston University and Penn State. The Nittany Lions will be the 30th different team the Terriers have faced in the NCAA tournament.