It’s not often that expectations from the outset of a long college hockey season meet reality.
The load of NHL talent on the Boston University and Boston College led the two Commonwealth Avenue archrivals to be popular Frozen Four picks before the season began way back in October.
The Terriers and top-seeded Eagles are both just one win away from reaching St. Paul, Minn., after ultimately coasting past RIT 6-3 and Michigan Tech 6-1 their respective NCAA regional semifinal games.
Frozen Four berths will be on the line as BU faces Minnesota on Saturday, while BC takes on Quinnipiac in a regional battle on Sunday.
Here are four takeaways from the first two days of tournament action.
BC, BU find a way
Over the course of the two days, BU and BC shared similar paths to victory by overcoming slow starts with strong finishes.
Atlantic Hockey champion RIT challenged the Terriers early to the tune of a 13-6 shot advantage in the first period, but four of the game’s final six goals went BU's way from the likes of stars Macklin Celebrini — who surpassed the 60-point marker with a goal and an assist — and Lane Hutson, and less heralded players like senior Sam Stevens and Jack Harvey.
With some key players making their first NCAA appearances, simplifying the game plan helped the turnaround later in the game.
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“I thought we were starting to play behind them a little bit more, play them behind the goal line and force them to defend a little bit more,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said. “We were managing the puck a little better, too.”
Both teams have relied on a depth of talent all season long. That was also the case for BC, which also received a tough battle from the CCHA champion Huskies before a four-goal run in the third period put the game out of reach.
This foot work from Ryan Leonard 😮💨🔥
pic.twitter.com/dI8xFA7GQL— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) March 29, 2024
Freshman center Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) logged two goals and two assists while three teammates had three points apiece, including sophomore Bruins prospect Oskar Jellvik. As for the unheralded, junior Connor Joyce (Westwood, Mass.) scored only his second goal of the season from the fourth line.
The boost was especially necessary after Leonard’s classmate and linemate Gabe Perreault was ejected in the second period for contact to the head on a high hit.
“I think our desperation level rose a little bit,” BC coach Greg Brown said. “After that, when we had success and killed it off, I felt like everybody got a little taller and played with just a little bit more energy. Our game rose and we carried it through the third period.”
Quinnipiac fights off Wisconsin
It goes without saying, but Quinnipiac has been there and done that on the big stage.
The defending national champions know what it takes. They have experienced the ups and downs of games at this time of the year.
When Wisconsin erased a 1-0 deficit with two goals in less than two minutes in the second period, it didn’t matter. When junior goaltender Vinny Duplessis had to make stops on multiple breakaways and point-blank chances in the third period and overtime, it didn’t matter. The Bobcats found a way.
𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝟏𝟎 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘
Vinny’s skate save comes in at No. 3 on SportsCenter last night!#BobcatNation x #NCAAHockey pic.twitter.com/kQyYy7EYot
— Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) March 30, 2024
Fourth-line center Victor Czerneckianair (Southington, Conn.) scored his second goal of the game, breaking in off a feed from Ohio State senior transfer Travis Treloar at 11:04 of overtime to lift Quinnipiac to a 3-2 win over Wisconsin in Friday’s late game in Providence.
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“We always talk about our culture. We have a great group, high character people,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “I thought we just battled the whole game, including overtime. There was no panic, no worry on the bench. We really felt we were going to win.”
How does that happen? Pecknold’s club focuses on keeping the foot on the gas.
It showed on the Frozen Four title-winning stage in which now-junior Jacob Quillan scored to beat Minnesota last year. It showed this time around, too.
“I think we take it (to our opponents) and don’t worry about what happens. When you (worry), you make mistakes,” Czerneckianair said. “We’ve been there before, obviously, and we handle adversity so well. We just tried to take it to them.”
Now, it has led to an all-New England showdown against the Eagles — a rematch of a season-opening game on Oct. 7 that BC won 2-1 in overtime.
The Minutemen proved they belonged
The same result? Sure. But it was a tale of two weeks for Massachusetts in terms of effort.
Less than a week after running into the Boston College buzzsaw in the Hockey East semifinals at TD Garden, the Minutemen bounced back with a masterpiece against another high-flying team in top-seeded Denver on Thursday in Springfield.
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Although the end result was a 2-1 double-overtime loss, the performance — a perfect grind-it-out style that matched the game plan going in — was one that coach Greg Carvel can be proud of going away. His team belonged back in the field, despite having to sweat it out for multiple conference championship results to break its way ahead of Selection Sunday last week.
“I didn’t doubt it for a second,” said Carvel, whose team got a tying goal from Princeton graduate transfer Liam Gorman (Arlington, Mass.) in the second period and toughed it out for more than four full periods behind freshman Michael Hrabal’s strong netminding effort. “I thought we would give Denver a hell of a game and we did. In overtime, I loved the energy of our team. I thought we were going to find a way.”
LIAM GORMAN WOULD LIKE A WORD!!!
📺 ESPN2#NCAAHockey x 🎥 @UMassHockey pic.twitter.com/IeHM7PjHXQ
— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) March 28, 2024
Denver entered the tournament with 14 20-point scorers and a nation-leading 4.85 goals per game without playing a game as tight and low-scoring as 2-1 all season, but the Minutemen were suffocating for large stretches and allowed only 24 shots on goal in regulation.
In the end, UMass had the 47-43 shot advantage. Failing to score on power plays in the third period and the final extra session marked the difference.
“Especially after last weekend, we just had to stick to our foundation and identity,” junior captain and defenseman Ryan Ufko said. “We know we’re a big, fast team, so the physicality part was something that we really preached and I feel like really helped us.”
More of the same for Maine
After a 23-win season and its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2012, Maine is back on the national stage.
The Black Bears’ road ended with a 3-1 loss to ECAC Hockey champion Cornell later Thursday in Springfield, but the progress that the program made in only Ben Barr’s third year on the job cannot be understated.
After junior Harrison Scott’s goal 5:43 in got Maine going, Cornell scored in each period — including the final two goals by former Kimball Union standout Sullivan Mack — and held the rest of the game down with its tight-checking style for which it has long been known.
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“It’s hard to put into words right now because it hurts and it’s frustrating. When you don’t win the last game, it feels like a failure,” Barr said. “These guys have worked extremely hard to put our program back on the map, but when you lose a game that was there for you and it ends your season, it really hurts.”
As for the Big Red’s defense, Barr knows it well. A first-period power play went by the boards without a score despite five shots on goal, and like in UMass’ case, it could have decided the game.
“Their goalie (Ian Shane) makes the first save and it’s really hard to get to that second puck,” Barr said. “They’re just structured, they don’t beat themselves. … I played against Cornell teams when I was at RPI, so they’ve been doing the same thing for 25 years.”
