Previewing the Frozen Four: BU and Penn State have different pedigrees, but similar journeys to St. Louis
Advertisement
BU barely resembled a team that would even qualify for the tournament, never mind reach the Frozen Four, when it dropped a 7-5 decision at Yale on Dec. 29.
But when asked after Wednesday's practice at Enterprise Arena if he envisioned his squad back in the Frozen Four after stumbling against the Bulldogs, coach Jay Pandolfo said he still had plenty of belief.
'I think sometimes it's good for a team to go through the adversity we've went through this year, as long as you learn from it,' said Pandolfo. 'And I think we have, in a lot of different moments.
Advertisement
'Right after the game maybe if you asked me, I would have said something different, but knowing these players that we have, I'd say, 'Yeah, we'll find a way.''
Helping to spark the turnaround has been goalie Mikhail Yegorov, who has started the last 16 games since enrolling in the school in January, going 10-5-1 with a .931 save percentage and a 2.04 goals-against average.
Mikhail Yegorov joined the Terriers after the new year.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Even with the turnaround, the Terriers have had a few clunkers, including a 5-1 loss at home to Northeastern on Feb. 21 and a 5-2 drubbing at the hands of UConn in the Hockey East semifinals on March 20 that didn't even feel that close. But they responded with a pair of strong showings in the Toledo Regional, posting victories over
Whereas bouts of inconsistency continue to plague BU, Penn State has been on a roll since the holiday break. After sputtering to a 7-9 start, including an 0-8 mark in Big Ten play, the Nittany Lions have gone 15-4-4 since Jan. 1.
They received the final at-large bid for the tournament and were the No. 4 seed in the Allentown Regional, but managed to post wins over
Advertisement
Goalie Arsenii Sergeev will certainly look familiar to Hockey East fans. He played two years at UConn before transferring to Penn State for the 2024-25 season, going 19-8-4 with a .918 save percentage and a 2.56 goals-against average. He was the goalie of record for the Nittany Lions' second-half surge.
Although both teams are getting stellar play in net, the game shouldn't lack for offense. BU ranks fourth in the NCAA in goals per game at 3.8. Penn State is seventh with 3.5. Junior Quinn Hutson and freshman Cole Eiserman each have 23 goals to lead the Terriers. Hutson's 1.39 points per game is second in the NCAA, while younger brother Cole Hutson leads all NCAA defenseman in points per game (1.24) and is first among NCAA freshmen in points (46) and assists (32).
Related
:
Sophomore Aiden Fink leads Penn State in goals (23) and assists (30), and is third in points per game nationally with 1.36. Freshman Charlie Cerrato is second on the team in both assists (27) and points (42).
Previewing Denver-Western Michigan
While BU and Penn State are meeting for the first time, the day's first matchup features teams that are very familiar with each other. Western Michigan (32-7-1) and Denver (31-11-1) met three times this season, all decided by one goal, two of which went to overtime. The NCHC foes split a series in Kalamazoo, Mich. in December. The Broncos took the rubber match in the conference championship game March 22, rallying from a 3-0 hole to force overtime and prevailing, 4-3 against the defending national champions.
This game also features a disparity in postseason experience. Denver has won 10 national titles, the most of any Division 1 program, and is going for its third in four seasons. Western Michigan is making its first appearance in the Frozen Four.
Advertisement
The winners will meet in Saturday's championship game (7:30 p.m., ESPN2).
Follow Andrew Mahoney
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
42 minutes ago
- USA Today
Divided opinions on Michigan sign-stealing scandal just part of college football tribalism
From the moment the Michigan sign-stealing scandal spilled into public consciousness roughly 21 months ago, it has served as the ultimate Rorschach test for college sports tribalism, for the pettiness of longstanding rivalries, of our voracity for social media conspiracy theories and how quickly controversy can turn into celebrity. Just imagine if you had told anyone with a working knowledge of Michigan's football program August of 2023 that they'd win a national championship and the person who got a Netflix special out of it would be … Connor Stalions? I rest my case. And now, as Michigan braces for the findings and penalties stemming from its NCAA infractions case on Friday, we will hear all of it again regardless of the outcome: Complaints from Ann Arbor over selective enforcement, complaints from Columbus (and perhaps points beyond) that the NCAA didn't hit hard enough, half-baked justifications for Stalions' behavior and eye rolls from the sports nihilists who think all of this is silly because rules were never meant to be followed in the first place. We undeniably live in a more permissive culture than at any time in NCAA history. The Overton Window on what we consider a college sports scandal changed forever on Nov. 5, 2011 when Jerry Sandusky was arrested are charged with 52 accounts of sexual abuse. Things that used to shock people, like agent involvement in a recruitment or payments to college athletes, no longer registered the same way - and that true even before the NCAA made that stuff legal. So the impulse now is to shrug our shoulders at all of it. If you don't like Michigan, you probably want them punished. If you root for Michigan, you probably think this was all a ridiculous witch hunt. And if you have no skin in the game, you probably are just laughing at the NCAA for trying to punish anyone for anything at this point. But I'll propose a radical thought here: Maybe, just maybe, the way all of us experience sports would be better if we simply pushed back a little harder on the idea that cheating – even in the ridiculous world of college sports -- isn't a big deal. A couple months before I ever heard the name Conor Stallions, I was having a phone conversation with Shawn Klein, an Arizona State philosophy professor who has extensively written about and studied ethics in sports. At the time, I was working on a project that became an award-winning 10-part series about the history of cheating in sports, which human beings have grappled with dating back to chariot races in Greek and Roman antiquity. When I asked Klein why people tended to view cheating in sports differently than, say, cheating on their taxes or cheating on their significant other, his explanation forever changed how I thought about this stuff. The gist is that while we live in a world of rules that have been put in place to help us make our lives better and organize society, we'd still a society in some form even if there were no rules or laws. Sports don't work that way. If there were no rules, the game itself wouldn't exist. 'The point isn't to get the white ball in the hole with a stick,' Klein said. 'It's doing it given the constraints you've all agreed to, which is what creates the game. By going outside that, you're not playing the game anymore in some way. So the process is maybe more important in sports than in other parts of our lives. What we actually care about is the doing of the thing, not just that we get there first.' Let's apply that to Michigan. If Stalions' in-person scouting allowed the Wolverines to obtain higher quality information about their opponents than they would otherwise have been able to obtain by following the rules, this wasn't a gray-area issue. It was cheating, and we should be honest about that and treat it with a level of seriousness that discourages others from similarly tainting a sport they profess to care about. The hard part, though, is what that means in a practical sense. Would it feel right to strip away Michigan's title when we all saw that, sign stealing or not, the Wolverines were by far the best college football team in 2023? Would it be fair to tell Michigan's current players who had nothing to do with the actions of a low-level analyst that they aren't eligible for postseason games? Does suspending current head coach and then-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore for a few games look like a just punishment or symbolic fluff? There are no great answers, and it's symbolic of why the NCAA's enforcement model ultimately failed. As much as schools knew that cheating was culturally corrosive and wildly prevalent in college sports, they never truly trusted themselves with the instruments to manage it. Michigan will most likely be hit with a potpourri of penalties that won't hurt much, and perhaps that's the right outcome. Stalions is back in obscurity and Jim Harbaugh is in the NFL, the latter being a far bigger penalty than anything the NCAA could come up with. But whether Michigan cheated on its way to a national title shouldn't be up for debate. Thanks to an enterprising staffer who was so desperate to impress his bosses that he crossed every line imaginable, the Wolverines were playing a different game than their opponents. And if you can't acknowledge that, they played you too.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
'Nebraska Deserves to Be Back on the Map': Dylan Raiola Aims to Lead the Revival
LAS VEGAS — As Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule flitted from one ballroom to the next at Big Ten Media Days last month, he shared thousands of words in response to an avalanche of questions about quarterback Dylan Raiola, the former five-star phenom who became a true freshman starter for the Cornhuskers last fall. From the moment Raiola made his stunning commitment to Nebraska on Dec. 18, 2023, offering yet another twist in a high-profile recruiting process that previously included verbal pledges to both Ohio State (seven months) and Georgia (seven months), his every move enthralled a passionate fan base desperate to reenter the national conversation as college football ushered in an expanded 12-team playoff. Raiola's father, Dominic Raiola, earned consensus All-American honors as an offensive lineman for the Cornhuskers a quarter-century ago before enjoying a lengthy NFL career with the Detroit Lions. His uncle, Donovan Raiola, became Nebraska's offensive line coach a year before Rhule took over and has remained with the program ever since. Winning the race to sign the next Raiola, who was the No. 21 overall prospect and No. 3 quarterback in the 2024 recruiting cycle, trailing only Julian Sayin (Alabama) and DJ Lagway (Florida) at that position, helped fuse the Cornhuskers' rich history with what they hope will be an equally promising future. For at least the next two seasons — and perhaps longer if Raiola spends four years in college — much of the program's trajectory hinges on its quarterback, the second-best recruit in school history behind former tailback Marlon Lucky, whose career at Nebraska began the same year Raiola was born. It's one of the reasons why Raiola was among the quartet of players flanking Rhule during the league's preview event last month in Las Vegas, even though he's just a sophomore. Because if the 2024 campaign was about Raiola easing into college football as a teenager in an increasingly mature sport, then Rhule knows the upcoming season will be more of a showcase for the unquestioned face of Nebraska's program. "I think our team is going to play for Dylan," Rhule said. "And I love coaching the young man." References to Raiola's age — he turned 20 earlier this year — were quite frequent during Rhule's various sessions at Big Ten Media Days, especially when he was asked about the quarterback's growth from Year 1 to Year 2. Rhule wanted reporters to know that it wasn't easy for Raiola, who was only 18 when he enrolled in January 2024, to vocally command an offense and a locker room that housed fifth- and sixth-year seniors, some of whom were nearly seven years his elder. Raiola approached the experience with reverence and caution, believing he needed to "earn my stripes, earn respect from my teammates," independent of his ascension on the depth chart, as Rhule declared him the starter after three weeks of camp last August. The adjustment was in keeping with the uphill battle Rhule had pitched to Raiola during the recruiting process, when he encouraged the legacy quarterback to bypass playing for "the best team in the country," which, at that time, was presumably Georgia, for the chance to turn the Cornhuskers around after seven consecutive losing seasons. He outlined a vision in which achieving something difficult at Nebraska "is how we become great," particularly in the eyes of such loyal fans. And Rhule believed that the struggles Raiola would undoubtedly navigate while playing for a rebuilding program might double as valuable experience for his eventual transition to the NFL, where a downtrodden franchise might one day draft him. "I think as a young quarterback [it's about] handling those adverse moments," Rhule said. "The thing I love about Dylan is he always wants the ball in his hands. He's never, like, shied away from that. He'll be the guy that wants to make the play. A lot of guys want to shoot a lot of shots, but they don't want to take a shot at the buzzer. Who wants to take the shot at the buzzer? And he wants to take the shot at the buzzer." It meant that Raiola, like so many other quarterbacks in similar positions, endured both the pulsating highs and soul-crushing lows of college football during his first season. An intoxicating 5-1 start that included a rollicking victory over historical rival Colorado gave way to a crushing 49-point loss to then-No. 16 Indiana that included three interceptions from Raiola. An impressive drubbing of Wisconsin in the penultimate game of the regular season — Raiola threw for 293 yards and one touchdown while snapping a streak of five consecutive outings with at least one INT — was quickly forgotten when Raiola fumbled in the waning seconds against Iowa the following week, ushering in Nebraska's fifth one-possession defeat of the year. That result sunk the Cornhuskers' record to 3-10 under Rhule in one-score games and became the program's 23rd such loss over the last four seasons, the most in FBS during that span. By the time Nebraska's season ended in late December, with Rhule becoming the first Cornhuskers' coach to finish over .500 and win a bowl game in the same year since Bo Pelini in 2013, the freshman campaign from Raiola could be viewed through several distinct lenses: the opening five games in which Raiola produced nine touchdowns and only two turnovers; the remaining eight games in which Raiola contributed just four touchdowns while committing 11 turnovers; the final three games under newly promoted offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, two of which were victories, that saw Raiola complete 72% of his passes and throw more touchdowns than interceptions; the victory over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl that ended with Raiola high-fiving fans at Yankee Stadium as Nebraska's faithful dreamed about what could be with their budding star at the helm. And despite all the ups and downs, Raiola still finished the season with more passing yards (2,819) than any other true freshman in the country. "Nebraska deserves to be back on the map," Raiola said. "And it's not because of me or something that I did. It's just the type of program it is. It's a program ready to go win. And it's one of those types of programs that's going to be put back on top. Like we said earlier, those hard things, those hard times will all come to fruition if you just keep going and stay at it. Good things will happen." Plenty of good things happened for Nebraska over the winter and spring as Rhule, who has won at least 10 games in Year 3 at each of his previous two collegiate stops, continues to surround his quarterback with the kind of talent necessary to compete for a berth in the College Football Playoff, be that on the coaching staff or the roster itself. In early December, amid Nebraska's preparation for its bowl game, the Cornhuskers reached a two-year agreement with Holgorsen to become the program's full-time offensive coordinator. It's a role that Holgorsen, best known for his head-coaching stints at West Virginia and Houston, last held at Texas Tech (2007), Houston (2008-09) and Oklahoma State (2010) while overseeing offenses that all scored at least 40 points per game. Nebraska hasn't averaged 30 points per game since 2018, when former coach Scott Frost and then-offensive coordinator Troy Walters installed their spread-option scheme. Rhule's retention of Holgorsen preempted an impressive period of player acquisition via the transfer portal that equipped Raiola with a handful of noteworthy plug-and-play starters at premium positions. Former Alabama right tackle Elijah Pritchett (No. 45 transfer, No. 6 OT) and former Notre Dame right guard Rocco Spindler (No. 139 transfer, No. 10 IOL) should solidify an offensive line that finished tied for 78th nationally in sacks allowed last season. While former Kentucky wideout Dane Key (No. 34 transfer, No. 10 WR) and former Cal wideout Nyziah Hunter (No. 200 transfer, No. 35 WR) can anchor a passing attack that must replace three of its top four options. "The reason why I believe that we're about to make the jump is because each and every day, whether it's our administration, whether it's the people around us, no one is saying, 'It's this person's fault, it's that person's fault,'" Rhule said. "Everyone is owning the product. Yes, we have to win more, that's the deal. But we came into a program that we knew was going to take a little bit of time to fix. I think we're close to fixed." Raiola is certainly doing his part, too, beginning with a commitment to reshape his body and shed some of the teenage softness that still clung to his frame last season. Through a combination of extra running, speed work and an improved diet — all of which, he said, are designed to keep him healthy during what Nebraska hopes will be a lengthy 2025 campaign — Raiola arrived at Big Ten Media Days feeling much better physically than at this time last year. He now resembles something closer to a grown man. And Raiola certainly looked the part in Las Vegas while sporting a custom black suit, red spiked shoes and with his pocket square and lapel pin perfectly arranged. Because anywhere Nebraska goes these days, Raiola is the unquestioned star of the show. "As much as I didn't want hard things to happen at our program," Raiola said, "like Coach Rhule would tell me, they happen. And I'm still here now, right? Our team is ready. I'm excited. We have a bunch of great dudes ready to go play this year." Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
NCAA to deliver Michigan's ‘signgate' verdict Friday, fines, suspensions likely, no hammer
For nearly the past two years, the college football world has sat with bated breath following the media firestorm regarding the Connor Stalions advanced scouting allegations. But after that length of time, with much speculation, consternation, rival jubilation, and more, the era of 'signgate' in Ann Arbor is set to soon come to a close. The allegations first surfaced in October 2023, and escalated to the point where then-head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten (not the NCAA) for the final three games of the regular season. The Wolverines went undefeated in that time, eventually winning the Rose Bowl and then the national championship. Still, the NCAA investigation persisted, eventually culminating in a Committee on Infractions hearing this past June, where NCAA enforcement, Stalions, and a University of Michigan contingent all presented their cases in front of a semi-independent judiciary. With the time for negotiated resolutions with the NCAA now at a close, it's up to the COI to deliberate and then give their verdict as to the 'crimes' and punishment. And according to Pete Thamel at ESPN, they have reached their decision and will reveal all on Friday. At the moment, despite some media -- and certainly rivals -- predicting the worst, if not outright hoping, there's no indication that 'the hammer' will be coming down as predicted. Those hopes are that the Wolverines will vacate wins, the national title, and have a future postseason ban. However, there have been no indications that any of those things are being considered. The expectation, rather, is that Michigan will have a hefty fine imposed, that Harbaugh and Stalions will receive some kind of show-cause penalty, and that the NCAA will either accept current head coach Sherrone Moore's imposed two-game suspension (as levied by the university for deleting texts he later produced) or alter it to more or less games. There could be additional recruiting restrictions, but the maize and blue had already imposed some (though it's unclear if those were for 'burgergate' or 'signgate). Unless there's some kind of appeal -- by the university, Stalions, Harbaugh, or elsewhere -- which could result in the case going to court, Friday should mark the end of what's been a headache for the Wolverines. At long last.
