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Boston Globe
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Here's a close look at Thursday's NCAA Tournament men's hockey matchups
Cole Eiserman is tops among NCAA freshmen with 21 goals. Goalie Mikhail Yegorov ranks in the top 10 for goals-against average (1.99) and save percentage (.931) Advertisement The Terriers will face an old nemesis in forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, who transferred from Northeastern for his graduate season and leads the Buckeyes with 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists). The Rhode Island native Former UConn goalie Logan Terness (2.27 GAA, .925 save percentage) has started each of the last five games after splitting time with Kristoffer Eberly during the regular season. The Buckeyes are the third seed in their 11th trip to the tournament. The winner will move on to face top seed Michigan State or No. 4 Cornell on Saturday. The Big Red finished sixth in the ECAC but won the conference tournament to extend Mike Schafer's tenure at least another week. The coach announced last June that he would call it a career after the 2024-25 season, his 30th. Advertisement The first day of the tournament will conclude when UMass takes on Minnesota in the second game of the Fargo, N.D., regional in a scheduled 8:30 p.m. start. It will mark the first game for the Minutemen since the top 10 candidates for the Hobey Baker Award were announced, a list that somehow did not include forward Cole O'Hara, whose 51 points (22 goals, 29 assists) are fourth most in the nation. The junior is a true two-way player, playing on the top units on the power play and penalty kill. UMass had four other players post 30 or more points — Aydar Suniev (36), Jack Musa (35), Lucas Mercuri (31), and Bruins draft pick Dans Locmelis (30). The Minutemen are the No. 3 seed and have qualified for five of the last six tournaments. UMass has not played since Minnesota was co-champion of the Big Ten with Michigan State. However, the Spartans took 7 of the 12 points during the regular season to earn the No. 1 seed and a bye in the conference tournament. That proved costly for the Gophers, who had to play Notre Dame in the quarterfinals, and dropped two out of three and were eliminated. They will have gone 18 days between games by the time the puck drops Thursday night. The upset, combined with Western Michigan rolling to the NCHC championship, was enough for the Broncos to finish fourth in the PairWise and take the last No. 1 seed. Minnesota finished fifth overall and is the second seed. Advertisement The Gophers are making an NCAA-best 42nd tournament appearance and are led by Hobey Baker finalist Jimmy Snuggerud 's 49 points, while Connor Kurth and UConn transfer Matthew Wood each have a career-best 38. Sophomore Sam Rinzel was named the conference's defensive player of the year. Should the Minutemen prevail, they'll advance to Saturday's final against the winner of the Western Michigan-Minnesota State game. The setup has a familiar feel. In 2022, Western Michigan, Minnesota, and UMass were the top three seeds in the Worcester regional. The Gophers rallied from a two-goal deficit Thursday's NCAA Tournament schedule Toledo, Ohio, regional Boston University (21-13-2) vs. Ohio State (24-13-2): 2 p.m. ESPNU Michigan State (26-6-4) vs. Cornell (18-10-6): 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ Fargo, N.D., regional Western Michigan (30-7-1) vs. Minnesota State (27-8-3): 5 p.m., ESPNU Minnesota (25-10-4) vs. UMass (20-13-5): 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 Follow Andrew Mahoney
Boston Globe
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Maine, BU, UConn and Northeastern looking to advance to Hockey East men's championship game
Advertisement BU and UConn will kick things off Thursday at 4 p.m. BU took five of six points from the Huskies this season, winning the Hockey East opener, 4-2 at Agganis Arena on Oct. 18, then getting the extra point in the shootout after the two teams skated to a 2-2 tie in Storrs on Feb. 25. That game would be remembered in part for Cole Hutson's goal halfway through the third period, The Terriers are 4-0 since the tie at UConn, advancing to the semifinals with Junior Quinn Hutson leads the team with 46 points after setting career highs in goals (20) and assists (26). Goalie Mikhail Yegorov (8-4-1) is fourth in the NCAA with a .937 save percentage, while his 1.82 goals against average is good for sixth. Advertisement UConn is riding an eight-game unbeaten streak, including a 3-1 win over Providence in the quarterfinals. Since Jan. 1, the Huskies are 13-2-3, good enough to climb up to fourth in Hockey East, and reached 20 wins for the third time in the last four years. They enter Thursday's contest seventh in the PairWise, the system used to select and seed the NCAA tournament, one spot behind BU. The run is all the more impressive considering the team was picked to finish eighth in the conference in the preseason, and is just one reason why Mike Cavanaugh was named the conference's coach of the year. Sophomore Joey Muldowney set the program record for goals in the Hockey East era with 24 and has registered a point in 10 straight games. Linemate Jake Richard has an 11-game point streak. They are centered by graduate senior Hudson Schandor, who sustained a lower leg injury in the first period against Providence, but managed to get back on the ice in the second period and score the tying goal. The captain was out for the rest of the game, and will be a game time decision for Thursday. After Northeastern's top line of Cam Lund, Jack Williams, and Dylan Hryckowian has combined for 49 goals and 65 assists. Lund's 17 goals are the most on the team, while Williams leads the squad with 41 points (16 goals, 25 assists). Advertisement Sophomore goalie Cameron Whitehead has turned it up in the postseason, stopping 74 of 77 shots for a .961 save percentage through two games. He recorded 30 saves against BC, with the lone goal surrendered with 2:34 remaining when the Eagles went with an empty net for an extra skater. Maine reached the semifinals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2004-05 and 2005-06. They did so by getting goals from seven players in a 7-1 rout of UMass Lowell. Goalie Albin Boija was named one of the four finalists for the Mike Richter Award on Wednesday, given to the top goalie in men's Division 1 hockey. The sophomore's 1.75 goals against average is fourth in the country, while his .930 save percentage is fourth among goaltenders who have played more than 30 games. Harrison Scott (17 goals, 15 assists) leads the Black Bears with 32 points, followed by Taylor Makar's 28 (16 goals, 12 assists). Rated third in the PairWise, Maine is on track for a No. 1 seed in the tournament. Hockey East semifinals: Thursday, March 20 at TD Garden Boston University vs. UConn, 4 p.m., NESN+ Northeastern vs. Maine, 7:30 p.m. NESN+ Follow Andrew Mahoney
Boston Globe
10-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
No letting up for Boston College, Boston University as Hockey East's regular season wraps up
Coach Greg Brown credited the leadership group with making the sure the team was focused as they concluded the regular season at 25-6-2 and No. 1 in the PairWise, Advertisement 'You don't want to take your foot off the gas at all,' Brown said. 'You especially don't want to start to play loose, because sometimes that's hard to get back. The staff was really pleased with the way our guys were dialed in.' Ryan Leonard and goalie Jacob Fowler both added to their résumés for postseason awards consideration, with Leonard scoring his NCAA-best 29th goal (ninth game-winner) and Fowler recording his seventh shutout. ▪ BU (20-12-2) followed up the win over Providence (21-9-5) with a 6-1 win at Vermont. Freshman Cole Eiserman had a hat trick against the Friars, then added another against the Catamounts for his 20th, tied for the team lead with Quinn Hutson, who tallied a pair at Vermont. ▪ UMass (19-12-5) took 4 of 6 points from Maine (21-7-6) to inch closer to securing a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Cole O'Hara had a pair of goals in Friday's win to give him 49 points (22 goals, 27 assists), good for third in the nation. Advertisement ▪ The Minutemen are 11th in the PairWise and would give Hockey East six teams in the 16-team field, joining BC, Maine (fourth), BU (sixth), UConn (seventh), and Providence (eighth), all of whom will have a bye for the first round of the conference playoffs, which begin Wednesday night and are single elimination. Related : UMass will host Vermont (11-20-3), UMass Lowell (15-15-4) is home against UNH (13-15-6), and Northeastern (12-19-3) will be at Merrimack (13-20-1). All three games begin at 7 p.m., with NESN carrying the NU-Merrimack contest. The winners will advance to quarterfinal play Saturday. One quarterfinal matchup is already set: Providence at UConn (20-10-4) on Friday night. ▪ After trailing 1-0 through 20 minutes, Harvard (12-15-3) erupted for five goals in the second period en route to a 5-2 win over RPI to advance to the ECAC quarterfinals. It was just the third time the Crimson scored at least five goals this season. Aku Koskenvuo recorded 36 saves and was named ECAC goalie of the week. Freshman Mick Thompson had two goals and an assist to earn the conference's rookie of the week honors. That followed up an impressive February in which he posted 12 points in eight games and was named the national rookie of the month by the Hockey Commissioners Association. The Ontario native has 22 points in his last 20 games. The loss marked the end of Dave Smith's tenure as coach at RPI. He was fired Monday after going 87-152-19 since taking the job in 2017. ▪ Holy Cross (22-13-2) can be grateful Atlantic Hockey America has a best-of-three format for the quarterfinals. The Crusaders survived a scare from AIC (13-23-2), dropping the opener, 3-2, Friday before rallying to win the next two nights to advance to the semifinals. AIC forced overtime in the decisive Game 3 when Brett Bamber scored with less than a minute remaining, but Michael Abgrall wasted little time before calling game, his tally less than a minute into the extra session sending Holy Cross to the semifinals where it will host Army in a best-of-three set to start Friday night. Advertisement The loss marked the end of AIC's time as a Division 1 program. The school administration 'Nine years and seven championships later, we've achieved what many thought impossible in college hockey,' ▪ Bentley (20-14-2) will travel to Sacred Heart (21-11-5) for the other AHA semifinal after sweeping Canisius. Connor Hasley posted a pair of shutouts, giving him an NCAA-best 10 this year as the Falcons posted 20 wins for the first time as a Division 1 program. The series at Sacred Heart opens Friday night and will mark Bentley's first trip to the semifinals since 2009. Follow Andrew Mahoney
Boston Globe
03-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Hockey East men's teams begin to separate as regular season winds down
Advertisement Already without Oskar Jellvik and Brady Berard, BC lost two more forwards Friday when freshman Teddy Stiga left with an upper-body injury and junior Andre Gasseau was whistled for slew-footing and assessed a game misconduct less than a minute into the third period. Stiga missed Saturday's game at Durham, as did Gasseau, who served a one-game suspension. Perreault ties it up and Powell picks up his 100th career point with the primary assist! Watch on — BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) ▪ There was a scary moment in the second period of Friday's game when UNH goalie Jared Whale went down after being struck by one of his teammates. Play was halted with 4:51 remaining as Whale was secured to a backboard and stretchered off the ice, then taken to a local hospital. Fortunately, he was discharged after being evaluated and returned to campus. Rico DiMatteo came on and stopped 6 of 7 shots, as well as 31 saves in Saturday's loss, which was good for a 1.34 goals-against average and .949 save percentage. The senior was named the conference's goalie of the week. ▪ Maine (21-6-5, 13-4-5) stayed within striking distance of the Eagles by sweeping Vermont (11-18-3, 6-14-2). Advertisement ▪ UMass (18-12-4, 9-9-4) took 5 of 6 points from UMass Lowell (15-13-4, 8-11-3) in a series that had postseason implications. The Minutemen vaulted to sixth place in the conference, as well as 12th in the PairWise, while Lowell dropped to 15th and is on the outside looking in for the NCAAs. Cole O'Hara had two goals over the weekend to give him 20 for the season. He is second in the nation and first in Hockey East with 47 points. Tonight — UMass Hockey (@UMassHockey) Greg Carvel became the all-time winningest coach at UMass with 167. ▪ UConn (19-10-4, 11-8-4) took another step toward clinching its first trip to the NCAA Tournament by sweeping Northeastern (11-18-3, 6-13-3) by a combined score of 12-3, including a 7-2 beatdown at Matthews Arena on Saturday that sent the team back to Storrs eighth in the PairWise, one spot behind Boston University, which was idle. ▪ Providence (20-8-5, 10-7-5) posted a pair of one-goal victories over Merrimack (13-18-1, 9-12-1). It's the eighth 20-win season in Nate Leaman's 14-year tenure as coach for the Friars, who are sixth in the PairWise. ▪ This was supposed to be the year in which one of the other ECAC schools would end Quinnipiac's reign. That theory picked up momentum when the Bobcats opened conference play with a pair of losses at home to Dartmouth and Harvard Nov. 8-9, dropping to 3-5. Advertisement But Quinnipiac (22-10-2, 16-5-1) responded by going 19-5-2 the rest of the way to clinch its fifth consecutive Cleary Cup with a 4-0 win over St. Lawrence. Jeremy Wilmer, a junior transfer from BU, had a pair of goals and an assist in the win. Quinnipiac sits at 13th in the PairWise and would benefit from a deep run in the conference tournament to qualify for the NCAAs. Left the five-hole open 🤷♂️ — Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) ▪ Harvard (11-15-3, 9-10-3) closed the regular season with a 4-3 overtime win at Yale and a 3-3 tie at Brown. The Crimson open the conference tournament by hosting RPI Friday night, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals. ▪ American International College lives to fight another day. The Yellow Jackets (12-21-2) defeated RIT, 2-1, in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey America tournament. AIC entered as the higher seed but the game was played on the campus of the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. AIC's home rink, MassMutual Center in Springfield, had booked Disney on Ice. It was another disappointing development for the team. The school administration Follow Andrew Mahoney
Boston Globe
26-02-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Boston University star freshman Cole Hutson got the attention of ‘SportsCenter' with his highlight-reel goal Tuesday
But when Boston University freshman Cole Hutson scored an improbable goal halfway through the third period of Tuesday night's game at UConn, Kevin Edelson , associate director of athletic communications for BU, was ready to make his pitch on X. 'SEE YOU ON SPORTSCENTER TONIGHT, HUTTY!' the post from the @TerrierHockey account read, along with '#SCTop10.' The folks at ESPN took notice. It not only made the list but was chosen top play of the night. Advertisement In case you missed it, Hutson carried the puck across the blue line into the offensive zone, where he was met by a defender. That's when he brought the puck between his skates to the top of the right circle, where he pivoted and briefly turned his back on the goal, before spinning back around and passing the puck between the UConn skater's legs to himself, breaking toward the net, and burying it past goalie Tyler Muszelik . Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up SEE YOU ON SPORTSCENTER TONIGHT, HUTTY! Watch on ESPN+: — BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) 'It was impressive,' said BU coach Jay Pandolfo . 'He's so talented, so skilled. He can do things like that. He did it tonight, at a huge time in a big moment for him and our group, and it was awesome.' It was a moment that even left the opposition praising the move, and drawing some impressive comparisons. 'The only person that I could see making that play that I coached against, is probably Cale Makar or [Hutson's] brother, Lane ,' said UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh on Wednesday morning. 'It was a fabulous, one-on-one, high-end play. My hat's off to him. He's a great player. Not only that, but the finish. To go far side off the post and in, that was a good finish, as well.' The goal knotted the game at 2, which is how it stood through overtime. BU took the extra point in the shootout as it looked to cement its hold on third place in Hockey East. But the contest goes down as a tie, leaving BU (18-12-2, 12-8-2) at seventh and UConn (17-10-4, 9-8-4) eighth in the PairWise, the system used to seed and select the NCAA Tournament field. Advertisement 'A fantastic hockey game,' said Cavanaugh. 'I think anybody who had a chance to watch it, it was pretty fast-paced, there were some high-end plays. Just overall, a really great hockey game.' Weekend plans The BU-UConn tilt was the perfect prelude to the penultimate weekend of Hockey East regular-season action, which kicks off Thursday night when UMass (17-12-3, 8-9-3) hosts UMass Lowell (15-12-3, 8-10-2) for the opener of a home-and-home series that will conclude Saturday at Tsongas Center. Both teams are near the bubble, with UMass at 12th and Lowell 14th in the PairWise, giving a playoff feel to the matchup. 'These are huge, huge games,' said UMass coach Greg Carvel . 'We're in do-or-die time of the year. A win is going to take you to another level, and a loss is going to drop you down to another level, so there's a lot riding on every game.' Sitting atop the PairWise, Boston College (24-6-1, 16-4-1) has no such concerns with regard to the NCAA Tournament, but the Eagles would like to move closer to clinching the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament for the second year in a row with a pair of strong performances in a home-and-home series against UNH (11-14-5, 3-13-4) that begins Friday at Conte Forum. Second-place Maine (19-6-5, 11-4-5) will look to keep the pressure on BC when it hosts Vermont (11-16-3, 6-12-2) for a pair. UConn has a quick turnaround after Tuesday's game against BU, beginning a home-and home series by hosting Northeastern (11-16-3, 6-11-3) Friday, while Providence (18-8-5, 8-7-5) hosts Merrimack (13-16-1, 9-10-1) on Friday before traveling to North Andover on Saturday. Advertisement In ECAC action, Harvard (10-15-2, 8-10-2) closes out the regular season with a pair of games at Yale (6-18-3, 5-12-3) and Brown (13-12-2, 9-10-1). The Crimson are seventh in the conference and have clinched home ice for the first round of the ECAC tournament. Atlantic Hockey America begins its tournament this weekend. Holy Cross (20-12-2, 19-5-2) and Bentley (18-14-2, 16-9-1) are among the teams with first-round byes. The Crusaders defeated AIC, 3-1, on Monday to clinch their first regular-season title since 2006. Follow Andrew Mahoney
