17-03-2025
Northeastern upsetting No. 1 Boston College part of a huge weekend for men's college hockey
The upset kept the Huskies' season alive and left open the possibility that as many as 10 teams from New England could qualify for the 16-team field for the NCAA Tournament. It's not likely the number will be that high, of course, but the fact that it is a possibility, less than a week from when the brackets will be announced, indicates it's a good time to be a college hockey fan in these parts. And that's where the weekend review begins.
▪ BC had taken two of the three meetings with Northeastern, including
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They executed the game plan perfectly, clogging up the neutral zone and limiting pucks on net, with 12 Huskies combining to block 20 shots, led by Vinny Borgesi's three. Cameron Whitehead handled the ones that managed to get through, as the sophomore goalie made 30 saves.
'Obviously the game was personal for us, for the last time we played them,' said Whitehead. 'It feels pretty good.'
The game was scoreless until Bridgewater native Cam Lund and Joe Connor scored 2:09 apart late in the second period to give the Huskies a lead they would not relinquish.
JOE KNOWS PUCK 🚨
📺
— Northeastern Men's Hockey (@GoNUmhockey)
▪ BC is still assured of having the No. 1 overall seed when the pairings are announced on Sunday, and will look to regroup and make some adjustments over the next week.
'I think if teams are going to sit in the neutral zone a lot, we have to get guys skating away from the puck, not just the puck carrier,' said coach Greg Brown. 'I think we did that at times but not as consistently as we'd like to. So we have to do that and just be a little sharper in our execution.'
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▪ There will be six teams from Hockey East — BC, Maine, Boston University, UConn, Providence, and UMass — headed to the NCAA tournament. It could be seven if Northeastern wins two more games at TD Garden, beginning Thursday against Maine in the nightcap. BU will face UConn in the opener, with the championship on Friday.
▪ Like BC, UMass will look to stay sharp over the next week after
'I'm extremely, extremely proud of our team,' said UMass coach Greg Carvel after the loss. 'I thought we played an outstanding game in a tough place against a very good team on the road.
'We're at a phase where this group knows they can beat anybody, and they'll go home [Saturday] believing it probably a little bit more.'
▪ The Atlantic Hockey America champion will hail from Massachusetts, as Holy Cross and Bentley advanced to Saturday's championship game in Worcester. Bentley finished off a sweep at Sacred Heart with a 3-0 win. Connor Hasley made 26 saves to record his 11th shutout, tied for the second most in a season in NCAA history, and one off the record. Ethan Leyh had a pair of goals for the Falcons in the decisive game.
A.J. Hodges had a natural hat trick in the third period of Game 1 to break a 2-2 tie and lead Bentley to the 5-2 win.
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▪ Holy Cross needed overtime and a pair of goals from Devin Phillips to take Game 1 against Army, 3-2, then saw five players light the lamp in Game 2 to complete the sweep, 5-1. Liam McLinskey had a goal and two assists in the clincher to become the first Crusader to reach 50 points (23 goals, 28 assists) in a season since Tyler McGregor in 2005-06.
▪ Harvard nearly pulled off an upset of its own, pushing Clarkson to the limit in the ECAC quarterfinals before dropping Game 3 in overtime, 2-1. The Crimson had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in Game 1, but Clarkson rallied with a pair of goals, including the winner with 25 seconds remaining. Harvard was able to bounce back in Game 2, rallying from a 2-0 hole to win, 3-2, on Casey Severo's overtime goal.
Harvard junior Aku Koskenvuo started all three games, stopping 88 of 95 shots, including 39 saves in Game 3.
▪ Clarkson will face Dartmouth in Lake Placid in the semifinals on Friday. Quinnipiac and Cornell meet in the other semifinal. Quinnipiac finds itself on the right side of the bubble and would inch closer to clinching a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a win on Friday. Clarkson, Cornell, and Dartmouth can only get in with a win in Saturday's championship game.
A Dartmouth victory over Quinnipiac in the title game would likely result in both schools qualifying.
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