Sunday, March 18, 2007

Looking Back: Regan Shines at the Garden


35 years ago today, March 18, 1972, BU gained its second NCAA championship, beating Cornell in the title game, 4-0, just a week after a victory over the Big Red in the ECAC tournament final. Goalie Tim Regan, who allowed just one goal in two games was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. The victory concluded the 10-season Jack Kelley era at BU, marked by four Final Four appearances, a 206-80-8 record and a .714 winning percentage.

The backstory here concerns Regan, BU's starting goalie throughout 69-70 and the first half of 70-71, when he lost the job to Dan Brady who led BU to the '71 national championship. The next year, with both goalies returning for their senior seasons, Regan was given leave to play for the '72 U.S. Olympic team that won a Silver medal in Sapporo. Regan lost the starting Olympic job to a late squad addition, Lefty Curran, and then was called home to Boston, just before the end of the Olympics, when Brady was injured. By the time Regan reached Boston, Brady had recovered and Regan saw action in just one regular season game after his return.

Brady was in goal for BU's ECAC tournament win, the school's first, but strained a knee ligament in practice, forcing the rusty Regan into goal. He gave up an early goal on a tipped 80-ft shot against Wisconsin in the semi-final, stopped a Badger breakaway that would have made the score 2-0, then slammed the gates shut as BU roared back for a 4-1 win, led by John Danby's final college hattrick. Two nights later, Regan turned away all 39 Big Red shots, in the 4-0 win to make BU the first Eastern team to win back-to-back NCAA titles, while handing Cornell its first shutout in 225 games.

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