Sunday, December 01, 2024

Terriers rally in the third to claim Friendship Four title and the Belpot Trophy

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Down by two goals after two periods in the 2024 Friendship Four title game, #13 Terriers rallied to score three times—including two in the final five minutes by co-captains Ryan Greene and Shane Lachance—to overtake Notre Dame for a 4-3 win and claim the Belpot Trophy. The victory at a packed SSE Arena in Belfast gave BU its first tournament win since its 2023 Hockey East tournament title.

Lachance, who had a hand in all three third-period goals—a goal and two assists—was named both BU Player of the Game and the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Goalie Mathieu Caron delivered another strong performance, stopping 28 shots including 14 in the final period, allowing BU to tie and pull ahead of the Fighting Irish.

“Overall, for our guys to respond the way they did, being down 3-1 in the third period, you could feel it on the bench,” Coach Jay Pandolfo said post-game. “Felt it before we went out to the third period, that we were going to have a great third.

“I didn’t know what the result was going to be, but credit to our leadership group, all four guys. Obviously Shane and Greeneie came up with huge goals, but Kaplan and Hutson, too. These guys led the way there and Caron played great in the third period, too.”

The Lachance-Greene Quinn Hutson trio that had been BU’s top line for the UConn and first North Dakota games was reunited during Saturday’s tournament title game and delivered two goals and four assists to power one of the Terriers' most memorable come-from-behind wins in the Pandolfo era.

As was the case in Friday’s win over Merrimack, the Terrier had a strong start, playing with speed, making crisp breakouts and recovering pucks in the offensive zone.

At 7:48, seconds into a penalty-kill, Kamil Bednarik collected the puck and raced up ice and into the offensive zone. At the high slot, he made a toe-drag past a defender (that would’ve made Evan Rodrigues proud), deked around goalie Owen Say and popped home a backhander for his first collegiate goal.

Notre Dame tied the scored at 12:24 when Michael Mastrodomenico passed to Hunter Strand behind the Terrier defense. Strand fired from slot and beat Caron just under the crossbar. 

Then, right off the next face off, the Irish scored again. BU couldn't get the puck out of the zone at the left point and it went to Danny Nelson below the circle. He flipped a pass over a sprawling Cole Hutson to an unmarked Justin Janicke who knocked it over Caron’s shoulder, blocker side.

Two goals in 15 seconds turned a well-played first dozen minutes from a BU 1-0 lead to a 2-1 deficit.

However, the Terriers didn’t back down and finished the period with nine shots to Notre Dame’s 10. Where BU was deficient was in the face off circle as Notre Dame had a 13-4 advantage.

Early in the second period, after killing a penalty, the Irish extended their lead to 3-1. Blake Biondi raced up the right boards, past Sascha Boumedienne who lost an edge, and from the bottom of the circle beat Caron with a low shot through the five-hole.

That was the only goal in the middle period and while shots favored BU, 8-7, Notre Dame had the better scoring chances. Caron came up big several times to keep the deficit at two goals.

Terriers turned up the pressure as the third period began. A slashing penalty to Boumedienne was negated by one to Biondi and BU had some scoring chances during the 4-on-4 and a brief man-advantage.

At the seven-minute mark, McCarthy brought BU back to within one with his second goal of the weekend. From inside the blueline, he passed to Matt Copponi in the right circle, took a quick return pass and wired a forty-footer past Say on his stick side. Lachance picked up the second assist.

A BU power play at 11:27 yielded five shots on goal, but no equalizer.

With just under five minutes remaining in regulation, Quinn Hutson chased down a puck behind the Notre Dame cage and rimmed it around to Lachance in the left corner. The sophomore co-captain zipped a pass to the top of crease where Greene, flanked by two defenders, poked it between Say’s legs to draw BU even at 3-3 with his fifth goal.

The game-winner came 20 seconds later. On a face off in the left circle, Lachance pushed the puck to the end boards but lost control while circling the cage. The puck went off Quinn Hutson’s skate, then a defender’s skate before Lachance pounced on it and slapped it past Say for his seventh goal and a 4-3 Terrier lead with 4:22 remaining.

Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson pulled the goalie with a minute and a half on the clock, but BU was able to clear the zone several times and prevent any grade A chances.

After the Belpot Trophy was presented to Greene and Lachance, each Terrier had a chance to ring it. Caron made sure to skate over to the BU Band and ring it for them. The Band’s performances throughout the game were recognized several times by the play-by-play announcer.

Pandolfo was pleased with the way BU played from the get-go in both tournament games, noting “Again, it’s a credit to our leadership. They know we have to start games a certain way, and we’ve done that the last couple games and we’ve got to continue to do it.”

On the significance of winning with a tournament title on the line, the third-year coach said “This was our first opportunity [this season]. To find a way to win a trophy, it’s important for our group.”

Shot totals were 31 for Notre Dame and 30 for BU. While the Irish captured 37 of 62 draws, Greene had another strong game at the dot, winning 12 of 21.

Saturday’s win was not the first time this season that the co-captains enabled the Terriers to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. In the second Maine game, Lachance tied the score at 2-2 with 21 seconds left in regulation. Then Greene scored the shootout goal to give BU the extra point.

● GoTerriers.com recap and box score

● Pandolfo Post-game comments Pandolfo/Greene/Lachance 

● Photo gallery

● Boston Hockey Blog Again, Shane Lachance and Ryan Greene deliver heroics as BU men’s hockey wins Friendship Four with 4-3 victory over Notre Dame

● Boston Hockey Blog Never in doubt, BU men’s hockey takes 2024 Friendship Four with 4-3 thriller over Notre Dame

 Looking ahead

2025 recruit John McNelis scored his 11th goal and added two assists to earn first-star honors as Sioux Falls defeated Omaha, 4-1. McNelis, who leads the Stampede in goals and points (19), victimized future teammate Mikhail Yegorov, who stopped 35 of 38 shots.

2026 recruit Tynan Lawrence scored his fifth and sixth goals in Muskegon's 4-3 win over Dubuque. Lawrence leads the Lumberjacks with 14 points in 17 games.

2026 recruit Caleb Malhotra assisted on a pair of goals in Chilliwack's 5-3 win over Alberni Valley. The 6'0" center has 15 points in 23 games for the Chiefs.

 

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