Friday, April 11, 2025

UPDATED On to the final--BU dispatches Penn State, 3-1

 

  

           Note: This will be a short post with more added Friday. Stay tuned.

#8 Terriers, after failing to get past the Frozen Four semifinal the past two seasons, exorcised that demon with a 3-1 win over #12 Penn State at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. BU will face Western Michigan, a 3-2 double overtime winner over defending champion Denver, in Saturday's national title game. Terriers will be seeking their sixth NCAA championship and the first since 2009.

Terriers received second period goals from Jack Hughes and Cole Eiserman and an empty-netter by Jack Harvey after the Nittany Lions cut the lead in half early in the third.  Goalie Mikhail Yegorov came up big once again, stopping 32 shots including a short-handed breakaway and a number of grade A chances in the final period with Penn State pressing for an equalizer.

"We found a way this year to win this game, so this is a step in the right direction," said BU coach Jay Pandolfo. "The first two periods we played real well. We didn't give up a whole lot. They had a few chances in transition but we did a good job."

BU dominated the opening period, outshooting Penn State, 11-7, and easily bringing the puck out of the defensive zone, but only had a handful of good scoring chances.

Early in the second period, Matt Copponi forced a turnover just outside the PSU blueline,  raced into the zone and fired a shot on goal. Goalie Arsenii Sergeev stopped the shot under his leg pad but didn't secure the puck. When he lifted the pad, Hughes was there to poke the puck home for a 1-0 lead. It was his seventh goal.  

Midway through the period, the "Cole train" doubled the lead. Devin Kaplan sent Cole Hutson and Cole Eiserman into the PSU zone on a two-on-one. Hutson held the puck until the defender committed and slid it to Eiserman who quickly roofed a shot over Sergeev. It was his 24th of the season. 

Minutes later with BU on a power play, Yegorov made his biggest save foiling Dane Dowiak's breakaway bid for a short-handed goal.   

BU held a 24-15 shot advantage after two periods. That changed in the final period. Two minutes in, Yegorov stopped an initial shot but Nicholas DeGraves got to the rebound first and fired it home cutting the lead in half. 

Penn State poured another 17 shots on the BU goal, but Yegorov turned them all aside. With Sergeev pulled for an extra skater, BU fended off several scoring chances before Tom Willander pulled a contested puck off the side boards and pushed it ahead to Harvey. The sophomore from Minnesota fired it home from the neutral zone to put the game in BU's win column. It was his 11th goal.

"They funnel everything to the net, which is how they ended up with their goal," Pandolfo said. "Our guys stuck with it. If you're going to win a championship you have to find a way to win those tight games. We've been in a number of them this year."

"We all come here for a reason," Hughes said. "We want to win a national championship. So just thinking about having the opportunity to do that in a couple of days is exciting. Almost doesn't really feel quite real."  

● GoTerriers.com recap and boxscore

● Photo Gallery

● Post-game press conference

●  Highlghts

● Boston Hockey Blog With a Mistake-free Performance, BU downs Penn State in Frozen Four Semifinal

● College Hockey News Third Time Is The Charm For BU At The Frozen Four ; Semifinals recap

● USCHO BU holds off Penn State in Frozen Four  semifinal

  BU Today Frozen Four Victory! BU to Play for College Hockey Championship Saturday

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1 comment:

Skolzman said...

Great win! Leaped over the semifinal hurdle that has tripped them up. Overall solid game on both ends. Let’s grab that title on Saturday night. After that rocky regular season who would have believed this team is in the championship game?

9:50 AM

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