MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — The No. 2 Boston University men’s hockey team has had its fair share of success at TD Garden this season, posting a record of 4-0 while taking both the Beanpot championship and the Hockey East title.
Now, it’ll try to win a national title on Causeway Street.
The Terriers (27-7-5) defeated No. 7 University of Minnesota Duluth, 3-2, Saturday night in the NCAA Northeast Regional final at Verizon Wireless Arena, clinching the Icedogs’ 22nd Frozen Four appearance and their first visit since the 2009.
Facing off against a physical Bulldogs (21-16-3) squad, BU relied on two goals from senior assistant captain Evan Rodrigues to help secure its bid back to TD Garden.
As with every game, there was a fair share of good and bad takeaways from BU’s performance out on the ice. Here’s a look:
Pluses:
Terrier depth shines
Looking at the big picture, it appeared that Duluth accomplished its goal of shutting down freshman center Jack Eichel — holding the North Chelmsford native off the scoresheet for the first time since the Beanpot semifinal game against Harvard on Feb. 3.
While Rodrigues picked up the slack on the first line with two tallies in the contest, BU received a big boost throughout the game from its deep roster.
With the game tied at 1-1 in the second period, freshman forwards Chase Phelps and J.J. Piccinich — BU’s fourth-line wingers — created space around the Bulldogs’ net, generating an opportunity for junior forward Matt Lane.
Piccinich dished the puck to Lane, who promptly snuck the puck past Duluth goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo at 3:32 to hand BU a 2-1 lead.
BU’s versatile group of players also came up big on the defensive end, especially after freshman defenseman John MacLeod went down with an injury just about halfway through the game.
BU coach David Quinn was forced to roll out five blueliners for the remainder of the tilt, but scarlet and white D-corps stood firm, keeping the Bulldogs off the board through the final 32 minutes of play.
Somerby leaves his mark
He might not have registered a point over the weekend, but sophomore defenseman Doyle Somerby was a huge presence (literally) for the Terriers out on the ice.
While the New York Islanders prospect used his 6-foot-5 frame to impact Saturday’s game — including a bone-crushing hit on UMD forward Tony Cameranesi at center ice in the second period — he also impressed with both his offensive and defensive awareness.
On multiple shifts, Somerby pinched up on the ice, using his size to win puck battles along the boards while keeping the pressure on the Bulldogs. Later, Quinn noted that Somerby was one of the few skaters unfazed when UMD pulled Kaskisuo in the closing minutes of the game.
“He was immense,” Quinn said. “Very active on the forecheck. Did a great job the last 20 seconds with the goalie pulled. You have a tendency when the other team has six and you have five to kind of sit back and watch. We did that when they almost scored. I thought after that, ‘OK, the guy’s got the puck let’s go defend him.’
“Everybody else has to protect, but don’t give him time. He did a great job jumping. The guy had the puck down by the left of our goalie with about eight or nine seconds to go and people were indecisive and Doyle took charge.”
Evan almighty
He might have been snubbed from the Hockey East First Team earlier this month, but Evan Rodrigues just keeps producing out on the ice.
The Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Northeast Regional, Rodrigues once again came up big for the Terriers, scoring twice — including the game winning goal with just under 2:30 left in the match.
We’ll see you in 12 days Boston! @BUDogPound https://t.co/IEcKBicWgO
— Evan Rodrigues (@evanr17) March 29, 2015
For more on Rodrigues’s performance, check out Andrew’s sider.
Minuses:
Terriers falter in middle frame
Coming out of first intermission, it appeared that the Terriers had the Bulldogs right where they wanted them — jumping out to a 1-0 lead after the first 20 minutes of play.
Ultimately, though, Lane’s second-period strike proved to be the one bright part of the stanza, as the Bulldogs out-muscled and out-hustled the Terriers throughout the period. UMD bested BU goaltender Matt O’Connor twice in the period, first off of a slapshot goal from defenseman Willie Raskob just 37 seconds into play to tie the game.
Just under four minutes after Lane’s goal, Duluth capitalized again, with forward Kyle Osterberg firing a wrister from outside the blue line that bounced off O’Connor’s glove and trickled into the Terrier cage, once again knotting the game at two goals a piece. Minnesota outshot the Terriers by a 13-6 margin in the period.
“I wasn’t surprised how that game unfolded,” Quinn said. “It was kind of like a heavyweight fight. We controlled the first few rounds. Almost had a couple of opportunities to deliver a knockout punch. Then they’d come back and dominate for about 10 or 12 minutes. Then we’d come back and dominate for about 10 or 12 minutes.”
Hohmann takes a tumble
Lost in the scrum at BU’s net following the win was senior assistant captain Cason Hohmann, who wiped out while skating out to his teammates. Hohmann was a good sport about it, however, posting a replay of his slip on Twitter.
Boys are heading back to the garden couldn’t be more excited. Gotta work on my celebrations though #BU #FrozenFour https://t.co/xshhNwPp6G
— Cason Hohmann (@cashohmann) March 29, 2015
What a great accomplishment for our program! Congrats to everyone on the team. It was a joy to watch that winning goal by E-Rod … at a well attended NYC watch-party. Can anyone give information as to the status of Olsson and MacLeod? Please … someone reassure me that these guys will be OK and will be in the line-up on the 9th against a very physical and skilled North Dakota team.
What a turnabout in just one season. With the recruits we have coming in it looks like a long line of NCAA appearances on the horizon. It doesn’t get any better than watching the Terriers play for a National Title in Boston while the Eagles turn in their uniforms to be cleaned and prepped for next year. GO BU
Would anyone, not able to make either game next week, be willing to sell me their tickets? i know that is a long shot request but i figured i would ask
clarification – looking for 2 per game
I have no tickets and am assuming StubHub would be the best place to look. That’s my plan. Anyone know of other sites?
I’m hearing there are some pretty cheap ones on Vivid. That’s what a lot of students are saying, anyway — I haven’t really looked, but might be worth checking.
Thanks Sarah! I never heard of that site … but will launch an investigation. On a more important topic … what’s going on with #13 and #16? I am surprised there has been no updates with their injury status? This can be a huge issue.
Too bad that BU can not have a first shot at a load of tickets this week. NCAA wants too much control and this is one reason college hockey has trouble in getting out people for the games prior this the final four.
Colleges were to pull hockey from NCAA years ago and should have done so.
Should be great weekend for the terriers though.
And could use update on injury status. Need some great reporting here. Sarah, are you listening ???
No word yet on either! My guess is it’s too early to tell, but will keep my ear to the ground on both.
I need them to be healthy! Please make that happen.