Boston College Shuts Down Michigan in Frozen Four Semifinal

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Boston College will play for its first national championship since 2012 on Saturday night. The Eagles defeated Michigan 4-0 in the Frozen Four semifinals on Thursday at the Xcel Center.

Will Smith scored two goals for the Eagles, which were also his 70th and 71st points of the season. That ties him with Jack Eichel and Kyle Connor for the most points by any NCAA player over the last 20 years.

Smith’s 71 points are the most by an 18-year-old since Eichel and tie him for fifth all-time in points by an 18-year-old. Paul Karina (Maine, 1992-93, 100 points), Kevin Maxwell (North Dakota 1978-79, 82 points), Greg Whyte (Colorado College 1977-78, 82 points), and Troy Murray (North Dakota, 1980-81, 78 points) are the others.

“If you told me this would happen when I was a kid, it would be crazy,” Smith said. “I remember the days watching Johnny Gaudreau in the Frozen Four, and it’s a dream come true. It would be unbelievable to get that trophy just like he did.”

The Eagles got on the board first just minutes into the game. BC’s freshman line displayed its innate chemistry with a tic-tac-toe sequence, resulting in Smith’s 24th goal of the season.

Smith’s goal was scored on BC’s first shot of the game. From there, Michigan took control of the puck, and BC did not register another shot until the 8:48 mark (nearly seven minutes after Smith’s goal).

BC managed to hold onto its 1-0 lead into the first intermission despite Michigan’s offensive pressure. The shot count at the end of the period was 9-6 in favor of the Wolverines.

The second period started back-and-forth, but the Eagles scored two more goals just 49 seconds apart to extend their lead to a comfortable 3-0 with about seven minutes to play.

Smith scored his second of the game when he tried to feed a puck in front. It hit traffic but deflected past Jake Barczewski. Less than a minute later, Cutter Gauthier sprung free from the pack and rifled a wrist shot past Barczewski to make it 3-0 Eagles.

If there was any doubt, Gabe Perreault erased it with a wraparound goal five minutes into the third period, which extended BC’s lead to 4-0.

“In the third period, when we were ahead, we started to simplify our game, play a little safer, use the walls a little more, and we were able to do a nice job keeping pucks out of the middle and spending more time not scrambling in our zone,” Brown said. “So I was really happy with probably the last 12, 13 minutes left in the third. We did a great job limiting their chances to get into the game.”

Michigan still gave a push. The Wolverines put up 17 shots on goal in the third period.

BC goalie Jacob Fowler made 32 saves to post the shutout.

"He's probably the calmest goalie I've ever played with. Any opportunities we give up, just knowing that safety net back there that he's in between the pipes, and he's as competitive as all of us, and he's a great kid as well. So super pumped for him and the game he had today. It's been fun learning how to score goals on him in practice, but great kid and he had one heck of a game tonight.

“He's probably the calmest goalie I've ever played with,” Gauthier said. “Any opportunities we give up, just knowing that safety net back there that he's in between the pipes, and he's as competitive as all of us. Super pumped for him and the game he had today. It's been fun learning how to score goals on him in practice, but he’s a great kid, and he had one heck of a game tonight.”

“We knew Fowler was a great goalie and kudos to him he had a great game,” said Michigan forward Rutger McGroarty. “But I don't think we took away his eyes enough.”

Boston College will take on Denver for the national championship. The Pioneers are vying for their 10th national title, which would set an all-time record. It will be Denver’s third trip to the title game since Jim Montgomery led them to the 2017 national title.

BC will play in its first title game since it won the 2012 national championship over Ferris State.