Saturday Recap (2/21): BC beats UConn in overtime, moves up to No. 12 in the NPI
Plus: Isaac Tremblay's natural hat trick, Gavin McKenna's OT winner, and more
Boston College climbed to No. 12 in the NPI after its overtime win at UConn on Saturday, a result that carried added weight in the Hockey East race. The Eagles also leapfrogged the Huskies into second place in the league standings.
Elsewhere around college hockey:
Big Ten: Gavin McKenna continued his torrid run, scoring the overtime winner to lift Penn State past Ohio State.
NCHC: Western Michigan blanked Colorado College, while Minnesota Duluth and Arizona State each posted wins.
ECAC: A natural hat trick from St. Lawrence’s Isaac Tremblay served as the headline performance of the night.
CCHA: Josh Kotai stopped 28 shots to move Augustana into first place in the league standings, at least for now.
Atlantic Hockey: Goaltending ruled the night as JJ Cataldo and Dominik Wasik each recorded shutouts in a 0–0 tie between Army and Air Force.
Independents: Alaska emerged as the new No. 1 team in the UCHC standings, reshaping the race at the top.
Today’s newsletter (#649) has a complete recap of Saturday’s action, with scores and notes from every game on the docket.
Current NPI » Current Standings
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Hockey East: BC beats UConn in overtime, moves up to No. 12 in the NPI
Boston College 2, Connecticut 1 (OT): A massive road win for BC, completing a weekend sweep after the Eagles also prevailed at home Friday night. Lukas Gustafsson ended it just 27 seconds into overtime, snapping home the game-winner. Dean Letourneau added his 18th goal of the season for Boston College.
The game was played at PeoplesBank Arena (formerly the XL Center and Hartford Civic Center) in downtown Hartford and drew a crowd of 10,494.
Northeastern 8, UMass Lowell 2: The Huskies overwhelmed Lowell with, getting goals from eight different scorers. Amine Hajibi dished out three assists, while seven other Northeastern players recorded multi-point nights in a relentless offensive performance.
Maine 5, Merrimack 2: The Black Bears completed a weekend sweep behind another standout effort from Josh Nadeau, who scored twice to give him five goals on the weekend. Mathis Rousseau stopped 21 shots and started both games for Maine.
New Hampshire 1, UMass 0: Ryan MacPherson scored the game’s only goal just eight minutes into the first period, and that was all the Wildcats needed. Kyle Chauvette turned aside 29 shots to earn the shutout.
Providence 5, Vermont 3: Hudson Malinoski powered the Friars with a hat trick, scoring the first two goals of the game three minutes apart in the opening period. Providence improved to 21-8-2 and climbed to No. 6 in the NPI, continuing its strong late-season push.
Big Ten: McKenna’s overtime heroics cap off Penn State comeback
Penn State 5, Ohio State 4 (OT): Ohio State watched a 4–1 lead vanish in the span of roughly eight minutes as Penn State surged back. JJ Wiebusch scored twice, Jared Crespo tied the game late, and Gavin McKenna completed the comeback with the overtime winner, stunning the Buckeyes.
