Thursday's NCAA Tournament Recap
BU, Cornell, UMass, and Western Michigan advance to regional finals
ICYMI earlier …
Toledo Regional
Boston University 8, Ohio State 3
It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.
Just ask Boston University.
Ohio State had three separate one-goal leads on the Terriers and outshot them 15-2 in the first period. But BU came back with six unanswered goals late in the second period and throughout the third period en route to an 8-3 win.
“Certainly not the start we were looking for, that's for sure,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said. “We just weren’t winning battles or skatking even in the first period.”
Cole Hutson had four points for the Terriers (1g-3a) and Jack Hughes finished the game with three points for BU (1g-2a). Cole Eiserman scored two goals.
“If you had told me after the first period that we won 8-3, I would have laughed at that,” Pandolfo said. “But at the end of the day, we got the result we were looking for.
“The season is over if you don’t find a way. Our guys are going to fight until the end.”
The Buckeyes season ended on a sour note after they were one of the most surprising stories in college hockey this season.
“It sucks how it ended," goaltender Logan Terness said. “Don't think any of us saw that coming … a lot of fault on that's on me. I think, just the third period, I had to step up to make any big saves I needed to and ultimately, we lost as a result.
“[BU] has good players and make good plays. At the end of the day, I got to come up with some of those saves. I don't care if it's the best chance from the best player in the world, I think I got to make those stops for our team, especially in this big game, and just wasn't able to today.”
“We win as a team, we lose as a team,” OSU coach Steve Rohlik added. “We don't lose as one guy or two guys, and that's been us all year. … Not one guy in a room all year points a finger at anybody. Logan's been outstanding. I mean, he's been a backbone of our team.”
Cornell 4, Michigan State 3
Two third-period goals, including the game-winner from Sullivan Mack with 10 seconds left, propelled Cornell to a 4-3 upset win over Michigan State.
Michigan State outshot Cornell 37-21. Ian Shane made 34 saves to help the Big Red win their seventh straight game.
“I kept telling our guys: ‘ignore the shots on the board,” Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. “They shoot a lot of pucks from everywhere.
“We've been waiting for 365 days to get here. I think losing, just like anything else, prepares you to be more resilient. It prepares you to be better. And I think that's what these guys did tonight.”
Shane was able to shake off a bad turnover in the second period that resulted in Karsen Dowart scoring a go-ahead goal for the Spartans. Shane came out to play the puck and put it right on Dowart’s stick, who had an open net to shoot.
“You just kind of laugh it off. It's a tough goal, not one you want to let in,” Shane said. “But like I said earlier, you can't really get too far ahead of yourself. Can't worry about it.”
The Spartans finished the season 26-7-4.
“I got into coaching 18 years ago, and it took me 30 seconds to understand that I don’t care what anyone thinks,” Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale said. “I care about the guys in the room and I told them I’m super proud. They’ve done everything we have asked and I think if you look at it, we got a chance to play for six trophies this year and we won five of them. This is the one we really wanted obviously, and we fell short.
“This is the reality of a single elimination,” Nightingale said. “That’s as solid as we’ve played for about 53 minutes. I thought we controlled a lot of the play. We had some opportunities to extend the lead. Their goalie made some good saves and all of a sudden, you’re in a ball game there. We needed a big penalty kill at the end and couldn’t get it done.”
The Big Red have a chance to get to the Frozen Four on Saturday when they face BU in the regional final. Cornell has not made the Frozen Four since 2003.
“This season has fed me everything that I could not imagine,” Schafer said. “As a coach, you've been in the business for 39 years, and you think you've seen everything.”
Fargo Regional
Western Michigan 2, Minnesota State 1 (2OT)
Western Michigan won its second straight double-overtime game, defeating Minnesota State 2-1.
“They certainly did give us all we can handle and just made every inch of the ice very hard to earn,” Western coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “I thought there were some tackle football moments out there as well, but we fought through them. I appreciate them deciding not to call anything and let the players earn it, and we did.”
Kaden Bohlsen’s goal early in the third period tied the game at 1-1. Grant Slukynsky’s 10th goal of the season was the game-winner at 7:14 of the second overtime.
“We talk often in our locker room about toughness,” Ferschweiler said after the win. “There’s two types of toughness – physical toughness and will, but there’s a mental toughness as well. That’s zero frustration, stick with it, believe in what we’re trying to do, believe in yourself, and believe in each other. That’s all we talked about in between periods.”
Hampton Slukynsky made 28 saves for Western.
At the other end, Alex Tracy stopped 42 shots for Minnesota State.
“Terrible way for these guys to go out,” Luke Strand said. “Love the effort.”
Massachusetts 5, Minnesota 4 (OT)
UMass scored three goals in the third period to pull even with Minnesota, and Aydar Suniev’s 20th goal of the season in overtime was the game-winner for the Minutemen in a 5-4 win over the Gophers.
“We were not very good in the first half of the game,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “We challenged the team at the second intermission and it looked like UMass hockey in the third period. Extremely proud of the guys. That was a huge win.”
The Minutemen trailed 3-1 after the second period. Suniev’s 19th goal of the year made it 3-2 early in the third. Daniel Jenčko tied the game a little over a minute later off Nathan Airey, who entered the game while Minnesota starter Liam Souliere was removed for an equipment issue.
“We didn’t get [an explanation],” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said. “[The official] said we had to change goalies. We said we didn’t. He came to the bench. What if he stayed on the ice and we went out? We couldn’t use our timeout because it was going to take longer than a minute to fix. So he told us we had to switch goalies.”
The rule that prompted the official to force Souliere’s removal is new in the rulebook (I believe). It’s rule 69.2.
Souliere returned, and Francesco Dell’Elce gave UMass a 4-3 lead with 4:53 left in the third.
Jimmy Snuggerud scored with 3:36 left in the third period to tie the game, which set the stage for Suniev’s overtime winner 4:49 into overtime.
“In the third period our guys turned it on,” Carvel said. “We were losing puck battles and we weren’t physical in the first and second period. In the third period, we started winning battles.
“Suniev and his line wasn’t very good for two periods. Jenčko hadn’t played in three weeks and it took him a while to get going. Lucas Olvestad, who won a national championship last year, he was telling guys, ‘Come on, this is not us, we need to get going.’ I pointed him out after the game. He’s been a great addition to our team. He’s an older guy who has been through it. He was the leader tonight.”
Motzko believed that there should have been a tripping call in the neutral zone before the OT winner.
“What’d you feel?” Motzko replied when asked postgame if he felt there was a trip. “Two goals tonight. We all get the mandate from the NCAA on sportsmanship, and I have to be up here. I shouldn’t be the one sitting here right now. Two goals tonight. Two. The first one a guy got his head taken off with a high stick. It ended their season. Give UMass credit, they had a hard push in the third period, but that first one got them started. ... It’s unfortunate. Someone else should be up here right now.
“Our coaching staff, and me personally, we loved coaching this team this year,” Motzko said. “From start to finish, they gave us their heart. They were an unbelievable group to be around. It’s been one of the most enjoyable seasons of my career. It’s a crying shame that we’re sitting here right now like this. These guys deserved better.”
The two no calls that led to immediate goals by UMass should be utterly embarrassing to the NCAA