In its quarterfinal matchup on Saturday, the Massachusetts hockey team was stopped by Boston University and Cole Eiserman in a 3-2 overtime thriller. While its focus now shifts to earning an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament, the remainder of the conference continued their campaigns for conference gold. The opening and quarterfinal rounds showcased some of the best on-ice talent the NCAA has to offer, and with it brought dramatic finishes and unbelievable upsets.
Hockey East Tournament Opening Round (March 12):
Northeastern at Merrimack (March 12)
The final of three opening round contests saw the Northeastern Huskies take on the Merrimack Warriors in another spirited battle that required multiple overtimes. Merrimack (13-21-1, 9-14-1 HEA) battled valiantly, but sophomore Dylan Hryckowian was the hero in this one, as his second overtime goal won it for the Huskies (14-19-3, 7-14-3 HEA).
Northeastern struck in the second period after a scoreless first. One minute and one second later, the Warriors’ Seamus Powell claimed the tying goal on an assist from Caelan Fitzpatrick. With 4:26 remaining in the second, Fitzpatrick logged another point on a lead-taking Merrimack goal.
With their backs against the wall, the Huskies pushed the game to overtime on a third period Jack Williams strike. Hyrckowian, who scored the eventual game winner, had the primary assist on Williams’ goal.
After no offense was found in the first overtime, the sophomore extended Northeastern’s season on assists from Jackson Dorrington and Vinny Borgesi.
Hockey East Tournament Quarterfinals (March 14 – 15):
Providence at UConn (March 14)
In one of the most even matchups of the tournament, the Providence Friars traveled to Connecticut for a meeting with the UConn Huskies. Joey Muldowney (one goal, two assists) and Jake Richard (three assists) lit up the box score for UConn (21-10-4, 12-8-4 HEA), who won 3-1.
The Friars’ (21-10-5, 11-8-5 HEA) first and only tally came early on, as they scored just three minutes and 44 seconds into the game, stunning the Huskies and their supporters. It was senior Guillaume Richard’s second goal of the year.
UConn broke its trance on Hudson Schandor’s 10th goal of the season. Scoring stalled for the rest of the second, sending both squads into the third period tied.
In the blink of an eye, Muldowney netted the game winner just 20 seconds into the third period. The two teams continued to battle, and with 47 seconds remaining, the Huskies’ Richard fed Muldowney for a game-sealing empty net goal.
Northeastern at Boston College (March 15)
Few analysts had put much thought into the final quarterfinal game, which featured a star-studded Boston College Eagles team that is ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Eagles (26-7-2, 18-4-2 HEA) were seemingly on a quest of destiny, as they were the defending Hockey East champions. Earlier in the season, they lost the Beanpot championship to their hometown rival, Boston University, who is one of four teams to qualify for this tournament’s semifinals. Many believed that fate would have Boston College and the Terriers meet again for a rematch in the tournament.
The Northeastern Huskies had a different idea.
A goalless first period saw the Eagles nearly double the Huskies in shots on goal. It seemed as if neither team’s goalie was willing to give in, until Cam Lund’s electrifying 17th goal of the season stunned the crowd in Chestnut Hill. Two minutes later, Joe Connor doubled Boston College’s deficit with another Northeastern goal. The Huskies led the Eagles 2-0 after two periods.
With time running thin, 18-year-old James Hagens snuck a shot past Northeastern goaltender Cameron Whitehead for Boston College’s first goal. The clock read 2:34, the remaining amount of time for the Eagles to find their equalizer.
A Huskies penalty with 35 seconds to go made the situation even more tense, as Cristophe Tellier went away for a hooking infraction. With the Boston College goalie pulled, the Eagles had two extra attackers on the ice for the final half minute of regulation time. Northeastern fought hard in the defensive zone, shut down Boston College and even added an empty net goal with two seconds remaining.
The Eagles (55 points) lost their bid at back-to-back Hockey East titles to a Huskies team that had less than half their regular season point total (26 points).
Cameron Whitehead was lights out for Northeastern, stopping 30 of 31 shots. Boston College’s Jacob Fowler allowed two goals on 19 shots.
“[I was] really proud of the way they played and stuck together and played for each other out there,” Huskies head coach Jerry Keefe said. “It was just selling out, eating pucks and playing the checking game. We had confidence that if we played a certain way, we’d give ourselves a chance tonight, and Cam Whitehead was outstanding for us for the win.”
Semifinal Matchups:
The Hockey East’s final four will head to TD Garden in Boston to play out the conclusion of the tournament. Both semifinal games will take place on Thursday, March 20. The action will begin with UConn vs. Boston University at 4 p.m., followed by Northeastern vs. Maine at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on NESN+.
The Hockey East championship will be held on the following day — Friday, March 21 — between the winners of both semifinal games.
Matt Kotfila can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @mattkotfila.
