WORCESTER, Mass. – It’s hard to make it to the Frozen Four and even harder when your facing a powerhouse team. Sometimes you just fall short that’s what happened on Saturday night at the DCU Center. The Boston College Eagles defeated the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 3-2 to win the Northeast Regional.
The Bulldogs rallied from a 3-0 third period deficit and nearly tied in the dying seconds. but goalie Thatcher Demko and forward Austin Cangelosi combined to pull the puck the away from the goal line and send the Eagles to their 7th Frozen Four in the last 11 years. They will play the winner of the East Regional — either No. 1 Quinnipiac or UMass-Lowell.
Jerry York summed up the philosophy of BC hockey in big games.
“I love these regionals because you get a t-shirt and cool hat,” York said. “So we took the T-shirt and hat games from Bill Belichek and the Patriots. I think it’s good for the kids to have something to look forward to and have something to strive for.”
Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin praised his team’s resiliency.
“How many people thought we were done after 3-0?” Sandelin said. “I really proud of our team, I think we could have went that way. But this groups battled all year, we’ve certainly grown as team.”
The Eagles control the early part of the first period off the draw, as the Bulldogs seemed a little slow after Friday’s two-overtime win. UMD goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo was tested by the Eagles early on, but was able to keep the game tied.
Demko was forced to make some huge saves in order to cover for the Eagles poor play. Miles Wood provided the spark as he leveled Duluth’s Kyle Osterberg as he came through the neutral zone.
Not even a minute later Teddy Doherty put the Eagles up 1-0, Adam Gilmour got the assist on the goal. The Eagles used that momentum to control the rest of the first period.
The second period was completely different from the opening draw the Bulldogs had complete control over the Eagles. The Eagles defense had a tough time dealing with the multiple rushes by the Bulldogs. Demko was forced to make some incredible saves, including a huge toe save on Austin Farley to keep the Eagles in the lead.
The Eagles used Demko’s energy to jump start themselves again in the second period. Doherty scored his second goal of the game to give the Eagles the two-goal advantage. Chris Calnan and Zach Sanford got the assists on the goal that widened the Eagles lead.
After the goal the game started to break down into a much more chippy hockey game. Multiple times Demko was run into without there being any call on the ice, and the Eagles also got away with slashes through slot. Both teams were throwing everything at each other to win this game.
The Eagles seemed to have the game in hand through the early part of the third period.
The Bulldogs struggled to find their legs and weren’t able to get anything meaningful on Demko. Ryan Fitzgerald gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead, Scott Savage and Casey Fitzgerald got the assist in the goal. The Eagles continued to push but Kaskisuo was able to keep the Bulldog’s head above water.
Following the strong play of their goaltender, the Bulldogs started playing their best hockey of the period. Demko was under siege for much of the last half of the period and the Eagles defense struggled with the amount of shots. Austin Farley got the Bulldogs on the board first, Willie Raskob and Alex Iafallo got the assists.
The Bulldogs continued to press and found the back of the net for the second time in the game. Karson Kuhlman scored for the Bulldogs, Farley got the lone assist on the goal. The Bulldogs pulled the goalie to try and get the tying goal, Miles Wood ended up in the box for the Eagles for Interference.
There was scary final chance for Farley, but the heroics of Demo and Cangelosi saved the day.
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