BOSTON – Northeastern men’s hockey goaltender Cameron Whitehead upended the Hockey East tournament into a free-for-all with the strongest effort of his college career.
The 6-foot-3, 185-pound sophomore from Orleans, Ontario, recorded 30 saves to lift No. 9 Northeastern to a 3-1 upset victory over No. 1 seed and defending champion Boston College in the Hockey East quarterfinals on Saturday night at Conte Forum.
Whitehead recorded his 13th win against a team that had scored 121 goals this season. BC’s Jacob Fowler, the Hockey East Goaltender of the Year, finished with 17 saves and took his sixth loss of the season.
“I was feeling pretty good, and it helps when the team is so bought into the game plan and blocking all the shots for us,” Whitehead said. “We played with a lot of confidence because we were the only ones who believed we were going to win.”
The Huskies improved to 14-19-3 and 8-14-3 in the league and will take on No. 2 seed Maine in the nightcap of Hockey East semifinals on Thursday (7:30 p.m.) at TD Garden.
No. 3 seed Boston University, meanwhile, will face No. 4 UConn in the opening semifinal at 4 p.m.
“Obviously, it was a huge win for this group,” NU coach Jerry Keefe said. “I am really proud of the way they stuck together and played for each other out there, selling out and eating pucks and committed to playing a checking game.”
Despite the loss, BC (26-7-2, 18-5-2) is the No. 1 team in the country and will draw the top seed when the NCAA tournament pairings are announced on Sunday, March 23.
The Eagles advanced to the NCAA title game against Denver last season, so this group will refocus with renewed vigor between now and the Manchester Regional.
“It’s over; we’re on to Cincinnati,” said BC coach Greg Brown, doing his best Bill Belichick impersonation, “We have to forget it, but we feel the sting, and we’ll use that.”
The Huskies were intent on bringing their heightened physical game to the Heights, and that was evident five minutes into the opening frame.
While BC got the better of zone time and transition passing, several Eagles were on the business end of crushing hits at both ends of the ice. BC had a 13-7 advantage in shots on goal after one period.
“When you play a skilled team like BC, we talk about our checking game a lot,” said senior center Ryan McGuire, who scored the final goal. “It means finishing your hit everywhere, being on top of the puck, and playing an honest game.”
Whitehead caught a huge break when sniper Ryan Leonard hit the post on a breakaway at 10:30. The game went to a 4-on-4 situation for the third time in the period when BC center James Hagans (slashing) and NU left wing Joe Connor (Boarding) drew matching penalties at 10:59.
The teams had just settled back into even strength play when Northeastern took a 1-0 lead on junior Cam Lund’s 17th of the season at 14:11. Lund took a feed in the neutral zone from center Jack Williams, found an open lane through the high slot and beat Fowler with a sizzling wrist shot.
NU seized the momentum and took the crowd out of the game on a slow-moving play at 16:20. Senior right-wing Christophe Tellier lofted the puck from the top of the right circle that Fowler stopped but failed to control.
Freshman left wing Joe Connor sailed through the crease and tucked in the rebound to make it 2-0 with his seventh of the season. NU outshot BC, 10-6, in the period.
“They were both big goals, but I thought JC’s goal gave us some breathing room, and it gave us more momentum,” Keefe said. “They were obviously both big goals, and getting the first goal was huge, especially in this building.”
The Eagles opened the third period with their hair on fire and pelted Whitehead from pillar to post. Whitehead made a spectacular glove stop on an uncontested shot by sniper Gabe Perreault from the right circle at 6:38, and the onslaught never abated.
“In the third period, we were all creating chances and spending time in the offensive zone,” Brown said. “But they blocked a ton of shots and credit their team for selling out to get in front of pucks, and when they got through, their goalie made the save.”
Brown took Fowler out of the game for an extra skater with just over three minutes remaining. The move paid off at 17:26 when freshman center James Hagens beat Whitehead with a wrist shot through the 5-hole for his 10th of the season.
Tellier exacerbated the Huskies’ predicament by taking a penalty with 25.7 seconds on the clock. McGuire sealed the deal with an empty netter with 2.1 seconds to play.
