Hockey East sent a record-tying six teams to the NCAA tournament field of 16 and only one remains standing.
Boston University (23-13-2) will be the flag bearer for Hockey East in the Frozen Four when the Terriers engage Penn State (22-13-4) in the nightcap of the semifinal twin bill at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Defending champion Denver (31-11-1) faces Western Michigan (32-7-1) in the opener at 5.
“If feels pretty good, and I mean we obviously fell short in the Hockey East playoffs,” BU junior captain Ryan Greene said prior to the team’s departure on Tuesday morning at Agganis Arena.
“To know we are the last team standing is obviously a big achievement in itself and we will try and represent the league as best as possible.”
The Terriers have been perennial players in the NCAA tournament in their long and storied history. BU is participating in its 40th NCAA tournament that includes 25 of the last 35. The Terriers have reached the Frozen Four 25 times and the last three under head coach Jay Pandolfo.
Last year’s Frozen Four was dubbed the “Blue Bloods” because the four participants, BU, Denver, Boston College, and Michigan have combined to win 29 national championships. This year’s tournament features two returning blue bloods and two teams making their first appearances in the Frozen Four. Pandolfo went to four straight Frozen Fours as a BU player under head coach Jack Parker that included the national championship in 1995.
BU is competing in its third straight Frozen Four on Pandolfo’s watch, but the Terriers failed to reach the championship game in the previous two. BU was knocked out by Minnesota in 2023 and by Denver in last year’s semifinal. Pandolfo is a Terrier to his core, but he doesn’t feel BU’s tournament pedigree carries any weight against the upstart Nittany Lions.
“Just from what we’ve been through this year as a team that the thought hasn’t even crossed our minds,” Pandolfo said. “We have been in this situation before and every team is a tough opponent, every team is a tough out especially when it’s a one and done game.
“I think with our guys that’s not in their minds to be honest with you.”
The NCAA tournament was not on Penn State’s radar when the Lions went 0-8-1 in their first nine Big Ten matches. Penn State went 15-4-4 since the start of the new year and won two Big Ten playoff games before losing to Ohio State, 4-3, in overtime in the title match.
Penn State was awarded the No. 13 overall seed and No. 4 in the Allentown Regional. The Nittany Lions advanced to the Frozen Four by knocking off the two Hockey East finalists, No. 1 seed Maine and No. 2 UConn. Penn State and BU will encounter each other for the first time, and the Nittany Lions will be the 30th team the Terriers has faced in the NCAA tournament.
“They are arguably the hottest team coming into the tournament,” Pandolfo said. “In January, it looked like they had no chance of making the NCAA tournament, and they really caught fire and they are believing in the way they are playing.
“They play fast and transition really well and it is going to be a tough match up. I think they had confidence going into the regional, and they came a long way back and that’s a credit to them.”
Freshman defenseman Cole Hutson was an impact player from the onset and was named the Most Outstanding Player in BU’s Toledo Regional wins over Ohio State and Cornell. Hutson leads all NCAA first year players in points (46) and assists (32) and leads all defenseman with 1.24 points per game.
BU’s post season ambitions were further fueled with the addition of freshman goalie Mikhail Yegorov, who joined the team at the end of January. Yegorov is 6-1-1 in his last eight starts with a stellar .936 save percentage and 1.98 goals against average. He had 33 saves against Ohio State and 37 against Cornell.
Pandolfo’s smartest move prior to the Toledo Regional was to put Greene (13-24-37) in the middle of the second line with junior right-wing Quinn Hutson (23-27-50) and sophomore left wing Shane Lachance (11-18-29). Quinn Hutson scored the overtime game winner against Cornell with assists going to Greene and Lachance.
“They are two really good players and anytime you get the chance to play with guys like Quinnie and Greener you have got to take advantage of that,” Lachance said. “I think we complement each other well and I think we are going to have to be really good to reach our end goal.”
