Junior goaltender Devon Levi made 33 saves for the Huskies
Northeastern Defeats Boston University, 3-1, To Advance To Beanpot Title Game
Junior goaltender Devon Levi made 33 saves for the Huskies

Box Score - Highlights

BOSTON - In the late game of the 2023 Beanpot Semifinals, the No. 20/17 Northeastern Huskies (14-10-3) took down No. 3 Boston University (20-7-0) by a score of 3-1 at TD Garden.

Leading nearly wire to wire, the Huskies held the Terriers off the scoreboard for 58 minutes of the contest, and sealed the victory with an empty-netter with 30 seconds to go. Northeastern notched three different goals from three seperate goal-scorers, with a total of seven Huskies tallying points in the game.

- The Huskies tallied the first goal of the contest 14 minutes into the opening frame when Vinny Borgesi stole the puck on the fore-check. A tic-tac-toe play developed when Borgesi tipped the puck to Jack Williams, who then passed back to Borgesi driving to the net. Borgesi found Aidan McDonough on the stick side of BU goalie Drew Commesso where he slotted home a wrist shot into the top of the next to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

- The goal was McDonough's 18th of the season, and the second of his Beanpot career.

- Northeastern was faced with a penalty kill just over a minute later, but were able to kill off the man-advantage of BU, allowing just one shot on net.

- The first period ended with 10-8 shot advantage for Northeastern.

- Northeastern doubled its lead just 1:48 into the second period - sophomore Jack Hughes won the faceoff to Jeremie Bucheler, who took a shot that was saved and deflected off the BU netminder, and forward Jakov Novak. The puck landed at Novak's feet and he tucked the rebound into the net off the backhand for his seventh goal of the season, and the first of his Beanpot career.

- The Huskies were tasked with killing two penalties at 11:50 and 16:17 into the second period - they allowed just four shots on goal while down a man, holding off the Terriers from cutting into the lead.

- Northeastern held a 12-10 in the second period, leading by a margin of 22-18 through two frames.

- A tripping minor 1:15 into the third sent the Huskies to another PK, but Devon Levi stood tall with another four saves on the kill.

- BU took the lead in shots with an offensive flurry in the third period, outshooting the Huskies 16-7 in the third. Northeastern blocked a total of 21 shots in the contest with a majority coming in the final period.

- BU pulled their netminder 17:31 into the period, and a shot from the slot snuck past the NU defense and into the net, giving BU its first and only goal of the game 18:09 into the period.

- With just 30.2 seconds left on the clock, rookie defenseman Hunter McDonald poked away the puck in the neutral zone and took it himself to the empty net, sealing the victory for Northeastern. It was McDonald's first collegiate goal.

- Devon Levi finished with 33 saves on 34 attempts - his record improves to 14-9-3 on the season. The Huskies as a team finished the night a perfect 4/4 on the penalty kill.

- It's the largest margin of victory for the Huskies over the Terriers in the tournament since the 2018 finals (5-2).

The Huskies will move on to face no. 8 Harvard in the 70th Beanpot Championship game. It'll be the first meeting of the two programs in the championship in tournament history.

The Huskies play one Hockey East contest this weekend, Friday, February 10th at Providence College - puck drop is scheduled for 7pm on ESPN+.