BOSTON – Mathieu Caron had 32 saves and Ryan Greene scored twice as second-seeded Boston University topped third-seeded Maine, 4-1 in the semifinals of the 40th annual Hockey East Championship Friday afternoon at TD Garden in front of a record crowd of 17,850. The Terriers move on to take on top-seeded Boston College in Saturday’s championship game at 7:30 p.m. (TV-NESN; ESPN+).
The defending champion Terriers (26-8-2) now have won seven straight and will play in the title game for the 14th time and will bid for their 11th championship.
Maine out-shot Boston University 33-18 with Caron making 26 stops in the last final periods. He made three point blank stops in the first to keep the Black Bears off the board. The Terriers special teams were the difference going two-for three with an extra skater while killing two Maine power plays
Greene opened the scoring 8:59 into the contest ripping home a one-timer in the slot on a feed from Quinn Hutson beating Maine goalie Albin Bolja.
Lane Hutson made it 2-0 with a power play goal at 9:21 of the second, snapping one home from the left side just 24 seconds into the man-advantage. Assists went to Macklin Celebrini and Quinn Hutson (two assists), as Celebrini won the draw and BU kept possession in the attacking zone. Caron was steady again in the middle period stopping all 12 Maine shots.
At 6:48 of the third, the Black Bears cut it to 2-1 on a goal by Lynden Breen. Breen scooted in from the right corner and beat Caron up high, with assists to Brandon Chabrier and Bradly Nadeau.The Terriers would answer at 10:43 converting again on the power play, and the second goal of the game by Greene. BU again had great puck movement in the Maine zone with Greene converting another one-timer on a pass by Macklin Celebrini. Shane Lachance also assisted, with a crisp diagonal pass to start the scoring play.
BU’s Sam Stevens on an assists from Luke Tech and Macklin Celebrini (three assists) capped the scoring with an empty net goal with 27.6 seconds left.
The Terriers only had 18 shots on goal in the game. Boija finished with 14 saves for the Black Bears who saw their four-game win-streak stopped. The much-improved Black Bears (23-11-2), who went 15-16-2 last year, were back in the semifinals for the first time since 2012 and their 23 wins are the program’s most since 2005-06. They are still in line for an at large bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I Hockey Championship. Selections will be announced Sunday evening.
Notes:
- Boston University will meet the top-seeded Boston College in the championship game at TD Garden Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (TV-NESN; ESPN+). The Eagles topped Massachusetts 8-1 in the first semifinal.
- Boston University will meet Comm Ave rival Boston College in the Hockey East title game for the third time, and the first since 2006. BU has won both previous meetings (2006: 2-1 OT; 1986: 9-4 at Providence Civic Center)
- The sellout at Friday’s semifinal was the first at TD Garden since the 2005 championship when both the semifinals and title game were sellouts (17,565). Friday’s crowd of 17,850 is a tournament record.
- Boston University, the defending champion, was making its record 28th semifinal appearance. It was Maine’s 21st, third in league history, and the first for third-year head coach Ben Barr.
- Boston U will appear in the title game for the 14th time, so far going 10-3, defeating Merrimack in OT last year. Its 10 titles are the second most in league history.
- The Terriers have won seven straight games equaling its longest winning streak this season.
- Second-year BU head coach Jay Pandolfo is now 5-0 all-time in the Hockey East Championship
- The much improved Black Bears, who went 15-16-2 last year, were back in the semifinals for the first time since 2012 and their 23 wins are the most since 2005-06. They are still in line for an at large bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I Hockey Championship.
