College Hockey Update:  The NCAA Division 1 Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament got underway with a killer dogfight (Terriers and Bulldogs) in Manchester, NH., between Boston University and Yale, in which BU had to come on strong late, and last long, to get a 3-2 win in OT.

The game went scoreless for nearly 37 minutes until Yale’s Nate Repensky was able to capitalize on a power play opportunity to give Yale the 1-0 lead, which they held onto through the end of the second, and until there were only about twelve minutes left in the game.

But in the third, Ahti Oksanen netted one to give BU its first score, and to knot the game at one apiece.  With about fourteen minutes remaining to play, BU really amped it up and put tremendous pressure on Yale.  BU had great control over the puck and it continued, as three minutes later, Evan Rodrigues found the net to give BU a 2-1 lead.

But shortly after that goal, BU looked as though they started to play a game of containment and they were not on the attack.  Like a bulldog sniffing a burger, Yale realized the opportunity, and in a blink the tables turned, and Yale was controlling the puck.  Only two minutes later, Frank DiChiara and puck found a way into the goal, and the game was tied up at 2-2.

The game reverted to a dogfight, with BU primarily the driving force, but Yale did not relent.  With about three minutes to go, a Yale penalty put BU in the power play, but Yale was not in the mood to go so quickly, and BU could not capitalize.

With time running out another Yale penalty put BU on the power play, and with almost no time on the clock, a BU shot went of the cross-pipe, bounced off the goalie’s back, but did not bounce in.

In OT it seemed like it was all BU, starting out with a minute and a half power play carry over from the third, but Yale did not relent.  But BU looked in control, and eventually their pace led to Danny O’Regan scoring the winning BU goal about seven minutes into the period.

BU advances to the Northeast Regional Championship game in Manchester, NH, tomorrow at 2:30pm Pacific Time on ESPN2, against the winner of the game between Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota, which is being played right now.  This BU win would not be considered an upset win in our pool, as 41 out of 43 entries picked BU to win.

The Pool

Speaking of our pool, this year we have 43 entries, the most we’ve ever had.  These 43 entries have picked eight different teams to win it all:

• Boston University        15
• Mankato State U.         10
• U. of North Dakota        8
• Univ. of Minnesota        4
• Miami Univ. of Ohio      2
• Michigan Techn. U.        2
• University of Denver     1
• Harvard University        1

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom