COLLEGE HOCKEY UPDATE:  Boston University controlled the tempo through most of the late semi-final game of the 2025 Frozen Four on Thursday, April 10th, in St. Louis.  Boston University and Pennsylvania State University skated to a scoreless first period in which Boston University out-shot Pennsylvania State 11-7.  After a nearly ninety minute delay in the start of the game (as a result of the double overtime early game), it looked as though both teams were a bit off, or out of sorts, perhaps having lost some of their mental “focus” for the game.  It appeared that this might have been a bit more the case for Pennsylvania State; later in the first, BU did appear to start to get their skates under them and sharpened up, at least at moments, and some of the fast skating and fast play that characterized their first two tournament games was evident.

More of the BU zip up and down the ice returned in the second, and very early in the period Matt Capponi pressed and fired a shot that was blocked.  But a sort of goalie error caused the puck to come out in the crease, or the goalie just lost track of it, and a speeding Jack Hughes was zipping to the goal, seeming to be covering for a rebound or garbage run, and his timing placed his stick right into the crease and on the puck the moment it was visible, and he was able to push it in for the score, 1-o, BU, just two minutes into the second.  With nine minutes left in the period, Cole Hutson took a pass in the neutral zone and he sped down the ice, with Cole Eiserman skating also skating along, off to the right side.  Hutson held the puck until he was nearly at the crease, drawing all attention to him and then passed across to Eiserman, who in a blink pasted it in to make it 2-0, BU, the score going into the third.  BU out-shot Pennsylvania State 13-8 in the second.

Pennsylvania State heard the alarms and responded in the third, pressing at the BU goal, and two minutes into the period managed to create a stir, a shot, and a rebound that was fired on, and in, by Nicholas DeGraves, narrowing the BU lead to 2-1.  Pennsylvania State continued with good momentum, and out-shot BU 18-9 in the third, but BU managed a pesky defense, and was able to hold them off.  Pennsylvania State added an extra attacker, but with a minute left in the game, Jack Harvey skated the puck across the neutral zone to the left point and fired one in on the empty net to give BU the 3-1 win, and send them to the NCAA Championship Game against Western Michigan University in St. Louis on Saturday, April 12th, at 4:30pm Pacific Time on ESPN2.

So . . . . was this game an upset in our pool ? Depends how you look at it. On one hand, six entrants picked Boston University to win this game, compared to no one having picked Pennsylvania State University to win this game, so in terms of this “matchup,” I suppose it was not an upset. However, twenty-four had picked Michigan State University to win this game, and nine had picked the University of Maine to win it.

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

— Tom