COLLEGE HOCKEY UPDATE:  In the final game of the Midwest Region in Toledo, OH, yesterday, Saturday afternoon, March 29th, Ryan Walsh scored with twelve minutes left in the first to give Cornell a 1-0 lead;  the goal was reviewed for a hand-pass but was ruled a goal.  A minute later Matt Copponi scored when his shot was rebounded by the Cornell goalie and deflected off a Cornell player and in, to tie it up at 1-1 for Boston University, the score going into the first break.  Shots were even in the first at thirteen for each team.  The pace was pretty even in the second as each team managed ten shots, but the two teams skated the frame scoreless, sending it to the third still knotted at one apiece.

Cole Hutson scored (assisted by Quinn Hutson), on a power play that carried over from the second, on a tough angle shot in the first minute of the third period, giving B.U. a 2-1 lead.  The teams skated scoreless for the next fourteen minutes until Jack O’Leary managed to get the puck in amidst a scramble in front of the B.U. goal to tie it for Cornell at 2-2, the final at the end of regulation.  B.U. had a slight shots advantage of 14-12 in the third.  Cornell delivered a gritty performance and forced Boston University to play a gritty game as well.  Both Cornell goalie Ian Shane and B.U. goalie Mikhail Yegorov particularly played great games, each one stopping several tough shots keeping the score tight, to keep their teams in the game.

Six minutes into overtime Quinn Hutson skated from the right point down the board, made a short pass, and headed back towards the blue line at the point.  As he turned the puck came back to him in open ice, he saw an opportunity and he fired a one-timer between the legs of a nearby defender and straight at the goal, between the arm and body of Cornell goalie Ian Shane for the 3-2 win.  Boston University advanced to The Frozen Four in St. Louis to face the winner of the Pennsylvania State University vs University of Connecticut game (to be played Sunday, March 30th), on Thursday, April 10th, at 5:30PM Pacific Time on ESPN2.

So . . . . was this game an upset in our pool ?  Depends how you look at it.  On one hand, seven entrants picked Boston University to win this game, compared to no one having picked Cornell to win this game, so in terms of this matchup, I suppose it was not an upset.  However, thirty had picked Michigan State to win this game, and two had picked Ohio State to win it.

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

— Tom