TOLEDO, Ohio — Quinn Hutson’s shot from the right point got the job done in overtime for Boston University.
Make it three Frozen Fours in as many seasons for the Terriers after Hutson delivered 6 minutes, 25 seconds into the extra session for a 3-2 victory over Cornell on Saturday.
Now the Terriers are looking to take the next step and get past the national semifinals.
Hutson got a pass back from Ryan Greene along the right boards and teed up a slap shot that eluded the block attempt of Cornell’s Tyler Catalano at the top of the crease and goalie Ian Shane.
“I just froze,” Hutson said. “I figured it went when everyone was celebrating. It was a great feeling.”
Boston University (23-13-2) is 3-for-3 in making the Frozen Four under coach Jay Pandolfo, who also appeared there four times in four seasons as a Terriers player in the 1990s.
BU will make its 25th Frozen Four appearance with a semifinal against the winner of the Allentown Regional, either UConn or Penn State, on April 10 in St. Louis.
“We have a special group of players, guys that have a lot of talent,” Pandolfo said. “Our young guys have played in big moments coming into Boston University, so that’s helped them. It’s fun to coach these guys. It’s a challenge sometimes but at the end of the day these guys are great players and they want to win and they want to do what’s right for the team. And you saw that tonight.”
Cornell (19-11-6) has lost eight straight regional finals since its last Frozen Four appearance in 2003, and this defeat ended the coaching career of Mike Schafer after 30 seasons. He announced last June that he was retiring after this campaign; Casey Jones is set to take over.
“I asked these guys are you willing to commit yourself fully … without knowing the end result,” Schafer said. “I think that’s the key to success and happiness as an athlete, as a person. Man, these guys did that.
“They got knocked out their sophomore year, knocked out last year, knocked out again this year. They didn’t get what they wanted, which is a national championship. Everybody wants it. But to absolutely do everything in your will — eat, train, compete — that’s an ideal team. And I have the ideal team.”
Jack O’Leary tied it at 2-2 with 5:30 remaining for the Big Red after Cole Hutson put BU ahead with a power-play goal in the opening minute of the third period.
Cole Hutson looped around the top of the zone to the left side and fired just before he got to the goal line. The puck snuck in the small window of space up high on the near side, next to Shane’s head.
“He called his number on that play, I’m just going to tell you right now,” Pandolfo said.
Cornell got a power play with 8:52 remaining after BU’s Matt Copponi was called for tripping. The Big Red’s Ondrej Psenicka set up for a deflection in the slot but it went just wide right.
O’Leary helped start the play that tied it a few minutes later, however, poking the puck free along the boards. He got it back from Tim Rego on the left side and spun into the slot for a shot that kissed the left post on its way in.
“I thought we played with some pretty good pace throughout a lot of our pushes,” Cornell defenseman Hank Kempf said. “Even in overtime, we had some good looks. Their goalie came up big a few times and sometimes the bounces just didn’t go our way.”
The Terriers regrouped after O’Leary’s tying goal, and Quinn Hutson said the team’s experience of pulling itself together goes back to November, when it rallied from a 3-1 deficit after two periods to beat Notre Dame for the Friendship Four title.
“We’ve been coming from behind in games all year,” he said. “We don’t get nervous when we go down. We’re always playing to the very end, and we did that tonight.”
Video replay had an impact on two calls in the opening period.
BU got a five-minute power play with two minutes left before the intermission after officials reviewed a post-whistle scrum during a TV timeout and ruled Ryan Walsh guilty of a face mask penalty. Under the wording of Rule 47, a major penalty without a game misconduct meant the referees saw Walsh’s open hand move back and forth against a BU player’s face mask; any grabbing or twisting is supposed to be a major and a game misconduct or disqualification.
The Big Red killed the first two minutes of the penalty before the intermission with six saves from Shane, one with his glove on Greene in front of the net. Cornell got a two-minute reprieve when BU’s Devin Kaplan was called for slashing at the end of the period. The Terriers attempted only one shot in the final minute after the power play resumed.
A Cornell challenge prompted a video review that gave the Big Red a brief first-period lead. BU goalie Mikhail Yegorov got his blocker on a Dalton Bancroft shot from the left side on a rush but the rebound popped into the slot.
Walsh, driving to the crease, had the puck bounce off his body and into the net. The goal was immediately waved off by the referee, who indicated a hand pass to score.
But the referees overturned the call after a lengthy review. Rule 83.6.2 allows goals off the body or hand to stand if they’re not directed in deliberately.
The Terriers had a quick response. Matt Copponi drove up the middle of the ice past Kempf and got off a shot that Shane turned away with his left pad. The puck rebounded in off Kempf’s skate, completing the pair of unusual goals in the opening frame.
Shane (40 saves) and Yegorov (37) were strong throughout a scoreless second period. Shane turned away Jack Hughes’ shot from close range just over six minutes into the frame and stayed with Jack Harvey on a final-minute breakaway to stop the shot with his right pad.
Cornell’s Jake Kraft got off a shot and a rebound try before he collided with Yegorov.
Boston University’s top line of Shane Lachance, Ryan Greene and Quinn Hutson was on the ice when Cornell equalized in the third period. It was no coincidence to Pandolfo that the same trio was responsible for the winner.
“That’s when you learn about our players and our team,” he said. “I knew they wanted to get that goal back, and they did.”
