BC men’s hockey lost today in the semifinals of the Frozen Four. Quinnipiac, ranked #1 nationally for most of the season, scored two early goals and then hung on for a 3-2 victory.

The Eagles finish with a record of 28-8-5. Quinnipiac will play the winner of the North Dakota-Denver game, which takes place today, on Saturday.

Aw, no game watch. :(

UPDATES
— BC finished #3/#4 in the US in the final polls. Denver and BC flipped positions in each poll. National champion North Dakota and runner-up Quinnipiac were #1 and #2.
— Goalie Thatcher Demko was among the three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, presented to the best male player in college hockey. Harvard’s Jimmy Vesey won the award. Demko won the Mike Richter Award as the nation’s best college goalie.
— Steve Santina, Miles Wood, and Adam Gilmour signed NHL contracts shortly after season’s end. Demko, a junior and first-round NHL draft choice, has not announced his intentions.

San Diego’s Thatcher Demko celebrates the Eagles’ win.

BC’s hockey team is in the Frozen Four!

The Eagles beat Minnesota-Duluth, 3-2, Saturday to advance to the final four of the NCAA hockey tournament in Tampa, Fla. BC plays overall #1 seed Quinnipiac in the early semifinal game, 2 pm PT,  Thursday, April 7.

A gamewatch during a workday afternoon is not feasible, so we will await the Eagles’ potential appearance in the national final Saturday, April 9, 5 pm PT.

BC went out to a 3-0 lead over Minnesota-Duluth and then held on for the 3-2 final score. The Bulldogs scored twice in the latter part of the final period and had a great opportunity for the tying goal. Photo below shows BC goalie Thatcher Demko and forward Austin Cangelosi eyeing the puck, before Cangelosi swept it from the goal line with his stick.

The Eagles will play in the national semifinals for the 25th time, the most of any college hockey team. This will also be the 12th time in the last 19 years that a BC team coached by Jerry York will be in the Frozen Four. BC has been in the championship game 8 times over that span, and has won 4 championships (2001, 2008, 2010, 2012).

Go Eagles!

The BC women’s hockey team finished a historic season today on a disappointing note, losing to defending champion and #3 Minnesota, 3-1, in the NCAA Championship game in Durham, N.H.

The Eagles were ranked #1 with a 40-0 record coming into the game. Minnesota opened the scoring just 13 seconds in and added two more before freshman Makenna Newkirk (photo below) scored to deny the Gophers a shutout. Minnesota finishes its season 35-4-1.

BC’s 40-1 record was the best in team history and the Eagles became only the second college women’s hockey team to win 40 games (the other being Minnesota, which was 41-0, winning the national title, in 2013.) Today’s game was the Eagles’ first national championship contest. Minnesota has won the national title in four of the last five years, losing the 2014 title game to Clarkson.

Six seniors, including Alex Carpenter, BC’s most honored women’s hockey player, leave the Eagles. Of the remaining 17 players on the team, freshmen and sophomores number seven each. Newkirk, who scored BC’s only goal today, was the nation’s leader in goals among freshmen, with 22.

Men play Friday in NCAAs
The BC men’s team has its own path to the national title, and it starts in Worcester on Friday. The Eagles play Harvard at 5 pm PT, with Providence and Minnesota-Duluth meeting in the earlier game. It seems surprising, but while BC and Harvard will play each other for the 124th time Friday, it will be the first time they do so in the NCAA tournament. BC beat Harvard, 3-2, in the opening round of this year’s Beanpot.

All four Beanpot teams made the field of 16 in the national tournament. Six teams from Hockey East, the most of any conference, are in the tournament.