Hockey teams advance

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Women in Frozen Four!
The #4-ranked Eagles play #1 Wisconsin Friday at 3 pm PT in the opening game of the NCAA Frozen Four national championship. This is BC’s 3rd-straight appearance in the national semifinals and the 6th in the last 7 years.

On Saturday, BC defeated #6 St. Lawrence, 6-0, to advance to the Frozen Four. With the win, the Eagles (28-5-5) moved to 3-0-2 against nationally ranked teams. Five Eagles had two or more points in the St. Lawrence win, led by Kenzie Kent, who had 1 goal and 2 assists. Goaltender Katie Burt had 24 saves and her 8th shutout of the season.

Other teams in the Frozen Four are #2 Clarkson and unranked Minnesota.

Men in Hockey East Semis
Following a two-game sweep of Vermont, BC men’s hockey team will play BU Friday at 5 pm PT in the second game of the Hockey East Tournament semifinals. The game will be telecast on NESN and ESPN3.

The Eagles (20-14-4) (13-6-3) scored 7 goals in each game against Vermont, shutting out the Catamounts in the first game and allowing 4 goals in the second.

Ranked #14 in the country and tied for 15th in the pairwise rankings, BC  is on the bubble for the 16-team NCAA tournament. The Eagles certainly have to win the BU game and may well have to win the Hockey East Tournament to make the NCAAs.

AD Bates to leave

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Athletic Director Brad Bates, who took the position in 2012, announced today he will leave BC at the end of the academic year.

Bates came to BC from Miami of Ohio where he had been athletic director for 10 years. He previously spent 17 years in the athletics department at Vanderbilt. He is an alumnus of and former football player at Michigan.

Bates hired both football coach Steve Addazio and men’s basketball coach Jim Christian at BC. The football team is 24-27 under Addazio, 10-22 in the ACC, with bowl appearances in 2013, 2014, and 2016. The men’s basketball team is 9-18 overall and 2-11 in the ACC this season. It went 13-19 in 2014-15 and 7-25 in 2015-16.

BC said it would begin a national search for a replacement, with the assistance of an executive search firm. Bates is to join Collegiate Sports Associates, a consulting and executive search firm based in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Beanpot downer

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Colin White (15) scored his second career Beanpot goal against Northeastern

Colin White (15) scored his second career Beanpot goal against Northeastern

In nearly a quarter-century, Harvard had not won the Beanpot and BC had not finished less than 3rd. Last night, Harvard won the title and BC lost to finish last, both for the first time since 1993. BC Coach Jerry York had never lost a Beanpot consolation game before last night.

BC and Northeastern were tied with about a minute to go, when David Cotton scored to put the Eagles ahead, 3-2. But the goal was disallowed because of goalie interference, a call disputed by Coach York. Northeastern turned the game around with a quick score under a minute and added its 4th into an empty BC net.

The Eagles fell to 18-12-2 (13-4-1). They remain in front of Hockey East but fell to #11 in the national rankings and are “on the bubble” for selection to the NCAAs. BC plays #16 Vermont twice, Friday and Saturday, at Conte Forum and ends the regular season with a home-and-home against #6 UMass-Lowell on February 23 and 24.