UMD drops regional final 3-2 to BC, despite third-period comeback
WORCESTER, Mass. -- Teddy Doherty scored two goals, Thatcher Demko made 26 saves and Boston College held off Minnesota-Duluth 3-2 on Saturday night in the NCAA Northeast Regional final to advance to the Frozen Four.
The Eagles (28-7-5) reached their record 25th Frozen Four. They won the last of their five national titles in 2012.
"I think it was one of our objectives and we measure our team by the number of trophies we win, not necessarily how many games we win," Boston College coach Jerry York said. "We are successful in those trophy games and now we have a chance to win another one."
Ryan Fitzgerald gave Boston College a 3-0 lead with 13:25 left when he beat Kasimir Kaskisuo with a wrister from the circle that went over the goalie's left shoulder.
The Bulldogs (19-16-5) got goals from Austin Farley and Karson Kuhlman late in the third period, but couldn't push across the equalizer despite a power play in the final minute.
Boston College will face the winner of the East final Sunday between Quinnipiac and Massachusetts-Lowell on April 7 in the Frozen Four in Tampa, Florida.
Doherty opened the scoring at 14:06 of the first period when he skated in from the circle and beat Kaskisuo with a wrist shot that went off the goalie's glove.
The Eagles scored again early in the second period when a puck went off Doherty's skate into the net after Kaskisuo had drifted to the front of the crease.
"Coming in this weekend, we had a lot of believability within our team," Doherty said. "We have the best goalie in the country for sure and, with that, anything can happen. I'm so proud of our team. I'm proud of the upperclassmen for getting us through this and it's going to be another great experience going down to Florida."
BC looked to be cruising toward the Frozen Four when Farley broke up Demko's shutout bid with a power-play goal with 7:11 to play.
Kuhlman made it a one-goal game 2:45 later when he poked one past a sprawling Demko, and Miles Wood's interference penalty gave the Bulldogs a 6-on-4 advantage in the final minute.
They nearly tied it in the closing seconds, but forward Austin Cangelosi swept the puck away from an open net as Demko desperately dove back into position.
"How many people thought we were done when it was 3-0?" Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said. "I'm really proud of our team. I think obviously we could've went a different way, but this group has really battled all year and certainly grown."
The Bulldogs reached the regional final by knocking out defending champion Providence 2-1 in overtime Friday night. BC beat Harvard 4-1 in its semifinal game.
The Eagles improved to 14-1 in NCAA tournament games in Worcester.
"I have always liked the regional games because you get a hat and a T-shirt and I think that is important," York said. "I picked that up from (New England Patriots coach) Bill Belichick, who is always talking about these things as a hat, t-shirt game, so we started using that about 10 years ago. And we kind of look forward to those types of hats."
