Garden Party (HEA Tournament Semifinal Preview)
#3 seed BU takes on #4 seed UConn, while #2 seed Maine takes on #9 seed Northeastern
The Hockey East Final Four has been determined with the Terriers facing off against the UConn Huskies (March 20th, 4 pm) and the Maine Black Bears taking on theNortheastern Huskies (March 20th, 7:30 pm)
Hockey East Semifinal
The Terriers are making their third straight trip to TD Garden and a record 28th overall Hockey East semifinal appearance. #3 BU earned their spot at the Garden after a thrilling OT win over #6 UMass Amherst (3-2). Cole Eiserman capped off his Agganis campaign with his record 18th goal at the arena, the overtime game winner. BU will face #4 UConn in the semifinal, it’ll be the second time that the teams face off at a neutral site, the last time was at the 2018 Friendship Four (3-2 W).
#4 UConn earned their spot—their second in program history (2022)—through a 3-1 win over #5 Providence. Team leading scorer Joey Muldowney scored two in the game, including the game winner and an empty netter. The Huskies started the game in a hole, allowing a short-handed goal in the first, but battled back, scoring midway through the 2nd to tie things up before taking the lead for good in the first minute of the third. The matchup with BU will be the 2nd in tournament history and first since 2022.
In the late semifinal, #2 Maine take on #9 Northeastern. The Black Bears took care of business, smashing UMass Lowell 7-1. Seven different Black Bears scored, 8 different Black Bears recorded multipoint games, and 13 different Black Bears record at least a point. Maine will be making their 22nd Hockey East semifinal appearance—3rd most in Hockey East, behind BU (28) and BU (27)—and 2nd straight, the first time they’ve done that since a span of three straight from 2004 through 2006. It will be their 3rd semifinal vs. Northeastern and first since 1991. It will also be the first time since 2001 that the Black Bears will not have BU or BC in the semifinal.
The Northeastern Huskies did what no #9 seed had done before, win a quarterfinal and earn a trip to the Garden. The Huskies behind a stellar game from goalie Cameron Whitehead locked things down. Holding the high-powered offense of #1 seed BC goalless for the first 57 minutes of the game. Whitehead stopped 30 of 31 shots he faced. Team goal leader Cam Lund opened the scoring with his 17th of the season, with Joe Connor getting the game winning just over 2 minutes later in the first. The Huskies are making their 13th semifinal appearance and first since 2022.
The teams that advance will face off for a chance to lift the Lamoriello Trophy and earn the Hockey East automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Northeastern is the only team in the semifinal not already in line for an at-large bid, and will need to win the title to make the tournament. For BU, a win would be their 13th Hockey East title, for Maine their 6th, for NU their 4th which would give them 4th most outright, it would be UConn’s first.
