Jack Hughes and Cole Eiserman scored second-period goals Thursday night as Boston University edged Penn State 3-1 in the second semifinal of the Frozen Four in St. Louis.
The Terriers (24-13-2) advance to the Saturday night championship match to oppose Western Michigan, which got past defending champion Denver 3-2 in double overtime in the first semifinal.
The Nittany Lions, who made their first Frozen Four, finished the season at 22-14-4.
Goalie Mikhail Yegorov made 33 saves for Boston University, including 17 in a third period that saw Penn State generate a steady push with two goals to make up. The Nittany Lions got one just 2:12 into the period via a rebound that Nicholas DeGraves swiped into the net for his fourth marker of the season, but they couldn’t come up with the equalizer despite creating a spate of good chances.
The Terriers wrapped it up when Jack Harvey potted his 11th goal of the season into an empty net at 19:01, putting them in their first title game since 2015. The long-time Eastern hockey power, playing in its 25th Frozen Four, hasn’t won a national title since 2009.
Arsenii Sergeev delivered 32 saves for the Nittany Lions but wasn’t able to keep the puck out of his net in the second period. A turnover at the blue line sent Matt Copponi down the left side for a wrister that Sergeev stopped. However, the goalie couldn’t locate the puck, then turned his body in a futile attempt to find it and Hughes poked it in at the goal mouth at 1:35.
Eiserman’s goal came at the end of a classic two-on-one rush. Devin Kaplan won a battle in the corner in Boston University’s end of the ice and hit Cole Hutson with a breakout pass. Hutson fed Eiserman at the right post, and Eiserman slammed the puck past Sergeev.
Neither team scored in a first period that started 80 minutes later than scheduled due to the length of the first game. The Terriers enjoyed an 11-7 advantage in shots.
–Field Level Media
