BC clinches Hockey East
Spoils BU celebration of ‘Miracle on Ice’ alums
Boston University ‘Miracle on Ice’ hockey legends Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig, Jack O’Callahan, and Dave Silk were honored Saturday night for their part in the 1980 U.S. Olympic gold medal victory, raising a banner to the Agganis Arena rafters not long after the 40th anniversary of the win.
Unfortunately, nobody told visiting Boston College they were supposed to roll over. BC’s subsequent 4-1 victory in front of a near-packed house of 5,772 cemented outright ownership of BC’s 17th Hockey East regular season title.
“I’m proud of our club. It’s a major accomplishment for us,” said BC coach Jerry York.
BC (23-8-1, 16-6-0 HE) displayed great poise amid the emotional air and grabbed a 1-0 lead at 7:00. Sensational freshman center Alex Newhook continued his brilliant season by sending away a backdoor blast without hesitation. The puck beat BU goalie Sam Tucker (25 saves) nearside, giving the Colorado first-round pick 19 goals, the most for a BC freshman since Colin White had a similar amount in 2015-2016. The tally extended Newhook’s points scoring streak to 10 games during which he has posted 10-11-21 totals.
BU’s best chance of the stanza came with just over a minute to go when sophomore center Jack Wise of Reading gained space in front. BC netminder Spencer Knight (30 saves) held his position.
The goaltending at both ends to start the second was sublime. BU’s Tucker made a clutch sprawling stop on Newhook, set up nicely by a weaving Marshall Warren. BC’s Knight followed with a stop on a point blast by Cam
Crotty before foiling a midair rebound try by freshman forward Robert Mastrosimone. BU freshman Trevor Zegras had a steal but Knight gained the upper hand.
BC forward Marc McLaughlin of North Billerica poked the puck away from BU defenseman Domenick Fensore at the point and was off to the races. His shot was wide but BC kept the puck in the zone. A subsequent long shot by defenseman Connor Moore beat Tucker between the wickets at 7:48.
BC senior captain David Cotton put an exclamation mark on the outcome when he took a short pass and rifled the puck under the crossbar at 4:40 of the third for his 15th goal, his 127th career point, elevating him into the top 50 scorers alltime.
BU (12-12-8, 9-8-5 HE) got on the board at the 8:52 to hang close at 3-1. The play featured a bullet shot by junior defenseman David Farrance, with the puck changing direction thanks to the efforts of senior captain Patrick Curry, who notched his 18th goal. Curry began the season with 20 for his career.
BU called timeout at 17:24 with both teams skating shorthanded and lifted Tucker to set up a 5-on-4 situation. BC senior Graham McPhee hustled to a loose puck, snuck past BU wing Patrick Harper and flipped home a backhand at 19:53 to end matters.
At least BU had the ‘Miracle on Ice’ guys to temper the loss.
“It was unbelievable. Those guys came to our pregame meal and talked. I was in awe. Everything that they’ve done for the program and the country. Those are the types of guys why I wanted to play here,” said BU captain Patrick Curry. “It gives you a special feeling to pull on the jersey. Those guys were my heroes.”