The play of Caron, second period game winner from Lane Hutson lifts BU over Maine in Hockey East semifinals

Published by %s
March 23, 2024

BOSTON- Mathieu Caron made 32 saves, and Lane Hutson scored a second period game winning powerplay goal on Friday night in lifting Boston University to a 4-1 win over Maine in the Men’s Hockey East semifinals at TD Garden. The defending champion Terriers will now meet Boston College in the conference championship game on Saturday night.

Boston University struck for the only goal of the first period at the 8:59 mark. Maine forward Anthony Calafiore tried to bounce the puck off the boards in behind his own net to a teammate, but the pass went errant and came to the stick of Quinn Hutson in the right circle. Hutson quickly found Ryan Greene in the low slot, who collected it and beat Maine goalie Albin Boija with a hard wristshot for a 1-0 lead.

The Black Bears really controlled the play most of the night especially 5 on 5, and after giving up the goal they had 15 of the next 17 shots on goal. Caron though played big, making several Grade A saves. His team extended the lead on the powerplay when Lane Hutson got the eventual game winner at 9:21 of the second period. Hutson got the first shot on goal for a while for the Terriers, but made it count when he got a pass from Macklin Celebrini walked to the top of the left faceoff circle and made a toe drag move on Thomas Freel firing a shot through traffic past a screened Boija glove side to make it 2-0.

It looked like Boston University had extended their advantage to 3-0 early in the third period on the powerplay, but Maine asked for a review and the goal was disallowed due to the Terriers being offsides. That seemed to energize the Black Bears, who killed off the rest of the penalty and then would cut the deficit in half with a powerplay goal of their own. Just 14 seconds into the extra man, Brandon Chabrier dropped a pass to Lynden Breen down below the goal line in the right corner. Breen gathered it and stepped into the bottom of the right faceoff circle, and let a bad angle shot go that beat Caron just inside the left post stick side at 6:48 to lift the large contingent of Maine fans to their feet.

But as the Black Bears know, to beat BU you must stay disciplined and stay out of the penalty box to knock off the Terriers. Unfortunately for them they weren’t able to do that, and Greene scored his second of the night on the powerplay at 10:43 to push the lead back to a pair of goals after a holding call on Liam Lesakowski.

Sam Stevens added an empty netter late, as Boston University now gets a chance to defend their Hockey East Title on Saturday.

Boija made 14 saves in the loss for #3 seeded Maine, as the Black Bears outshot Boston University 33-17. Chabrier and Bradly Nadeau each had an assist on the Breen goal, and they went 1-3 on the powerplay on the night. The #2 seed Terriers went 2-3 with the extra man, and Greene, Quinn Hutson, and Celebrini all had multiple points in the victory. Greene had his two goals, Quinn Hutson had two assists, while Celebrini assisted on three of the four tallies. Boston University, who is also ranked #2 in the country, improves to 26-8-2 and is set to face their Beantown rivals in the top seed and top team in the nation Boston College at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for the 39th Lamoriello Trophy. The Eagles have won 11 games in a row, and the Terriers have won seven straight. BC won the first semifinal on Friday, 8-1 over UMass. Maine falls to 23-11-2 and has their four game win snapped in their first Hockey East semifinal appearance since 2012. The Black Bears, who have already clinched an at-large NCAA Tournament bid, will await word on their opponent, time, and location during the selection show on Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. The latest USCHO bracketology two days ago assigned them to the Providence, Rhode Island regional with BC, Wisconsin, and Colorado College.

Recap/photos by Chris Lessner/video highlights courtesy of Terrier Hockey and Maine Ice Hockey on Twitter by Chris Lessner

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