Ohio State’s men’s hockey team heads up to northwest Ohio today to take on Boston University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Toledo.
After fighting valiantly on Saturday night in East Lansing, Ohio State fell just short of winning their first Big Ten Tournament title, losing to Michigan State 4-3 in double overtime. Even though losing in heartbreaking fashion to the Spartans was tough to stomach, the Buckeyes still earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, being seeded third in the Toledo region, and 10th overall in the tournament.
Ohio State will square off with Boston University this afternoon, with the winner moving on to the regional final on Saturday to play the winner of the other game on Thursday at Huntington Center between Michigan State and Cornell.
In the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game on Saturday, the Buckeyes fell behind Michigan State in the first period, allowing the Spartans to score two power play goals before the game was even 12 minutes old. Joe Dunlap would pull one back for Ohio State at the 17:51 mark of the period to cut the deficit in half. After a scoreless second period, Michigan State would restore their two-goal lead 42 seconds into the third period.
One thing about Big Ten Coach of the Year Steve Rohlik’s team is they never give up. Damien Carfagna scored 12:46 into the third period to cut Michigan State’s lead to 3-2. Then with just over two minutes left in regulation, Gunnerwolfe Fontaine tied the game with his 17th goal of the season, tying him with Riley Thompson for the team lead. With their scoring output, the Buckeyes have now outscored opponents 53-35 in the third period of games this season.
Following a scoreless first overtime period, Michigan State denied Ohio State a conference tournament title when Issac Howard scored 15:09 into the second overtime period. Even though the Buckeyes lost, goaltender Logan Terness deserves a lot of credit for what he did against the Spartans, stopping 47 shots from the top team in the Big Ten. Terness is 12-9-1 this season with a 2.27 goals against average and a .925 save percentage.
Ohio State also received offensive contributions from a couple defensemen in the loss to Michigan State. Damien Carfagna extended his point streak for four games when he recorded a goal and an assist on Saturday night. Aiden Hansen-Bukata factored in all three Buckeye goals, as he was credited with an assist on each score. Hansen-Bukata now has 27 assists on the season, with his 29 total points ranking fourth on the team, and Carfagna’s 28 points ranking fifth.
Now Ohio State will be looking for their first-ever win over Boston University. The Buckeyes and Terriers have met three times, with the last game between the programs coming in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, where Boston University won 8-3 in Manchester, New Hampshire. This marks the 40th NCAA Tournament appearance for the Terriers.
Boston University is coached by alum and former NHL winger Jay Pandolfo, who is in his third season in charge of the program. The first two years have been very successful for Pandolfo and the Terries, as they have made the Frozen Four each season. Unfortunately, they have failed to make it out of the national semifinals, losing 6-2 to Minnesota in 2023, followed by a 2-1 overtime loss to Denver last year.
The loss to the Pioneers had to sting a little harder since the Terriers had Macklin Celebrini on their roster, who would go on to be the top pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
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The Terriers have run into some issues with consistency this year. While they can hang their hat on beating Boston College, who was the top ranked team in the country at the time, 4-1 in the final of The Beanpot, the Terriers are coming off a 5-2 loss to UConn in the Hockey East semifinals.
Quinn Hutson leads the team with 47 points and is tied with Cole Eiserman for the team lead with 21 goals. Cole Hutson is second on the team with 40 points, and Ryan Greene has 33 points. Each of those four plays have scored at least 10 goals. Joining the quartet as double-digit goal scorers this year are Shane Lachance, and Devin Kaplan.
Likely to start at goalie for Boston University is Mikhail Yegorov. The freshman is 8-5-1 with a shutout in 14 starts with a 1.99 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. Yegorov took over in January for senior Mathieu Caron, who was struggling this season with a 3.16 goals against average and a .899 save percentage.
Although Caron has struggled, he did play 40 games in the Frozen Four run by the Terriers last year, so if needed he could replace Yegorov if Pandolfo feels the moment could be too big for the freshman.
One area that could become critical in today’s game is which team is able to stay out of the penalty box. The Terriers have made it a habit of shooting themselves in the foot at times this year, as their 13.4 penalty minutes per game is most in the country. On the other side, the Buckeyes have been pretty disciplined, averaging just 7.69 penalty minutes per game.
If Ohio State can get a couple power play goals and take a lead into the third period it could be tough for Boston University to stay perfect against the Buckeyes. Should Steve Rohlik’s team win in Toledo this afternoon, it could possibly set up a rematch with Michigan State on Saturday.
Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU