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Despite a scoring two goals in the last four minutes of the game, Northeastern’s late rally fell short and Boston College advanced to the Hockey East Final for a sixth time in the last seven years, defeating the Huskies 5-4 at the TD Garden in Boston on Friday night.

The Huskies struck first and got a little bit of help on their first goal as Tyler McNeely fired a shot onto Eagles goaltender John Muse. Muse made the save but the rebound bounced right off BC captain Joe Whitney and into the net. NU led 1-0 and the good start definitely gave NU a momentum boost.

McNeely’s goal, which was assisted by his senior linemates Steve Silva and Wade MacLeod, was his thirteenth of the season and final goal as a Husky.

Less than three minutes ticked off the clock before BC retaliated with a goal of their own to tie the score. Brian Gibbons fired a turnaround wrist shot that got under the blocker of Chris Rawlings, putting the Eagles on the board.

In the second period, the Eagles took their first lead of the game on their first of three power play goals on the night. Kevin Hayes fired one past Rawlings 6:56 into the period for his fourth goal of the season, making it 2-1 BC.

But the Huskies wasted no time in knotting the score once again. It was leading scorer MacLeod who wristed one past Muse from the top of the right circle just :25 seconds after Hayes had given BC the lead to tie the game at 2 apiece.

Later in the period, the Eagles took the lead for good when Steven Whitney scored a highlight reel goal. While rushing toward the net, NU defenseman Jamie Oleksiak tried to take Whitney down and squash the play. But Whitney didn’t give up and as part of an outstanding effort, backhanded the puck just under the crossbar and into the top right corner of the net as he was falling to the ground, beating Rawlings and putting his team up 3-2.

With just :49 left in the second, NU’s Braden Pimm got whistled for a questionable interference penalty, and BC wasted no time in taking advantage. Eagles defenseman Tommy Cross beat Rawlings for his seventh goal of the season with just :18 left on the clock to give BC a two-goal lead going into the third period.

In a bit of a twist, the Huskies changed goaltenders to start the third period, pulling Rawlings in favor of freshman backup Clay Witt. Huskies head coach Greg Cronin said after the game he hoped the move would give the team a bit of  a sense of urgency.

But a third Eagles power play goal by Pat Mullane put the Huskies were down 5-2 and the game looked like it was over. However to the Huskies credit, just like they have all season, they kept playing.

With 3:16 remaining in the game, sophomore Garrett Vermeersch found the back of the net for a power play goal that cut the deficit to 5-3.

A few minutes later it was MacLeod who struck for the second time on the night, taking a pass in front from McNeely and with 1:03 left on the clock, the Huskies were down just 5-4.

But the comeback was too little, too late and the Huntington Hounds ran out of time, falling short and ending their season.

It was an honorable run for NU, who made it back to the Garden for the second time in three seasons after a dismal 1-7-2 start to their campaign, but as Cronin said after the game, they weren’t satisfied.

“I really was hoping we’d get to the tournament,” said Cronin. “I thought if we got to the NCAA tournament we could’ve done some damage. Our team had been through so much adversity. There was a lot of believability with that group.”

BC and Merrimack will battle for the Hockey East Tournament Championship tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the TD Garden.

Jared Shafran Hockey BC, Hockey East Semifinals

Northeastern battled hard and earned a 4-2 win in game 1 of the Hockey East quarterfinals last night at Agganis Arena. With game 2 looming tonight, Terriers head coach Jack Parker assured us his team will be desperate in what will most likely be a win or go home game for BU. Here are some notes to ponder before you head to the arena or turn on your radio:

• BU has reached the conference semifinals in nine consecutive years. That streak is on the line tonight but it’s interesting to note that in each of the last four years, it has taken them three games in the quarterfinals to advance to the Garden.
• Last night’s win was the second in a row for the Huskies at Agganis Arena but only their third since the building opened in 2005.
• The last time NU won on the road to advance to the semifinals was in 1991 when they knocked off BC 6-5 in a one-game quarterfinal. That year, the Huskies were led by current assistant coach Sebastien Laplante, who registered 5 points in the playoff win and 47 points on the season to lead the team.
• Senior forward Steve Silva has goals in three consecutive games and is hitting his stride as his career winds down. Last night in game 1, Silva got a rebound goal and then scored on a wrist shot which was deflected on its way to the net. His three points in the game were his first in five career Hockey East playoff games.
• The victory last night for NU snapped a 10-game winless streak in the first game of the Hockey East quarterfinals.

Tonight’s game 2 will start at 7 p.m. and all the action can be heard live on WRBB Sports with our pre-game coverage starting at 6:45.

Jared Shafran Hockey BU, Hockey East

After getting out to a two-goal lead early in the second period, Northeastern couldn’t hold their advantage and held on for a 2-2 tie with the New Hampshire Wildcats on Friday night at the Wittemore Center in Durham, New Hampshire.

“I’ll give all the credit to UNH,” assistant coach Sebastien Laplante said. “They put pucks behind our defense and our defense got tired. We weren’t able to contain them coming through the middle of the ice and pressuring us. They did a good job of adjusting their forecheck.”

“This is a bunch that believes in each other and there’s a lot of confidence in that locker room. They’re being thrown a lot and they’re responding every game so my hat goes off to these kids because even though we had our backs against the wall, Chris [Rawlings] made some good saves to keep us in the game and I’m proud of the effort.”

The Huskies took the early lead when they got the first goal of the game at 15:51 of the first period. Forward Steve Quailer made a nice move around a defenseman as he carried the puck into the Wildcats zone. Quailer then waited and made a perfect pass to the stick of defenseman Drew Daniels, who wristed the puck past goaltender Matt DiGirolamo.

NU increased their lead on a power play goal by Wade MacLeod at 6:13 of the second. Taking a pass from freshman Brodie Reid, MacLeod skated in between the circles to the slot and beat DiGirolamo with a low shot to the bottom right corner of the net. With the goal, MacLeod now has 17 on the season, leading the team.

But later in the period, the Huskies fortune took a turn for the worse as UNH, who is in the midst of a battle for the Hockey East regular season title for the second straight year, turned it on and wouldn’t go down without a fight.

The Wildcats got on the board with just over four minutes remaining in the second period when Connor Hardowa, a defenseman who was moved up to forward after an injury to Greg Burke, beat NU goalie Chris Rawlings to cut the Husky lead in half, 2-1.

Just a few seconds into the third period it looked as if UNH got the equalizer when Stevie Moses shoved one past Rawlings on a second effort but upon an official review, the goal was disallowed. But after the Huskies took a penalty for two many men, Wildcat freshman Kevin Goumas tied the game with a power play goal at 7:32 of the third.

Rawlings stood strong for the Huskies in the third, not allowing any more goals despite a few prime chances for UNH and finished with 12 saves in the period.

Neither team was able to score during the extra five minute overtime and the game ended in a tie.

The teams will meet again tomorrow night at Matthews Arena for the series finale. The first two games between these two have both ended in 2-2 ties. The Wildcats now have a slim 1-point lead for first in the conference, with Boston College right on their tail. The puck drops at 7 p.m. and WRBB will have full coverage of the game with pre-game starting at 6:45.

Jared Shafran Hockey UNH

In one of the most exciting and unpredictable Beanpot championships in recent memory, the Boston College Eagles got a game winning goal in overtime from Jimmy Hayes to defeat Northeastern 7-6.

The win gives BC back-to-back Beanpot titles for the first time since the mid sixties and keeps Northeastern hoping for next year as the Huskies haven’t had bragging rights in the tournament since 1988.

Hayes got the final tally exactly 6:00 into the extra period, on a rebound from a shot by Chris Kreider and was all alone to finish a game which the Huskies had led three different times.

The Eagles scored two goals in a 1:32 span in the middle of the third period to get the lead back at 6-5 with under nine minutes remaining and looked like they were in position to win but the Huskies would not be denied as Wade MacLeod scored his fourteenth goal of the season to tie the game at 6-6 with just 1:46 left in regulation.

“I’ve been in a lot of big games,” head coach Greg Cronin said. “And that game had more drama and back-and-forth character from both teams [than any other]. And I said to myself after the third period, ‘It’s a shame someone’s going to lose this.’ If someone came in and bought tickets, they got every penny’s worth of their money.”

10 different Huskies registered a point in the loss and sophomore goaltender Chris Rawlings made 39 saves. Rawlings was later given the tournament’s Eberly Award, which goes to the netminder with the highest save percentage.

Kreider scored twice in the game, both on power plays in the second and third period, and was named the tournament’s MVP.

These two teams will go head-to-head twice more this weekend, when they’ll play a home-and-home Hockey East series. The Eagles are tied with UNH atop the standings, while the Huskies are in sixth, one point behind Maine. Friday night’s game will be at Conte Forum in Newton and the teams will wrap up their 4-game season series the following night at Matthews Arena.

One thing’s for sure, if the next two games are anything like the one played at the TD Garden last night, it’s going to be a wild ride.

“When we got that tying goal,” MacLeod said, “I thought we were going to carry that momentum into OT. I thought it was going to be our year, but it was not to be.”

Jared Shafran Hockey BC, Beanpot

Behind another outstanding performance from goaltender Chris Rawlings, Northeastern defeated Harvard in the first round of the 59th annual Beanpot tournament 4-0. The Huskies advance to the championship round where waiting for them is Boston College, the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

Rawlings stopped 41 shots for his fifth shutout of the season, while Mike McLaughlin scored two goals, giving the Huskies some space and they never looked back.

“It’s just nice to contribute,” said Rawlings. “Being from far away, you don’t really know a lot about the Beanpot, but once you get here, you find out that it’s one of the biggest tournaments in college hockey.”

After the Crimson came out fast and got a few chances on Rawlings, the Huskies settled down when McLaughlin opened the scoring with his eighth goal of the season. When the junior center shot the puck, it hit a defenseman’s stick and deflected past Harvard goalie Ryan Carroll into the net.

McLaughlin got his second goal just 1:47 into the second period when Carroll deflected his initial shot over his head and across the goal line. Robbie Vrolyk, playing in his first game of the season after being sidelined with an injury, picked up his first point with an assist on the goal.

The Huskies weren’t done in the second. They also got goals from Steve Silva and Brodie Reid, making the game 4-0 and sealing NU’s second trip to the finals in three years.

With the shutout, Rawlings is now just one behind Brad Thiessen for most all-time in a Huskies uniform.

BC got an overtime goal from Tommy Cross to knock off Boston University in the night-cap and the two teams will meet next Monday at 7:30 pm in the final.

Northeastern is looking for its first Beanpot championship since 1988.

“This is twice now in the last three years that we’re in the final,” Huskies head coach Greg Cronin said. “They’d have to get both the NUPD and the Boston Police around that campus if we win it.”

But before that, the Huskies will travel to Lowell to take on the Riverhawks in a Hockey East contest on Friday night. WRBB will have live coverage of the game with pre-game starting at 6:45 pm.

Jared Shafran Hockey Beanpot, Harvard

Backed behind two strong performances from sophomore goaltender Chris Rawlings, the Northeastern men’s hockey team earned three points from their weekend series with the UMass Minutemen.

Rawlings held the Minutemen scoreless on Friday in a 3-0 Huskies victory for his third shutout in four games and then made 39 saves in a 2-2 tie the following night when the team traveled to Amherst.

Friday night the Huskies took the lead in the second period when freshman center Braeden Pimm came down the left side, moved right in front of UMass goaltender Paul Dainton, and made a perfect deke to free up the right side and put the puck in the open net.

NU broadened their lead to 2-0 when freshman forward Rob Dongara wristed one over the right shoulder of Dainton and into the net for his fifth goal of the season.

The Huskies buckled down in the third period as the defense played well in front of Rawlings and clamped down on the UMass chances, not allowing any type of comeback.

“The team’s playing well and it’s making my job easier,” Rawlings said. “The second half of the season is huge, especially the last three weekends. It’s nice to be on a roll like we are, heading into those last weekends because they’re huge and it’s such a tight race.”

Minutemen head coach Toot Cahoon elected to pull his goaltender with just over two minutes remaining and senior captain Tyler McNeely capitalized by hitting the empty netter and sealing the game for NU.

“I think our back-checking has gotten more intelligent about how they’re coming back,” Husksies head coach Greg Cronin said. “That communication is critical and they’ve kind of figured it out.”

The next night, things evened out as no goals were scored in either the third period or overtime and the teams skated to a 2-2 tie.

“I told our guys that we were lucky to get out of here with a point,” Cronin said after the game at the Mullins Center on Saturday night. “The last time we were here our power play looked like the Vancouver Canucks power play and tonight they did a great job shutting it completely down.”

Rawlings made 39 saves in the win, and kept the team in the game in overtime, making eight saves in the extra period.

“Their first goal they got was a bad goal,” Cronin said. “I don’t know what happened but a year ago that would’ve rattled (Rawlings), he might’ve struggled for a little bit. This year he just put it past him and he was good the rest of the way.”

After the game on Friday night, Rawlings said he is feeling more comfortable between the pipes this season.

“It’s not my first year this year, I’m used to every rink,” Rawlings said. Everything about college hockey is nothing new to me and I’m definitely more comfortable.”

The offense came quickly in the second game of the series as senior forward Wade MacLeod scored just 33 seconds into the contest, giving the Huskies the early 1-0 lead.

The Minutemen wasted no time in responding, as Chase Langerrap tied the game a minute and 16 seconds later.

UMass then took their first lead of the weekend when Michael Perriera notched his tenth goal of the season, beating Rawlings to the top right corner of the net.

The Huskies tied it on MacLeod’s second of the night and thirteenth of the season 3:01 into the second period.

On a night where most of the Huskies offense came from their number one line composed of three seniors, Cronin spoke about how important they are to his team.

“We’re blessed to have them because not only are they good players, they’re good people,” Cronin said. “Those guys are critical and they were good tonight.”

Northeastern improved their record to 8-10-7 overall and 7-7-6 in Hockey East play, good for sixth place in the standings and widening their lead to five points over UMass.

The Minutemen drop to 6-13-5 overall and stay in seventh place in Hockey East with a mark of 5-8-5.

Northeastern has one more game left before the Beanpot as they’ll host No. 12 Merrimack at Matthews Arena on Friday night at 7 p.m.

NU will play Harvard in the first round of the annual Monday night tournament at the TD Garden. The puck drops at 5 p.m. and the game will be televised by NESN.

Jared Shafran Hockey UMass

In a preview of this year’s first round Beanpot game, Northeastern scored a goal in each period en route to a 3-0 win in a rare Wednesday night contest at Matthews Arena.

It was the second consecutive shutout for the Huskies, as their defense played well throughout and sophomore Chris Rawlings was perfect, making 34 saves.

“He was really good because a lot of pucks hit him and he didn’t know where they were,” said Huskies head coach Greg Cronin. “I’m sure he wished he had a better style in the way he was saving the puck but he was in the right spot so I think a lot of the credit for our win goes to him.”

Rawlings became the first NU goalie to record consecutive shutouts since Keni Gibson in December of 2003. He now has six shutouts in his career at Northeastern and is currently 7th in the country with a save percentage of 92.9%.

The game was scoreless late in the third period when assistant captain Steve Quailer gave the Huskies the lead, backhanding a shot off the inside of the post and into the net. It was Quailer’s third goal of the season.

In the second, it was Braden Pimm who put a rebound past Harvard goaltender Raphael Girard for his third goal this season, making it 2-0 Huskies.

The final goal of the game was scored by Mike McLaughlin halfway through the third period on an awkward play. The puck deflected off a Harvard defenseman’s stick and past Girard into the back of the net.

Cronin said he was really happy with the way his young defensive unit has been playing.

“I thought they played well,” Cronin said. “I thought Jamie (Oleksiak) was the best player on the ice. They’ve just got to keep getting better now. We may not have the offensive weapons that Maine has, so we’re going to have to be really solid defensively and be very thorough with that part of our game. If they can play the way they’ve played, then we’ll have a chance to win a lot of those games.”

Neither team was able to capitalize on any of their power play opportunities as Northeastern went 0-6 and Harvard was 0-4.

The next time these teams will face-off will be in the first round of the Beanpot on February 7th at the TD Garden at 5:00 pm.

Northeastern has off until Saturday when they welcome the #10 Maine Black Bears into Matthews. The puck drops at 7 pm and WRBB will have full coverage of the game with the pre-game show starting at 6:45.

Jared Shafran Hockey Harvard

The Huskies finally broke a scoreless tie in the third period, getting a power play goal from senior forward Wade MacLeod with 11:10 left in the game and added an empty net goal to hold off Vermont 2-0 Saturday night at Matthews Arena.

MacLeod, who had both goals for Northeastern, scored his ninth and tenth of the season, which leads the team.

“It was a good game, we played pretty hard,” MacLeod said. “Every point in Hockey East is huge. We battled hard all night and I think putting that puck in the net gave the team a huge lift.”

Northeastern had the edge in play for most of the game, outshooting Vermont 17-3 in the first period and 40-17 in the game. The Huskies also went 34-18 from the faceoff circle, continuing their domination from the previous night and making them 74-39 on the weekend.

“It was a big win for us,” Huskies head coach Greg Cronin said. “We were disappointed with last night, getting down 2-0 in the first and then losing the game. I think any time you can limit any team in our league to 17 shots, you played a good game defensively so we’re happy.”

Chris Rawlings got his second shutout of the season, only having to face 17 shots. On the other side of the ice, Vermont goaltender Rob Madore played well throughout, making 38 saves in a losing effort. Madore held the Huskies at bay for the first two periods and kept his team in the game, despite the lack of offense for the Catamounts.

The Huskies improve to 6-10-4 overall and 6-7-3 in Hockey East, good for 6th place. Cronin said the team goal is to get back to .500 not only in conference but also in their overall record.

“We want to win,” Cronin said. “I don’t know how we’re going to end up but I think we have a good team. It’s a shame that we couldn’t have squeezed a few more wins our earlier in the year.”

Vermont drops to 4-12-4 overall and 2-8-3 in Hockey East. The Catamounts are now in 9th place in the standings with 7 points and will host the UMass Minutemen for two games next weekend.

“Hockey East games come pretty fast now,” said head coach Kevin Sneddon. “We’ve got to regroup and not worry too much about this loss and get ready for UMass next weekend.”

Northeastern will be back at Matthews for a mid-week game with the Harvard Crimson on Wednesday night at 7. The game will be a preview to the first round matchup of the Beanpot on February 7th and can be heard live on WRBB with pre-game coverage starting at 6:45 pm.

Jared Shafran Hockey Vermont

On a night where Northeastern outshot their opponent and played a relatively clean game, their offense only mustered a single goal and they dropped the first of a two-game series to the Vermont Catamounts 3-1.

Vermont came into Matthews Arena having won only one game in Hockey East play all season and in desperate need of some points to get them back into playoff contention.

The Catamounts got first period goals from Anthony DeCenzo and Jack Downing and the Huskies were never able to fully get back in the game.

The Huskies did outshoot Vermont by a total of 33-25, but junior Catamount goalie Rob Madore stood tall in net, saving all but one of the Huskies shots, a power play goal by senior forward Steve Silva in the third period to cut the lead to 2-1.

That was the only goal the Huskies could get with the man-advantage, going a total of 1-6 on the night.

Soon after the Huskies got on the board, getting themselves within striking distance and igniting the Northeastern fans, the Catamounts responded with a power play goal of their own. Forward Sebastian Stalberg wristed one past Huskies goalie Chris Rawlings as he was being screened and that was all Vermont needed to take care of the Huskies on Friday night.

“I said to the team after the game I thought everybody in the room contributed in one way or another to make a special play tonight,” said Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon. “Whether it was a shot block, a back check, taking a hit to make a play, or making an offensive play, it was different guys at different times that stepped up and I thought that was a good sign for us.”

The Huskies only committed three penalties for a total of six minutes spent in the box and went 40-21 from the face-off circle but it wasn’t enough.

“I thought Vermont played a real smart road game,” said NU head coach Greg Cronin. “I thought our power play could have been more productive. We had some chances and we just couldn’t bury them. It was frustrating because I thought we had a lot of chances and we didn’t score.”

The Huskies’ record drops to 5-10-4 overall and 5-7-3 in Hockey East while Vermont improves to 4-11-4 overall and 2-7-3 in Hockey East.

The two teams will play again tomorrow night at Matthews Arena, with the puck dropping at 7:00 pm. The game can be heard live on WRBB with pre-game starting at 6:45.

Jared Shafran Hockey Vermont