The Eagles are headed to the Garden! After surviving a bit of a scare against UConn in the Hockey East Quarterfinal, the Eagles are headed to the Semifinal for the first time since 2021. They’ll be taking on the fifth-seeded Minutemen in the early game on Friday, in the hopes of reaching the Championship game on Saturday.
WHO:
#1 Boston College Eagles (29-5-1) vs #13 Massachusetts Minutemen (20-12-3)
WHERE:
TD Garden, Boston, MA
WHEN:
Friday, March 22. Puck drops at 4PM.
HOW TO WATCH:
The game will be live on NESN.
FOLLOW ALONG:
@bcinterruption and @bc_mhockey on Twitter.
PREVIEW:
The last time the Eagles took on the Minutemen, they came away with a pair of 5-1 and 6-4 wins, with Amherst native Ryan Leonard scoring five goals against UMass over the course of the weekend.
The Minutemen are entering the semifinal off of a 3-1 quarterfinal win against Providence, a game in which they dominated for long stretches. UMass held the Friars scoreless until the 14:50 mark of the third period, when they finally gave up a powerplay goal.
Junior defenseman Scott Morrow leads UMass in points with 29 in 35 games, while freshmen Jack Musa and Aydar Suniev lead the Minutemen in goals with 12 apiece. Michael Hrabal is still strong in net, with a .916 save percentage and a 2.46 GAA — and made 27 saves against the Friars last weekend. Plus UMass defenseman Ryan Ufko is one of Hockey East’s best players, anchoring a Minutemen defense that’s top-20 in the country.
For the Eagles, it remains to be seen if Gabe Perreault will make his return to the lineup after missing the last five games with injury, or if he’ll be held out until the NCAA tournament begins. BC will have their work cut out for them against the Minutemen regardless, though they have shown that they respond well after rough games of their own.
Let’s roll. Go Eags!