Providence, RI – The Boston College Eagles’ depth was too much for the Michigan Tech Huskies to handle in the third period as BC scored four goals to open up a close game through two periods. John Leonard and Cutter Gauthier each scored two goals to power the #1 overall seed to a 6-1 victory in the opening game of the Providence Regional at Amica Mutual Pavillion.
Tech’s forecheck gave the Eagles’ defense fits all night, but goalie Jacob Fowler repeatedly rescued them. Fowler stopped 22 shots to send the Eagles to Sunday’s Regional Final.
The Eagles wasted no time in getting to their offensive game. A Tech bid on one end quickly led to Eamon Powell poking the puck out of the BC zone to Oskar Jellvik along the right boards. Jellvik raced into the Huskies’ zone, hit the brakes at the top of the circle, and dished to an oncoming Cutter Gauthier, who beat Blake Pietila (32 saves) to make it 1-0.
“I saw that Jelly [Jellvik] had a boatload of speed, I saw there was a guy in front of me,” said Gauthier. “I just tried to get the correct body Position on him, use my speed and open up a lane. Jelly, had eyes in the back of his head. I was calling for the puck and he made a great spin pass. I was just trying to get a puck on the ice and make it quick. The goalie wasn’t ready.”
“We obviously had a great start with Cutter scoring early,” said Eagles Head Coach Greg Brown. From that point on, Michigan Tech really came hard. They were playing fast, stretching the ice, and doing many things right. They had a couple of chances that we had big saves on.”
When it looked like the Eagles were about to establish dominance with a man advantage, the Huskies picked off a pass at their blueline and raced in on a two-on-one. Max Koskipirtti kept the puck and fired a shot to beat Fowler five-hole to tie the game at 1-1. It was only the second short-handed goal allowed by BC this season.
The Michigan Tech Huskies celebrate Max Koskipritti’s (#14) short-handed goal during the first period of Boston College’s 6-1 win over the Huskies in the NCAA Regionals at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, RI, on Friday, March 29, 2024.
“When they scored the short-handed goal, you could see their bench lift a little bit,” said Brown. “They kind of carried some momentum there for a while.”
A backchecking Leonard broke up a Tech two-on-one bid in the defensive zone and then skated through the Huskies to get a shot on Pietila. The Tech keeper made the initial stop, but Leonard could whack the rebound in as he got hammered by a Tech defender to make it 2-1 Eagles at 6:52 of the second.
Eagles’ forward Gabe Perreault went for the body contact on Tech’s Tyrone Bronte but got called for Contact to the Head, earning the Five-Minute Major and Game Misconduct just after the period’s midway point.
“I thought from Gabe’s penalty on our level rose with that penalty kill. From that point on, we started to play a little faster and a little sharper. We were connecting on more passes.”
Connor Joyce started the third-period fireworks when he tapped in a pass at the back post at 4:47 to give BC the 3-1 lead. Jack Malone chased down a loose puck in the Tech zone before crisscrossing with Joyce to lead the open-net goal.
Jellvik made it 4-1 Eagles when he took a pass at the blue line, raced in on Pietla, and beat him through the legs to kick open the game.
Tech lost its composure when Huskies forward Ryland Mosley hit BC’s Leonard at center ice. A scrum ensued, and Tech’s Chase Pietila and BC’s Aidan Hreschuk earned Roughing calls. Pietila also picked up a 10-minute misconduct for the “fight.”
Leonard’s second of the game came on the resulting five-on-four Five Minute Major. The freshman beat Pietila high glove-side from the bottom of the right circle to make it 5-1 Eagles.
Gauthier matched Leonard with his second goal when he snapped a shot from the right circle to add to BC’s lead while on the five-on-four. Gauthier’s second goal of the game is his NCAA-leading 37th of the year.
“The third period was our best period. We were able to finish some chances,” said Brown.
The Eagles will face the winner of the Wisconsin Badgers vs. defending National Champion Quinnipiac Bobcats on Sunday at 4:00 pm EST.
