Men’s Hockey Begins Quest for NCAA Title Tomorrow
Terriers face Cornell in opening round of Northeast Regionals
- The BU men’s hockey team beat Providence 2-0 to win the Hockey East title March 17
- The Terriers have gone 13-2-3 since January 6
- They face the Cornell Big Red in the NCAA Tournament opening round Saturday in Worcester
Hot off capturing their ninth Hockey East trophy last Saturday, the men’s ice hockey Terriers go up against the Cornell Big Red in Worcester tomorrow to open the NCAA Northeast Regional Tournament.
Having outperformed number 14 Boston College, then number 9 Providence last weekend to clinch the Hockey East title, 13th-ranked BU is looking to continue its red-hot playing in a rematch of Red Hot Hockey tomorrow.
When the two teams faced off in the sixth Red Hot Hockey game at Madison Square Garden last November, the number 19 Terriers gave the 14,606 fans a thriller, with a 3-point comeback in the third period, before losing 4-3 to number 7 Cornell. It was the first time in the biennial matchup that BU fell to Cornell.
The Terriers were struggling then and by the end of December their record was 8-10-2. But since the beginning of 2018, the team has been on a tear. The Terriers hold a 13-2-3 record since their January 6 loss in the first game of 2018, and discounting the games when Jordan Greenway (CGS’17, CAS’19) was playing for Team USA at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, they haven’t lost a game in that period.
Greenway’s 6-foot-5 stature has been an undeniable asset to the team physically, but his mental fortitude has been invaluable to the Terrier success as well.
“He’s just given us an awful lot of physical confidence,” head coach David Quinn (CAS’89) says. “His attitude in the locker room—he’s just elevated his game in so many areas that I think it’s infectious, and I think every guy feeds off of him.”
Greenway says his experience at the Olympics has reinforced to him the importance of remaining calm no matter how high the stakes. “Being a little bit more of a leader on this team, I’m just trying to help the younger guys who haven’t been in a situation like this, to relay the message and just tell them the same thing,” he says. “Don’t feel too much pressure. Don’t grip the stick too hard. It’s just another game. Be yourself and play your game. We’ll be fine.”
There’s no question that the NCAA Tournament is a high-pressure situation for everyone involved, and despite a young roster—17 underclassmen—Quinn says his players have been preparing for this moment all season and their performance this past weekend is proof that they’re up to the challenge. “To be able to have the success we did in that one-and-done format in our tournament, really with our season on the line,” he says, “it prepares you for what’s ahead for us.”
The team’s seniors were runners-up for the national championship as freshmen, and they’re hoping to share with the younger players what they’ve learned from previous NCAA appearances. “We’ve been four straight years now, and with that comes a lot of big games, and with a lot of big games comes a lot of pressure situations,” says team captain Brandon Hickey (CGS’16, Questrom’18). “We’ve seen a lot of different scenarios play out in games like that, in big games, so it brings a lot of confidence for the senior class, and we’re trying to help the younger guys with the pressure of playing in the tournament and the competitiveness that comes with it.”
For the seniors, the team’s fourth seed in the regionals is the lowest they’ve been given during their BU careers, but Hickey says it would a mistake to put too much emphasis on that, noting that the team expects a tough opponent no matter the seeding.
Quinn agrees. “This is a year where I don’t think the seedings really matter. There are 16 teams in the tournament that can win it, and I think every team feels that way, and they rightfully should.”
And even though this year’s Northeast Regionals are only an hour’s bus ride away from Boston, the Terriers refuse to assume that it gives them any significant advantage.
“Everyone’s still staying at a hotel. Everyone’s still playing at a different rink, so I think the odds are matched up perfectly for everyone, and everyone’s got the same chance to win anything at this tournament,” Greenway says. “I don’t think we have any more of an advantage than anybody else, other than we’ll probably have more fans, which is always great.”
Neither are they allowing their recent winning streak to go to their heads. Team members are taking nothing for granted as they head into the NCAA Tournament: their goal now is the same as when they began the season ranked number 2 in the country: winning a national title.
“You don’t want to settle for anything less,” Hickey says. “You make it to the tournament with the end goal of obviously going to the Frozen Four and eventually winning everything, so if you’re coming to the tournament and you’re not planning on doing that, you should maybe stay at home.”
“I think that’s the expectation every year,” Greenway says. “I don’t see why we can’t. If we continue to play the way we have, I’m really confident we’ll be raising another trophy.”
The Terriers face Cornell in the first game of the 2018 NCAA Tournament Northeast Regionals tomorrow, Saturday, March 24, at 1 pm. The second game, at 4:30 pm, pits Michigan vs Northeastern. The winners of those two games will play on Sunday at 4 pm; all games are at the DCU Center, 50 Foster St., Worcester, Mass. Purchase tickets on Ticketmaster. Saturday’s games will be broadcast live on ESPNews and WatchESPN, and Sunday’s game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and WatchESPN.
Jonathan Chang can be reached at jchang19@bu.edu.
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