PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Michigan Technological University head coach Joe Shawhan has his team's job on the line against No. 1-ranked Boston College in the Providence Regional Opener (ESPNU) on Friday at 1 p.m. I know it's gone.
But if Huskies can handle anything, adversity is definitely at the top of the list.
The Mason Cup champions' late-season performance helped propel them into automatic CCHA qualifying position. Michigan Tech has not been ranked since the beginning of the season, but will face Boston College, a team that has won 12 straight games.
“We don't look at it as pressure,” Shohan said. “What we're looking at is their goal of trying to make it seem like we're not in the game, and our job is to be in the game. I think the start of the game will be important. Back. I don't think he's going to chase after me.”
The Huskies (19-14-6) are 4-0 in Providence. Boston College (31-5-1), on the other hand, is 14-3 in the first round, and since it is a regional college just an hour away from the Amica Mutual Pavilion campus in Providence, the Eagles have You should get support.
“They’re going to have a crowd in their backyard,” Shohan said.
Boston College freshman goaltender Jacob Fowler ranks fifth in the nation with a .925 save percentage and is a finalist for the Mike Richter Award. He will face off against Blake Pietila, a Richter finalist from a year ago and a fifth-year Tech student with a .920 save percentage.
“We want to play with them,” Shohan said. “There are a lot of similarities structurally between the two teams we see. A lot of their actions are what we see every day in practice.”
The Eagles have lost just one of their last 18 games (a 4-3 decision to Boston College in the Beanpot opener on February 2nd). For Tech, they found their game late in the season, defeating Bemidji State on the road in the CCHA championship game to get there.
Shawhan said Tech's slow start this season (the Huskies didn't win until the eighth game) could be due to a “hangover” from last season's style of play.
“In the second half, things in the locker room and in the group were completely different,” he said. “I think our leaders have done a phenomenal job.”
Pietila said the win-lose pattern ended after a bye week in mid-February.
“I think that’s when we started playing well,” he said. “We worked on our skills and team habits, and that's when the wins started piling up and we've continued to do that ever since.”
Jim Rosvold / Link Live Special Program
In the second game, the University of Wisconsin (26-11-2) will face third-seeded Quinnipiac (26-9-2) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. (ESPNews).
The defending national champion Bobcats will face Wisconsin in their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021. Mike Hastings is in his first season as the Badgers' head coach, bringing experience from college with eight NCAA Tournament appearances, including two in the Frozen Four. Minnesota.
Contribution / Quinnipiac University
The Bobcats are led by ECAC Player of the Year and Hobey Baker Top 10 finalist Colin Graf (22 goals, 26 assists), whose 48 points rank seventh in the nation. Sophomore Cruz Lucius led Wisconsin with 34 points. On the back end, senior goaltender Kyle McClellan, a Richter finalist, is averaging 1.92 goals against.
Quinnipiac enters the tournament with the nation's No. 2 scoring defense and No. 4 scoring offense, joining Boston College as the only teams in the nation to finish in the top five in both categories.
“Playing at Wisconsin is kind of the norm. You want to be here,” said defenseman Mike Borlicki, a graduate student from Edina. “So to be able to come out here and play Quinnipiac is a big game. We're enjoying it and it's another opportunity for us that we want to make the most of.”
Contribution / Boston College Athletics / Brody Hannon
Gauthier defeats Walter Brown
Boston College sophomore forward Cutter Gauthier has won the 72nd Walter Brown Award, presented annually to New England's most outstanding American-born Division I college hockey player.
Gauthier, a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, is the first Eagles player to win the award since Johnny Gaudreau in 2014. Boston College defenseman Lane Hutson won the award a year ago.
Gauthier leads the nation in both goals with 35 and game-winning goals with 10.
- Boston College ranks among the nation's best in penalty kill success rate at 89.6% and ranks second in power play success rate at 29.2%.
- If Boston College resembles the U.S. team that won gold at the World Junior Championships in January, there's a lot of truth to that. Seven Eagles were part of his 25-man Team USA roster, the largest ever from a single school.
- Wisconsin, a six-time national champion, hasn't faced Quinnipiac since 2003, when the Badgers swept back-to-back games at Kohl Center.
