By Devora Slonim<\/p>\n
Absolute heartbreak in St. Louis. <\/p>\n
The Terriers season came to a devastating end as they fell 6-2 to the Western Michigan Broncos in the NCAA National Championship. <\/p>\n
It was a season not many predicted would get to this stage. <\/p>\n
Although their season did not end the way they had hoped, Coach Jay Pandolfo was proud of his team nonetheless. <\/p>\n
“We keep knocking at the door here,” Pandolfo said post-game. “Obviously we came up a little short. Like I said, I am proud of our guys and I thought we competed, you know, all the way through.”<\/p>\n
Western Michigans’ Wyatt Schingoethe got on the board first, tipping in a deflection fired from the blue line on the first shot by either team in the opening few minutes of the frame. <\/p>\n
In quick succession, Cole Eiserman evened the score, poking the puck in past Hampton Slukynsky, who could not corral the puck after the initial save. <\/p>\n
With help from Mikhail Yegorov, BU killed off the first penalty of the night as Quinn Hutson went to the box on a hooking call. <\/p>\n
Western Michigan got back on the board with under five minutes remaining. Cole Crusberg-Roseen took advantage of a screen in front of Yegorov and a sloppy effort from the Terriers, who were unable to clear the puck to put the Broncos up 2-1. <\/p>\n
After back-and-forth play in the middle frame, Western Michigan got back on the scoreboard in the form of a Ty Henricks goal. Henricks slipped the puck in past Yegorov, collecting the rebound from teammate Cam Knuble. <\/p>\n
The Terriers applied heavy pressure in response, sending BU on a power play after Nick Roukounakis drove hard to the net to draw the man advantage. Co-captain Shane Lachance wasted no time, pushing the puck past Slukynsky from the blue paint to get back within one. <\/p>\n
Lachance, grandson of legend Jack Parker, reflected on what the BU program has meant to him. <\/p>\n
“It means everything you know\u2026 I’ve grown up playing, you know, going to BU and watching games and stuff like that,” Lachance said. “You dream of winning a national championship. It just sucks. It sucks that we came up short.”<\/p>\n
With just over a minute remaining in the period and an unsuccessful Terrier power play, Devin Kaplan received a penalty on a kneeing call, recklessly leveling Iiro Hakkarainen into the boards. <\/p>\n
BU had numerous chances to even the score in the third period but were unable to find the back of the net. <\/p>\n
Ultimately, it was the Broncos that appeared back on top. <\/p>\n
Owen Michaels found a loose puck and broke out on a 2 v. 1, firing a shot through Yegorov’s right blocker side for the 4-2 lead. <\/p>\n
The Terriers were inches away from getting within one goal with more than eight minutes remaining, but after a coach’s challenge, the goal was waved off and thus went BU’s momentum. <\/p>\n
As the clock wound down, the Terriers had five minutes to put two goals in and force overtime. <\/p>\n
Once again, it was Western Michigan who capitalized. <\/p>\n
Hakkarainen wrapped the puck around the net and bounced the puck in off an awkward deflection, putting the Broncos up 5-2. <\/p>\n
With one last-ditch effort, Yegorov was pulled for the extra attacker. <\/p>\n
Michaels, the NCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player, found the loose puck and threw it into the empty net for one final exclamation point and the devastating end to the Terriers’ season. <\/p>\n
“It’s special to win this thing, and I want to see those guys experience that,” Pandolfo said of the future of the team. “That’s my goal is for me to see our players in our program experience that.”<\/p>\n
Ryan Greene, soon-to-be Chicago Blackhawk, reflected on the group and their brotherhood. <\/p>\n
“Honestly, probably nothing to do with hockey, just like the things off the ice,
\nCamaraderie,” Greene said of what he’ll remember about this team. “Yeah, we just had a really special group in there. And, yeah, they’re brothers in and out. Just really thankful that I got to spend the year with them.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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