Boston University saw its disappointing season come to an end Saturday night with a 3-2 loss at Notre Dame in the opening round of the Hockey East tournament. This marks the first time the Terriers have failed to qualify for the Hockey East quarterfinals.
Notre Dame went up 3-1 early in the third, but the Terriers fought back and controlled play for most of the period. They finally broke through on Robbie Baillargeon‘s power-play goal with 5:38 to go, but that was as close as they would get. T.J. Tynan registered two assists for the Fighting Irish in the win.
In Saturday’s other Hockey East game, Maine knocked off Merrimack with a 2-0 victory. Martin Ouellette, who struggled during the stretch run of the regular season, stopped all 29 shots he faced. Mark Anthoine provided all the offense the Black Bears would need with his goal 2:01 into the game, and Devin Shore sealed the win with an empty-netter late.
That sets up the following best-of-3 quarterfinal series next weekend:
8. Notre Dame at 1. Boston College
7. Vermont at 2. UMass-Lowell
6. Maine at 3. Providence
5. Northeastern at 4. New Hampshire
- In the ECAC, Harvard saw its season come to an end with a 2-1 loss to Yale in Game 2 of the rivals’ opening-round series. Brian Hart opened the scoring at the 16:42 mark of the first, and the Crimson clung to that 1-0 lead into the third period before Stu Wilson and Kenny Agostino scored 38 seconds apart to swing the lead in Yale’s favor. Raphael Girard made 37 saves as Harvard was outshot, 39-19, on the night.
Brown was also eliminated, as St. Lawrence capped off a two-game sweep with a 3-2 win. After Garnet Hathaway tied the game at 1-1 early in the third, St. Lawrence answered with two goals in the next 1:42 to go up 3-1. Ryan Jacobson cut the lead to 3-2 with 9:50 to go, but that was as close as Brown would get.
Dartmouth, meanwhile, forced a decisive Game 3 with a 3-2 win over Rensselaer. Eric Neiley netted a pair of goals, including the game-winner with 6:14 left in regulation. Jesse Beamish scored the Big Green’s other goal — his second in as many nights. Game 3 will be Sunday night at 7 p.m.