Northeastern University took game three of their quarterfinal series against Boston University, 5-4, to advance to Friday night’s Hockey East semifinals at the TD Garden.
Northeastern, originally the #6 seed, will face a Beanpot final rematch against Boston College, the tournament’s first overall seed and regular season champion. University of New Hampshire will play upstart Merrimack in the semifinal’s second game.
Northeastern became the only quarterfinal road team to advance to the semifinals. The Huskies struck first Sunday night against BU, scoring the game’s two goals. Northeastern freshman Brodie Reid had a banner game, scoring two goals and an assist to keep the game out of reach of BU. Unlike previous games this season against BU, Northeastern was able to convert on their power play opportunities, scoring two goals with the man-advantage. BU was able to covert 3 power play opportunities into goals, but were ladened with a slow start and shaky performance by junior goaltender Kieran Millan. BU attempted a last minute comeback, after being down 5-2 with just over two minutes left in the game. The Terriers scored two goals in a minute to bring themselves within one, but the Huskies held onto their lead.
Northeastern ended BU’s nine-year semifinal appearance streak. The Huskies made it back to the Garden after a one year hiatus. Northeastern needs to win the Hockey East championship to make it to the NCAA Tournament, while there remains an outside chance that BU could make the tournament with an at-large bid.