Boston College’s dream season ended in a nightmare Saturday night, as the Eagles fell to the Denver Pioneers, 2-0, in the national championship game in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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Winners of 15 straight games coming in and the No. 1 team in the country most of the season, BC’s high-flying offense got shut out for the first time all season. It was just the second time the Eagles had been held under two goals.
Denver, a high-flying team themselves all year, transformed into a lockdown defensive unit in the NCAA tournament, holding their four tournament opponents to three goals total en route to winning their record 10th national title. It was the Pioneers’ second title in the last three years and third in the last eight.
Denver beat three Hockey East teams en route to the title, as they also knocked off UMass in the first round and Boston University in the national semifinals on Thursday.
BC finishes the season with a record of 34-6-1. The Eagles seemed like a team of destiny with all their high-end talent, but it wasn’t to be.
They had four 60-point scorers, the most by any team in the last 25 years. Will Smith, the fourth overall pick of the San Jose Sharks last summer, led the country with 71 points, tied for the most by a freshman in the last 30 years. Freshman linemates Ryan Leonard (first round, Washington Capitals) and Gabe Perreault (first round, New York Rangers) each finished with 60.
Cutter Gauthier, the fifth overall pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2022 whose rights were traded to the Anaheim Ducks, led the country with 38 goals, which tied BC’s program record and was tied for the most by any player since 2000. Goalie Jacob Fowler broke the NCAA record for wins by a freshman with 32.
It’s unclear how many, if any, of those stars will be back on Chestnut Hill next season.
The Eagles do have Hockey East regular-season and tournament titles to show for their great season, but it will be hard to feel too excited about those in the moment. This was a national championship-or-bust season, and in that pursuit BC came up one win short.
The Eagles had the first great chance of the game just a few minutes in. Gauthier took a shot that went wide, but it bounced right off the end boards to Bruins prospect Andre Gasseau, who briefly had an open net. He couldn’t bury it, though, hitting the outside of the post instead.
BC had another great chance a few minutes later when Perreault sprung linemate Smith on a breakaway, but Smith couldn’t beat Denver goalie Matt Davis.
The Pioneers outshot BC 8-5 in the first period and had a couple good chances of their own, including one for McKade Webster off a BC turnover. Fowler kicked out his right leg to stop Webster’s backhand chance, though.
The game remained scoreless until nearly the midway point of the second, when Denver finally cracked the ice. Rieger Lorenz fed a pass down to Jared Wright, who fired a shot that hit the post, hit the back of Fowler, and bounced over the line.
Wright nearly scored again a couple minutes later when a BC turnover handed him a breakaway, but Fowler made a big save to keep the Eagles within one… for the time being.
The Pioneers continued to push and did eventually make it 2-0. Star freshman defenseman Zeev Buium, who is likely to be a top-10 pick in this summer’s NHL draft, carried the puck into BC’s zone and made a great spinning pass in traffic to Lorenz, who wired a shot under the crossbar.
The Eagles had a chance to get back in the game with a power play early in the third. They couldn’t convert, despite having one terrific scoring chance. Perreault set up Leonard in front with a seemingly empty net, but Davis made an unreal diving glove save.
BC ultimately landed 23 shots on goal in the third period, but could never beat Davis to even get the first goal, never mind the second.