SIOUX FALLS – Rochester Institute of Technology has earned a reputation as a giant killer in the NCAA men's hockey tournament, advancing to the Frozen Four as a No. 4 seed in 2010 and taking out No. 1 overall seed Minnesota State Mankato five years later.
This time, Goliath won.
Lane Hutson and Ryan Greene scored 1:05 apart in the first period Thursday, waking top-seeded Boston University from an early slumber on its way to a 6-3 victory over No. 4 RIT in an NCAA Sioux Falls Regional semifinal at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
"We started off a little slow and had a tough first period, but still came out ahead 2-1,'' Terriers coach Jay Pandolfo said. "… The first one's always tough to win.''
Macklin Celebrini, Sam Stevens, Jack Harvey and Dylan Peterson also scored for Boston University (27-9-2). Mathieu Caron stopped 28 shots as BU advanced to Saturday's final.
Elijah Gonsalves, Gianfranco Cassaro and Cody Laskosky scored for RIT (27-11-2), while Tommy Scarfone made 27 saves.
RIT frustrated the Terriers in the first period, continuously clearing the puck from the zone and outshooting them 13-6. Still, BU took a 1-0 lead at 11:56 when Hutson, the All-America defenseman, toe-dragged around a Tigers defender and backhanded a shot into the open net.
It took only 65 seconds for BU to make it 2-0 on Greene's shot over Scarfone's left shoulder.
RIT answered with a power-play goal by Gonsalves at 15:40.
The Terriers seized territorial control in the second period, outshooting the Tigers 14-2 in the first 8:16 and increasing the lead to 3-1 on Stevens' goal. Cassaro cut it to 3-2 before BU added three goals.
Denver 2, Massachusetts 1 (2OT): Tristan Broz scored at 12:28 of the second overtime, Matt Davis made a career-high 46 saves and the top-seeded Pioneers (29-9-3) survived the longest game in program history, beating the fourth-seeded Minutemen (20-14-3) in Springfield, Mass.
Freshman Boston Buckberger scored in the second period and assisted on Broz's winner for Denver, which is tied with Michigan for the most NCAA championships with nine.
"When we talk about the growth of our team, I think it's playing in hockey games like that," Denver coach David Carle said.
Cornell 3, Maine 1: Sullivan Mack scored two goals, Ian Shane stopped 26 shots and the Big Red (22-6-6) advanced to the Springfield Regional final against Denver by beating the Black Bears (23-12-2).
Mack's first goal at 12:09 of the second period put Cornell up for good at 2-1, and he added an insurance goal in the third period. The Big Red won despite getting outshot 27-18.
