Boston College Blanks Michigan advances to the national championship

SAINT PAUL, Minn. No. 1 seed Boston College defeated Michigan 4-0 Thursday night at the Xcel Energy Center in the Frozen Four National Semifinal. With the win, the Eagles (34-5-1) advance to the National Championship Game for the twelfth time in program history and will face No. 3 Denver, which defeated Boston University 2-1 in the first semifinal of the contest. night.

First-year goalkeeper Jacob Fowler (Melbourne, Fla.) made 32 saves and recorded his third shutout of the season. Freshman Gabe Perréault (Hinsdale, IL) finished the night with three points after scoring one goal and two assists while classmate Will Smith (Lexington, Mass.) lit the lamp twice.

The Eagles struck first, just 1:20 into the game, taking a 1-0 lead. Perreault passed the puck to the right side to his classmate Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.), which brought him into the offensive zone. Leonard then found Smith at the back for the quick shot that went just under the crossbar for his 24th goal of the season.

Boston College added two to the lead during the middle frame, scoring just 49 seconds apart during a flurry of 4v4 hockey. Smith scored his second goal of the game with a shot from behind the net that luckily bounced off a Michigan defenseman's skate and found its way into the back of the net. A little later, second year Cutter Gauthier (Scottsdale, Ariz.) forced a turnover before picking up the loose puck and skating his way toward the goal. Gauthier made no mistake with the opportunity and fired his shot past the Michigan goaltender.

Perreault made it a three-point night when he scored an unassisted goal shortly into the third period. The freshman intercepted a pass in the neutral zone before finishing with a try to score his 19th goal of the campaign.

Michigan (23-15-3) goaltender Jake Barczewski made 18 saves.

Boston College's #1 penalty kill went 4-for-4 on the PK tonight.

TO SCORE

1st 1:20 BC Will Smith (Ryan Leonard, Gabe Perréault)
2nd 12:25 BC Will Smith (Gabe Perreault, Lucas Gustafsson)
2nd 13:14 BC Cutter Gauthier

3rd 5:03 BC Gabe Perréault

GAME NOTES

BC advanced to the 12th National Championship Game and improved to 12-14 in the semifinals.
BC set a new program record for wins at 34, previously set in 2001 and 2012 with 33.
BC won by a shutout for the fourth time this season and the first time in the NCAA tournament since beating Minnesota-Duluth 4-0 in the 2012 quarterfinals. It was BC's first shutout victory in the semifinals.
BC is 52-43 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
BC has won 15 in a row; the longest undefeated streak by a Hockey East team since UMass' 14-game streak heading into the 2021 National Championship.
BC's 15-game win streak is the third-longest in program history and the longest since BC won 19 straight games to end its 2012 championship season.
BC improved to 8-12 all-time against Michigan and 3-4 against the Wolverines in the NCAA tournament.
BC improved to 78-85-6 all-time against teams in the Big Ten and 14-12-1 since Big Ten started playing hockey.
BC became the first team to win two NCAA Tournament games against last year's Frozen Four participants since Denver defeated UMD and Minnesota State in 2022.
BC's 183 goals are the most since he scored 191 in 1998.
BC is 27-2 in first goals and 28-0 in scoring four or more goals.
Gauthier scored his 38th goal of the season, tying David Emma (1989-90) and Scott Harlow (1985-86) for the most in a single season in program history.
Gauthier tied Minnesota's Ryan Potulny (2005-06) for most goals in a single season in Division I since 2000.
Leonard recorded his 60th point of the season with an assist, becoming the fourth BC freshman all-time to record 60 or more points.
Perreault recorded his 40th and 41st assists of the season, surpassing Joe Whitney (2007-08) for third place by a BC freshman.
Perreault added his 19th goal of the year and pushed his point total to 60, tying him with Leonard for fourth-most by a freshman in BC.
Smith scored his 24th goal of the season for his NCAA-leading 70th point. He is the 11th Eagle of all time to score 70 or more points in a season and the first since Johnny Gaudreau's 80 in 2013-14. He pushed his total to 71 with his second goal of the night, surpassing Kevin Stevens (1986-87) for 10th in a season at BC.
Smith became the first Division I player to score 70 points in a season since Michigan's Kyle Connor recorded 71 points in 2015-16.
Tonight's shutout marked the first time in program history that Boston College had a shutout in the National Semifinal.

NEXT ONE

Boston College will take on Denver in the national championship Saturday night at 6:00 PM ET at the Xcel Energy Center.