While a vast majority of us spent our designated week of freedom relaxing at home or soaking in the sun in a much warmer destination, a number of Boston University teams had themselves quite a successful break of their own.
When we left school last Friday, we were not only leaving behind a campus and a city, but also a struggling, inconsistent men’s hockey team, a men’s basketball team that most people didn’t think would be able to make it past the second round of their conference tournament and a women’s hockey team that looked to have a very difficult road to a coveted postseason berth.
This isn’t to say that things were looking bleak across the board for BU Athletics, but these teams were certainly at a crossroads in their season, the point where they truly had to show up if they wanted the opportunity to fight another day.
The men’s hockey team is probably the best example of this. Going into their March 5 game against Northeastern University, the Terriers had been reeling, having lost three of their past four games. The spirited run that the team made to put themselves back into contention in Hockey East seemed for naught, removing many of the faint hopes that some still had for the team snagging a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
To their credit, the Ice Dogs responded with a weekend sweep of Northeastern, which, considering the second of the two games was played on the road at Matthews Arena, was no small feat.
With those wins, the Terriers were able to secure the third seed in the HE Tournament, where they just took out Merrimack College in three games in the tournament quarterfinals.
The hope of a postseason appearance is still present for BU, but they’re going to have to win the conference tournament if they want to get there.
Between their semifinal game against the University of Maine, and a possible championship matchup with red-hot Boston College, it’s going to be no easy task. Yet, just as frustrating as this team has proven to be this season, they’ve also proven that they have the potential to surprise when no one is expecting much of them. It should be a very interesting weekend at the TD Garden.
On the hardwood (let’s be mature here, people), the BU men’s basketball team had themselves quite a spring break as well. BU basketball is in the unique predicament of being in a low-major conference like America East in which the regular season is essentially moot &- only the winner of the conference tournament actually advances on to the NCAA Tournament, barring any sort of near-undefeated run a la St. Joseph’s University in the Atlantic-10 during the 2003-04 season.
So while the Terriers may have struggled with injuries and the like on their way to a 19-13 record and a number four seed in the conference tournament, they knew they would largely be judged upon what they did in these final few contests.
And how did they respond to this? They came out of the gates by throttling the host Hartford Hawks 87-46 and followed that up with quite the encore performance, knocking off the top-seeded Stony Brook University team that had already beaten them twice during the regular season.
Sure, they may have fallen short in their effort to win the tournament, having lost to Vermont in the championship, but this team and coaching staff has to be commended for their showing in the biggest games of their season.
However, there is little doubt in my mind that it was our very own women’s hockey team that fared the best of these three squads. Coming off of arguably the best season in the history of the young program, the Terriers continued their late-season tear into the women’s HE Tournament, eliminating BC, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Connecticut in the championship game.
Winning conference tournaments in hockey may not seem that special at a school like BU, but in this case, it’s actually quite outstanding &- capturing the conference tournament assured the BU women of their first NCAA Tournament appearance in the history of the program for a team that has only been a varsity sport since 2005.
Even though the Terriers bowed out to top-ranked Mercyhurst College in the NCAA quarterfinals, it pretty much goes without saying that BU’s mere participation in the tournament was nothing short of remarkable.
With the calendar having already turned, we have now entered March, a month in which a concept as simple as success can become very arbitrary.
Despite having had phenomenal regular seasons, fans of the University of Kentucky and the University of Kansas will likely be disappointed if their respective teams aren’t crowned national champions when it’s all said and done. On the other hand, fans of the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions are seeing their first NCAA Tournament action, so it’s safe to say that their fans are quite thrilled just to be in the Big Dance.
Some BU fans out there may look at what these Terrier teams accomplished over the break and regard them as nothing more than some nice runs, especially since none of them have resulted in national championships.
But those of us who support BU Athletics cannot always use this as a measure for success, particularly in a year like this in which we have an underachieving men’s hockey team, a men’s basketball team that most people thought wouldn’t get past their conference semifinals and a women’s hockey team that unfairly flies way too low below the radar.
I guess you could say that all things considered, it was indeed a banner week for more than a few teams here on Commonwealth Avenue.
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