The will to win

WASHINGTON ‘- Former St. Louis Browns manager Branch Rickey once said, ‘Luck is the residue of design.’

Boston University coach Jack Parker and the 2008-09 Terriers are the exception that proves Rickey’s rule.

For the second straight game, a fortunate bounce and raw perseverance propelled top-ranked BU into the next round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Terriers outlasted the University of Vermont, 5-4, Thursday night at Verizon Center in the national semifinals to move on to Saturday’s championship game against Miami University.

Just two weeks ago in the Northeast Regional final against the University of New Hampshire, senior forward Jason Lawrence tried to feed a puck through the crease to linemate Colin Wilson in the waning stages of regulation with the game tied at one.

The pass never reached its intended target, instead ricocheting off Wildcat forward Jerry Pallastrone’s forearm and crossing the goalmouth with 14 seconds to play for the game-winning tally.

The goal erased 59 minutes of back-and-forth hockey in which New Hampshire seemed to have the upper hand.’ ‘

Thursday night, with Lawrence working the weak-side post, fortune struck again.

Senior Chris Higgins’ cross-crease pass to Lawrence didn’t make it to the forward’s stick, but it wound up in the net regardless. The puck deflected in off the stick of a desperate, diving Drew MacKenzie.

The own goal struck Vermont with seven minutes left to play in regulation, and while it was not the winning marker, it erased the Terriers’ 4-3 deficit and drew the momentum back into BU’s corner once and for all.

The Terriers went on to score the game-winning goal just over a minute later. Another cross-crease feed from Higgins to Wilson off an in-zone draw secured a win for a team that looked to be on the brink of defeat.

The ability to scrape victory from the ashes of defeat is a staple of this year’s Terriers. It originates in Parker’s deep-rooted history at BU, and is hammered home by the team’s senior core.

‘It’s the character of our team,’ Lawrence said. ‘Throughout the year, our mindset has been rock steady. Whether we’ve been up a goal, with a big lead or down a goal, what has carried us through this whole season has been our ability to stay calm and know what we have to do to win the game.’

A large portion of BU’s confidence stems from its talent.’

BU boasts 13 skaters with player rights owned by NHL clubs, not including senior co-captain and Hobey Baker Award finalist Matt Gilroy.’

‘This team thinks they’re pretty good,’ Parker said. ‘They’ve got some poise. We’ve got a lot of talent. We know we can score goals.’

Scoring goals and relying on offensive firepower, however, are just pieces of a bigger puzzle. BU has proven time and time again that the word ‘rattled’ is not in the team’s collective vocabulary.

‘We played a solid third period tonight. That was emblematic of the type of character and the type of determination and will to win that this club has,’ Parker said. ‘Our motto is desire, determination and the will to win. This club is living up to that.’

The biggest question mark heading into the year was how Parker’s underclassmen would perform on the big stage. From the onset of the regular season, freshman goalie Kieran Millan and the rest of the rookie class have proven they can handle pressure.

With a minute left in regulation against Vermont, Gilroy glided up to Millan, urging the backstop to relax, focus and put the first two-and-a-half periods behind him.

Millan looked at Gilroy through his mask and sent the All-American defenseman back to the faceoff circle smiling.

‘He smiled at me and said, ‘Get out of here. Don’t worry about it,” Gilroy said. ‘That’s the way he is. It’s good to see him get the win here.’

Millan’s casual demeanor exemplifies BU’s unflappable composure.’

The Terriers are on the precipice of becoming the greatest team ‘- statistically ‘- in program history. With a win over Miami, this year’s team would be the first ever to win 35 games in one season.

‘It’s awesome,’ Lawrence said. ‘We’ve been working for this for four years. It’s one of our goals and one of our dreams [to win the national championship]. We’re one step away from achieving that goal.’

Design, for Parker and the Terriers, is desire, determination and the will to win.