CHESTNUT HILL — The 2003-2004 Boston University hockey season has just reached a new level of insanity.
After an up-and-down season that included rare glimpses of greatness usually followed by doldrums of disappointment, the Terriers pulled off their most improbable trick of the season, beating top-seeded Boston College 4-2 Saturday night at Conte Forum to complete a two-games-to-one upset of the No. 3 team in the nation.
Unlike Thursday night’s win, in which the Terriers scored early and hung on to a lead just long enough to scratch out the victory, BU came out strong Saturday night and carried that momentum all the way through the game.
The Terriers got on the board with just under three minutes left in the first when junior Bryan Miller flicked a shot off the post and gathered his own rebound before feeding Brad Zancanaro in the slot. Zancanaro beat BC goalie Matti Kaltiainen high to ignite the large scarlet-clad contingent that dominated one corner of Conte Forum.
Terrier fans were silenced 5:12 into the second period when the nation’s leading goal scorer, BC forward Tony Voce, drove in on BU goalie Sean Fields and faked the senior netminder to the ice before flicking home his 28th goal of the year. But just five minutes later, everything changed for BU.
Freshman forward Kenny Roche took a pass from senior Frantisek Skladany, circled behind the BC net, and flipped the puck harmlessly toward Kaltiainen. The BC goalie misplayed the puck, which fluttered over his head before deflecting off his right pad and into the net to give BU a 2-1 lead.
Just 85 seconds later, Miller and senior captain Mark Mullen cruised into the BC zone on a two-on-one rush. Miller carried the puck to Kaltiainen’s left, faked a pass to Mullen before firing home a wrister to the left of Kaltiainen to give BU a two-goal lead and silence many of the 4,329 in attendance.
But the game really changed, according to BC coach Jerry York, on a series of events late in the second period. Seconds after a backhander by BC defenseman Brett Peterson clanged off the crossbar, BU freshman forward Eric Thomassian found himself all alone in front of the BC net. Thomassian left no doubt, burying his first collegiate goal behind Kaltiainen to send the Terriers into the third period with a 4-1 lead.
BC senior Ben Eaves scored late in the third, but it was too little, too late for the Eagles, who became just the second top-seeded team to fall in the Hockey East quarterfinals since the league went to the best-of-three format. The other time was in 1998, when top-seeded BU fell to Merrimack College in three games.
Fields stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced, while Kaltiainen allowed four goals on 17 shots. For the series, Fields had 100 saves on the 107 shots he faced, while Kaltiainen allowed 7 goals on 45 shots.
BU will now face the University of Maine, which finished off Merrimack, Friday night, at the FleetCenter in one of the semifinal matchups. The other game will pit the University of Massachusetts against the University of New Hampshire, which defeated Providence College in game three of their series Saturday night.
Be sure to pick up Monday’s Daily Free Press for complete coverage of BU’s victory over BC, along with all the other Terrier sports you might have missed over break.