The first day of action over in the regionals for the NCAA tournament is in the books, and it was a productive one for the pair of Flyers prospects taking part.
In the first game of the Toledo regional, Devin Kaplan and his Boston University squad took on Ohio State in their semifinal, and this one was a doozy. The Buckeyes got on the board first, but the Terriers were able to tie things up early in the second period (care of Cole Eiserman, assisted by Kaplan), and they spent the rest of the period trading goals, and ultimately carried a 3-3 tie into the second intermission. The question of who would pull ahead in the final frame loomed large, and BU stepped u[ resoundingly — putting up five goals in the third period, they cruised away with the lead and put a stamp, as strongly as possible, on the win.
And then over in the Fargo regional, Western Michigan kicked off what they hope will be a long run with their opener against Minnesota State Mankato. And while BU’s first game turned into a barn burner, this one was close all the way to the very end — the Broncos got on the board first but despite their best efforts (and particularly Bump’s best efforts) they couldn’t pull away, and Mankato was able to tie things up early in the third period, and keep the Broncos’ offense contained long enough to force not just one overtime, but two. But they couldn’t hold them off forever, and once again, the Broncos got some double overtime heroics (this time from Grant Slukynsky) to punch their ticket to the final.
BU will take on Cornell in tomorrow’s regional final, while Western Michigan will face UMass, and both of these matchups are sure to be thrillers — while they’re coming in as the favorites, arguably, both of their opponents are going to be riding real highs, after Cornell upset second-ranked Michigan State in their opener, and UMass pulled off a huge overtime win over over Minnesota. The stakes are rising here, as the winners of these finals will advance to next month’s Frozen Four. We’ll see how this shakes out.
