Nelson’s Isaac MacLeod and his Boston College teammates are off to college hockey’s biggest show of the season.
On Sunday night the Boston College Eagles beat defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth 4-0 in the Northeast Regional Final to earn a spot in next week’s Frozen Four in Tampa, Florida.
The Eagles are the number one ranked team in the United States and with two wins this past weekend in Worchester, Massachusetts showed they will be one of the favourites when the final scrap for college hockey surpremacy opens on April 5.
“We’ve been fortunate in Worcester, to come out a winner more times than not,” Boston College coach Jerry York told media. “My favorite place other than Watertown (his hometown).”
Eagles goaltender Parker Milner stopped 33 shots for his second straight shutout helping Boston College to advance to their 10th Frozen Four in 15 years. They will take a 17-game winning streak into its national semifinal matchup with Minnesota, a 5-2 winner over North Dakota in the West Regional.
Minnesota is seeking its sixth NCAA championship, Boston College its fifth. The last two times the Eagles won the title (2008 and 2010) they won a regional in Worcester on their way. Boston College also captured the NCAA title in 2001 after coming out of Worcester.
Ferris State and Union (N.Y.) College will play in the other national semifinal in Tampa.
Pat Mullane and Bill Arnold had second-period goals for the Eagles. Patrick Wey added a strange unassisted goal early in the third and Johnny Gaudreau had one late.
MacLeod is in his second year with Boston College. The Nelson Minor Hockey graduate played with the Kootenay Midget Ice and Nelson Junior Leafs as a 16-year-old. He then went on to the BCHL and played with the Penticton Vees before accepting a scholarship to Boston College.
– With files from Boston College Hockey
