No. 5 BU, No. 1 Minnesota to Open Frozen Four Thursday in Tampa

Thursday, April 6

Tampa, FL (Amalie Arena)

5 PM

Boston University

Minnesota

Photo by: Matt Woolverton

No. 5 BU, No. 1 Minnesota to Open Frozen Four Thursday in Tampa

April 5, 2023 | Men's Ice Hockey

Frozen Four Central Watch on ESPN+Listen Live Stats Game Notes Press Conference Transcript Press Conference Video

#5 Boston University (29-10-0, 18-6-0 Hockey East) vs. #1 Minnesota (28-9-1, 19-6-1 B1G)
Date & Time: Thursday, April 6 - 5 p.m.
Venue: Amalie Arena - Tampa, Fla.
Twitter: @BUGameDay | @TerrierHockey

The fifth-ranked Boston University men's ice hockey team will continue its quest for a sixth national title on Thursday when the Terriers face top-ranked Minnesota in the opening game of the 2023 Frozen Four at Amalie Arena in Tampa. Puck drop is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Thursday's contest will be televised live on ESPN2 and will also be streamed on ESPN+, with an audio-only broadcast located here. The game will also be streamed in Canada on TSN+.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

BU is making its 38th NCAA tournament appearance (23 in last 33 tournaments), which ranks tied for third all-time (Minnesota and Michigan have 40).
This is the Terriers 23rd Frozen Four and first since 2015.
BU has reached the title game in each of its last three Frozen Four appearances, as well as in five of its last six and six of its last eight trips to the Frozen Four.
The Terriers enter Thursday's game with an all-time record of 45-38-0 (.542) in NCAA tournament play.
The 45 wins represent the fifth-highest total in tournament history.

TERRIER TIDBITS

BU is the hottest team in the country, boasting the longest active win streak in the country at nine games dating back to a 5-3 win at Vermont on Feb. 24.
The Terriers advanced to Tampa thanks to a 5-1 triumph over No. 9/11 Western Michigan in the Manchester Regional semifinal and a 2-1 victory over No. 12 Cornell in the regional final.
Junior Drew Commesso stopped 37 of the 39 shots he faced in Manchester to be named the Most Outstanding Player of the regional.
Senior Ethan Phillips led the Terriers with two goals and two assists for four points, including the game-winning goal against the Big Red.
Commesso, Phillips, senior captain Domenick Fensore, and freshmen brothers Lane and Quinn Hutson were named to the All-Regional Team.
Quinn scored his team-best seventh game-winning goal against Western Michigan
The Hutson brothers are two of just eight BU freshmen since 2000 to score 15 goals in a season.
Lane, the Walter Brown Award winner as the top American-born men's college hockey player in New England, leads BU with 48 points (15g, 33a), which is the most by a freshman defenseman in Hockey East history and the fifth-most by a freshman blue liner in NCAA history.
Commesso owns a .951 save percentage in his last four games
Head coach Jay Pandolfo was named New England Division I Coach of the Year after taking the Terriers to the Frozen Four in just his first season in charge.
Pandolfo is looking to become just the second first-year head coach to lead his team to a national title; North Dakota's Brad Berry achieved that feat in Tampa in 2016.

A RIVALRY RENEWED

BU and Minnesota last met in a 2012 NCAA regional semifinal, with the Gophers earning a 7-3 win in front of a partisan crowd in St. Paul.
The Terriers and Gophers last met in the Frozen Four in 1995, when Jay Pandolfo and BU defeated Minnesota, 7-3, in the national semifinals.
BU also bested Minnesota, 4-1, in the 1994 NCAA semifinals.
The two storied programs have played 26 times since first meeting on Dec. 20, 1963, in the opening round of the Boston Christmas Holiday Festival
They have split those 26 tilts, playing to a 12-12-2 record, though Minnesota holds a 5-3 edge in the NCAA Tournament.
BU defeated Minnesota, 4-2, in the 1971 NCAA title game in Syracuse, N.Y., for the program's first national championship.
In addition, the teams met on Oct. 12, 1996, for a Hall of Fame exhibition contest that the Terriers won, 4-3, at Target Center.
Amalie Arena will be the 13th different venue in which BU and Minnesota have met.
The teams have gone to overtime in five of their previous meetings and the Terriers are undefeated in those games (3-0-2).
The lone shutout in the series history came on Jan. 21, 1989, as BU's Peter Fish stopped all 17 shots he faced in a 1-0 triumph.

SCOUTING THE GOPHERS

Minnesota, the top overall seed in the tournament, is 28-9-1 this season.
The Gophers defeated Canisius (9-2) and St. Cloud State (4-1) in Fargo to advance to the Frozen Four for the second straight year.
Freshman Logan Cooley leads Minnesota with 57 points thanks to 20 goals and an NCAA-best 37 assists.
Classmate Jimmy Snuggerud (21g, 29a) and sophomore Matthew Knies (21g, 20a) have both scored a team-best 21 goals and are second and third, respectively, in points.
Senior goaltender Justen Close is 25-9-1 with a 1.99 GAA and a .928 save percentage.

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