Wildcats Fall to Boston College, 4-3, in OT in Hockey East Opening Round

Wednesday, March 9

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

7 PM

University of New Hampshire

14-19-1

Boston College

15-17-5

OT 1

New Hampshire

Boston College

Tyler Ward posted his first hat-trick as a Wildcat (Photo by China Wong)

Wildcats Fall to Boston College, 4-3, in OT in Hockey East Opening Round

3/9/2022 10:49:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

Tyler Ward records hat-trick.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Senior forward Tyler Ward (Kamloops, British Columbia) scored three goals for the Wildcats but Marc McLaughlin scored the game winner in overtime for BC as the No. 9 seed University of New Hampshire men's hockey team fell to No. 8 seed Boston College, 4-3, on Wednesday night at Conte Forum in the Opening Round of the Hockey East Tournament.

The Wildcats conclude the season 14-19-1, while the Eagles improve to 15-17-5. BC advances to the quarterfinals to take on No. 1 seed Northeastern on Saturday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. on NESN+ from Matthews Arena.

Photo Gallery

Hockey East Tournament Opening Round
Score: #8 Boston College 4, #9 New Hampshire 3
Records: UNH (14-19-1, 8-15-1 Hockey East), BC (15-17-5, 9-12-3 Hockey East)
Location: Chestnut Hill, Mass. (Conte Forum)
Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

BC took a 1-0 lead at 6:08 of the first period when Jack McBain fired a one-timer to the upper glove side.
The Wildcats tied the contest at 1-1 when Ward sent a shot to the net that was saved by Eric Dop, but Ward then pounced on the puck and knocked it to the back of the goal. Freshman forward Robert Cronin (Plymouth, Mass.) and sophomore defenseman Nikolai Jenson (Cold Spring, Minn.) each posted an assist on the score.
Nesterenko gave BC a 2-1 advantage when he scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway at 2:48 of the second period.
McLaughlin scored a power play goal at 14:42 when he sent a loose puck from the slot stick side for the 3-1 BC lead.
At 8:41 of the third period and on the power play, Ward netted his second goal of the contest when he wristed the puck from the side of the net over the glove shoulder of BC goalie Eric Dop. Senior forward Jackson Pierson (Zionsville, Ind.) and senior forward Filip Engarås (Stockholm, Sweden) each tallied an assist on the goal.
Ward then tied the game at 3-3 when he tipped a shot from junior defenseman Kalle Eriksson (Leksand, Sweden) at 15:11. Engarås also posted an assist on the goal.
McLaughlin scored the game-winner in overtime for his second goal of the game to give BC the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Senior goalie Mike Robinson (Bedford, N.H.) made 24 saves, while Dop posted 44 saves.
The Wildcats went 2-5 on the power play and the Eagles went 1-4.
UNH outshot BC by a 47-28 margin.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

The hat-trick was the first as a Wildcat for Ward.
UNH is now 3-10 versus Boston College in the HE Tournament.
The last playoff overtime game the Wildcats played was a 5-4 double overtime loss at UMass on March 15, 2019.

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