BU Beats Yale 3-2 In OT In NCAA Opener
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Danny O'Regan was starting to wonder about his aim when every shot he took seemed to hit the post, miss or was smothered by Yale goalie Alex Lyon.
O'Regan didn't miss in overtime when a rebound bounced directly to him outside the slot for a goal at 7:27 that gave Boston University a 3-2 victory over Yale on Friday in the first round of Northeast Regional in the NCAA hockey tournament.
"That net was just pretty gaping and I got a lucky bounce for once," said O'Regan, who also had an assist.
The top-seeded Terriers (26-7-5) will face Minnesota or Minnesota-Duluth in the regional final Saturday night for a spot in the Frozen Four next month in Boston.
O'Regan wasn't alone having trouble getting anything past Lyon, who finished with 39 saves for the Bulldogs (18-10-5). The last came on a shot by Jack Eichel from above the right circle, which Lyon stopped but was on the wrong side of the net and couldn't get over in time to stop O'Regan on the rebound.
"The way the game was going I thought I could have put it over the net maybe," O'Regan said. "I definitely had a couple of chances early and the goalie kind of had my number."
Ahti Oksanen and Evan Rodrigues also scored for BU and Matt O'Connor stopped 21 shots.
The Terriers improved to 11-6-2 in games they trailed 1-0 and set a school record with their sixth overtime win, breaking the tie with the 1976-77 team.
Frankie DiChiara had a goal and an assist for Yale, which won the 2013 national title.
The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead on Nate Repensky's power-play goal 13:19 into the game. DiChiara had an assist, then scored the tying goal 13:12 into the third after BU had scored twice in the second.
"That's pretty much our character all year long," Yale senior Trent Ruffalo said. "I don't know how many close games we've had this year, but I feel like that's our identity as a team. We fight until the very end. It's unfortunate that it had to end the way it did."
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