SIOUX FALLS – Rochester Institute of Technology has earned a reputation as a giant killer in the NCAA men’s hockey tournament, advancing to the Frozen Four as a No. 4 seed in 2010 and taking out No. 1 overall seed Minnesota State Mankato five years later.
This time, Goliath won.
Lane Hutson and Ryan Greene scored 1:05 apart in the first period Thursday, waking top-seeded Boston University from an early slumber on its way to a 6-3 victory over No. 4 RIT in an NCAA Sioux Falls Regional semifinal at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
“We started off a little slow and had a tough first period, but still came out ahead 2-1,’’ Terriers coach Jay Pandolfo said. “… The first one’s always tough to win.’’
Macklin Celebrini, Sam Stevens, Jack Harvey and Dylan Peterson also scored for Boston University (27-9-2). Mathieu Caron stopped 28 shots as BU advanced to Saturday’s final.
Elijah Gonsalves, Gianfranco Cassaro and Cody Laskosky scored for RIT (27-11-2), while Tommy Scarfone made 27 saves.
RIT frustrated the Terriers in the first period, continuously clearing the puck from the zone and outshooting them 13-6. Still, BU took a 1-0 lead at 11:56 when Hutson, the All-America defenseman, toe-dragged around a Tigers defender and backhanded a shot into the open net.
It took only 65 seconds for BU to make it 2-0 on Greene’s shot over Scarfone’s left shoulder.
