ST. LOUIS — In terms of experience, the disparity does not get much bigger when it comes to Thursday’s matchup between Boston University and Penn State in the men’s Frozen Four (8:30 p.m., ESPN2).
The Terriers are in their 103rd season, and are playing in their 25th Frozen Four. Penn State has been a Division 1 program for just 13 years, and is making its maiden voyage to the national semifinals. There are, however, similarities, at least with regard to how the programs fared this season and found their way to Thursday’s showdown — the first meeting between the schools.
Both squads are the last teams standing from their respective conferences. BU (23-13-2) finished third in Hockey East, and was one of six teams to qualify for the tournament. Maine and Prvidence lost in the first round, while Boston College, UMass, and UConn all fell in their regional finals.
Penn State (22-13-4) finished fifth in the Big Ten, one of four from the conference to reach the postseason, and the only one to make it out of the first round, as Michigan State, Minnesota, and Ohio State were all bounced.
BU barely resembled a team that would even qualify for the tournament, never mind reach the Frozen Four, when it dropped a 7-5 decision at Yale on Dec. 29.
But when asked after Wednesday’s practice at Enterprise Arena if he envisioned his squad back in the Frozen Four after stumbling against the Bulldogs, coach Jay Pandolfo said he still had plenty of belief.
“I think sometimes it’s good for a team to go through the adversity we’ve went through this year, as long as you learn from it,” said Pandolfo. “And I think we have, in a lot of different moments.
“Right after the game maybe if you asked me, I would have said something different, but knowing these players that we have, I’d say, ‘Yeah, we’ll find a way.‘”
Helping to spark the turnaround has been goalie Mikhail Yegorov, who has started the last 16 games since enrolling in the school in January, going 10-5-1 with a .931 save percentage and a 2.04 goals-against average.
Even with the turnaround, the Terriers have had a few clunkers, including a 5-1 loss at home to Northeastern on Feb. 21 and a 5-2 drubbing at the hands of UConn in the Hockey East semifinals on March 20 that didn’t even feel that close. But they responded with a pair of strong showings in the Toledo Regional, posting victories over Ohio State and Cornell to reach the Frozen Four for the third year in a row.
Whereas bouts of inconsistency continue to plague BU, Penn State has been on a roll since the holiday break. After sputtering to a 7-9 start, including an 0-8 mark in Big Ten play, the Nittany Lions have gone 15-4-4 since Jan. 1.
They received the final at-large bid for the tournament and were the No. 4 seed in the Allentown Regional, but managed to post wins over No. 1 seed Maine and No. 2 seed UConn to advance to the program’s first Frozen Four. If they can make it three straight wins over Hockey East opponents, they will earn a spot in Saturday night’s national championship game.
Goalie Arsenii Sergeev will certainly look familiar to Hockey East fans. He played two years at UConn before transferring to Penn State for the 2024-25 season, going 19-8-4 with a .918 save percentage and a 2.56 goals-against average. He was the goalie of record for the Nittany Lions’ second-half surge.
Although both teams are getting stellar play in net, the game shouldn’t lack for offense. BU ranks fourth in the NCAA in goals per game at 3.8. Penn State is seventh with 3.5. Junior Quinn Hutson and freshman Cole Eiserman each have 23 goals to lead the Terriers. Hutson’s 1.39 points per game is second in the NCAA, while younger brother Cole Hutson leads all NCAA defenseman in points per game (1.24) and is first among NCAA freshmen in points (46) and assists (32).
Sophomore Aiden Fink leads Penn State in goals (23) and assists (30), and is third in points per game nationally with 1.36. Freshman Charlie Cerrato is second on the team in both assists (27) and points (42).
While BU and Penn State are meeting for the first time, the day’s first matchup features teams that are very familiar with each other. Western Michigan (32-7-1) and Denver (31-11-1) met three times this season, all decided by one goal, two of which went to overtime. The NCHC foes split a series in Kalamazoo, Mich. in December. The Broncos took the rubber match in the conference championship game March 22, rallying from a 3-0 hole to force overtime and prevailing, 4-3 against the defending national champions.
This game also features a disparity in postseason experience. Denver has won 10 national titles, the most of any Division 1 program, and is going for its third in four seasons. Western Michigan is making its first appearance in the Frozen Four.
The winners will meet in Saturday’s championship game (7:30 p.m., ESPN2).
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.
