MANCHESTER, N.H. — Boston University's Wilmer Skoog and Ethan Phillips each scored once, and Drew Commesso made 13 saves, to aid the No. 5-ranked Terriers to a 2-1 victory over the No. 12-ranked Cornell men's hockey team at SNHU Arena on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Boston University (29-10-0) cemented its spot in the Frozen Four, the program's first since 2015. The Terriers will play No. 1-ranked Minnesota in one of the national semifinal games at Amalie Arena in Tampa on April 6.

Sophomore goaltender Ian Shane made 19 saves for Cornell (21-11-2), who had a late goal from freshman forward Dalton Bancroft.

"Congratulations to Boston University," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Ice Hockey. "I thought they played an outstanding game. They're a great hockey team. Jay Pandolfo and their staff have done a tremendous job with those guys all year long.

"We knew going into the game, tonight was going to be a tough game, especially if they scored the first goal. Two nights ago, against Western Michigan, they limited scoring chances throughout the course of the night and they did that for good periods of time tonight."

Senior co-captains Sam Malinski and Travis Mitchell joined Coach Schafer at the dais for the post-game press conference. Schafer credited the Big Red blueliners, and the rest of the graduating class, for their loyalty to the Cornell hockey program through everything they have endured during their four- — and in some cases — five-year tenures with the program.

"In today's age, it's tough. Guys sign pro, guys leave your program, guys jump in the portal. Seems like kids don't know how to fight through adversity anymore. These two guys could have transferred. They didn't. Them and their whole classmates. It speaks volumes of the kind of kids we get at Cornell University. They're loyal to their teammates, loyal to their coaching staff, loyal to their institution. They're willing to fight through adversity and that's the kind of kid we want in our program in the future, and the kids we literally search out to represent and put some integrity in this game."
 

How It Happened

Neither squad could generate any offense in the opening 20 minutes as the teams evenly split eight shots on goal. Both Cornell and Boston University each had a power play opportunity in the frame, but could not convert.

Skoog opened the scoring 2:13 into the second period when Jeremy Wilner forced a loose puck behind the net, setting up Skoog on the doorstep of Cornell's goalmouth to the put the Terriers ahead.

Cornell had a chance to tie the game in the second, but junior forward Gabriel Seger had his shot attempt from the bottom of the left faceoff circle flutter over Commesso's head before deflecting off the crossbar.

Quinn Hutson had an opportunity to give Boston University a two-goal lead as a Cornell turnover in its offensive zone led to a breakaway, but his shot rang off the right post.

Following one of the three media timeouts in the third period, Matt Brown lofted a puck over a pair of Cornell's defensemen to Phillips who had an open look at the net and his first shot was saved by Shane, but Phillips pounced on the loose rebound, depositing into the net to give the Terriers a two-goal lead.

Bancroft cut the Terriers' lead in half when he threw a puck on net during a scramble in front of Commesso with an extra attacker with 32 seconds left.

The Big Red had a pair of desperation chances to score in the waning seconds of the game but those chances went wide of the goal or were blocked.

Game Notes

• Cornell and Boston University met for the 51st time on Saturday afternoon. The Big Red is now 26-22-3 all-time against the Terriers.

• Seger was credited with an assist on Bancroft's late-game goal, giving him 30 points on the season. He is the first Cornell player with a 30-point season since Morgan Barron (14-18—32) in 2019-20, and is the first to do so in his first year with the program since Riley Nash (12-20—32) in 2007-08.

• The Big Red killed all three of its penalties on the night, increasing its streak to 19 successful penalty kills in a row.