PHOTO BY JOHN QUACKENBOS
Lynn native and Boston College women’s hockey goalie Katie Burt helped lead the Eagles to a Hockey East championship and a Frozen Four appearance this season.
By JOSHUA KUMMINS
Going to the Women’s Frozen Four is nothing new for Boston College.
The Eagles (39-0-0) have never taken home the big prize and are certainly looking to get over the hump, but bringing home the elusive trophy would be especially special for Lynn’s Katie Burt and her BC teammates this year.
There are still two games to play before reaching the winner’s circle, but the Eagles will not be far from home when the puck drops on today’s 4 p.m. national semifinal against Clarkson (30-4-5). BC’s fourth Frozen Four in the last five seasons is taking place just up the road at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center.
Playing for a chance to win the national championship so close to home is a dream come true for the Eagles’ unflappable sophomore goaltender, who has pitched 13 shutouts this season and allowed just 31 goals in her last 31 games.
“It’s unbelievable,” Burt said following Saturday’s 5-1 win over Northeastern in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal matchup. “Playing Northeastern and beating them five times (this season) is something that’s really difficult. I’m really proud of the way we came out and played. We played hard.”
Burt’s Eagles are just the second team ever to enter the Frozen Four with an unblemished record, joining a Minnesota team that finished 41-0-0 and won the 2013 national title. BC’s 39 wins are good for the second-most wins in a season in NCAA history.
The third-ranked Golden Gophers (33-4-1) are back in the Frozen Four field for a fifth straight season, looking to defend the program’s fifth national title. Minnesota has a familiar foe ― archrival and No. 2 Wisconsin (35-3-1) ― standing in its way for the 7 p.m. national semifinal.
The Eagles are also just the second-ever No. 1 national seed to represent Hockey East, but the first in a decade. Before ousting Northeastern, BC won its second Hockey East title with a 5-0 win over Boston University on March 6.
Burt, whose uncle, Tim Burt, was a standout pitcher for the St. Mary’s baseball team, came up big on Saturday, making 21 saves against a Huskies team that boasted one of the nation’s most talented players in senior Kendall Coyne.
Being in the spotlight is nothing new for Burt. She was winning Little League Home Run Derbys when she was 11 and 12 years old. And she was competing with the boys in the Lynn Babe Ruth baseball program up until the time she was 15.
She was even able to leave Buckingham, Browne and Nichols a year early to get a jump on her collegiate career. Now, she’s an integral part of the process at BC.
“She keeps our defense calm back there, not giving up rebounds or bouncing pucks off of her,” BC head coach Katie Crowley said of Burt. “There were times where pucks hit things in front of that net (on Saturday) and she was able to smother them and not give up too many rebounds.”
Coyne and BC’s Alex Carpenter, the daughter of St. John’s Prep all-time great and former NHL star Bobby Carpenter, are two of three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given annually to women’s college hockey’s top player.
The victory over Northeastern was Burt’s 34th of the season, setting a BC program record. She became the fastest goaltender in NCAA history to reach 50 career wins back in January and will enter the latter half of her college career already among the all-time 30 winningest goaltenders.
BC’s run, which included a perfect 24-0-0 conference record, was improbable. But the Eagles have taken the oft-used “second season” cliche seriously.
Records are out the window. It’s all about today, and the Golden Knights.
“Now that we’re into playoffs, it’s one game at a time and you have to win to move on,” said Crowley, a native of Salem, N.H. “Once playoffs hit, it was a new streak for us. …The players have done a great job of staying focused on one game at a time and not looking too far ahead.”
Clarkson, which won the 2014 national title, scored the lone goal just ten seconds into its national quarterfinal contest against ECAC champion Quinnipiac. The Golden Knights needed sophomore Shea Tiley to make just 14 saves in the 1-0 win.
The Eagles have not played Clarkson since the opening round of last season’s NCAA Tournament, but they certainly know what to expect.
“I think Clarkson is going to be a big, physical team like they have been in the past,” said Crowley, whose team beat the Golden Knights before losing to Harvard in last year’s NCAA Tournament. “They’re a good team, where they have some kids returning who have been in some big games for them.”
BC is focused and ready to go.
But as for what it will be like to take the ice in Durham? Burt is not quite sure.
“I don’t think I can describe it. It’s something you have to experience,” she said. “Being local and playing close to home for a chance at the national championship, it’s truly special.”
Joshua Kummins can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.
