MADISON — The Clarkson Golden Knights advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season on Thursday night, jumping out to an early lead over Hockey East tournament champ Boston University and never looking back.
Anne Cherkowski opened the scoring five minutes in on a break into the zone down the right side. She picked her spot and sniped a shot to the far post to make it a 1-0 game. BU took a body checking penalty seconds later and Clarkson capitalized on the power play on a gorgeous passing play from Cherkowski to Sena Catterall to Rhea Hicks, who tapped the puck in to make it a 2-0 game just 31 seconds after the first goal.
Boston University looked a little rattled and their game never really seemed to settle in. They struggled with puck possession and completing passes and got drawn into committing penalties. After a postseason stretch where they rarely led but managed to come back and win in overtime, their magic seemed to run out in Madison.
Goalie Callie Shanahan was a bright spot for the Terriers, particularly on a point blank save late in the second to keep the game close. Her defense did work in front of her, amassing 22 blocks.
BU found some pep in the third, ending the shutout with 4:01 left in the third after pulling their goalie for an extra attacker. Lindsay Bochna cleaned up a loose puck after a scrum in front of the net to cut the lead to 2-1.
But the Terriers couldn’t find an equalizer and Sena Catterall’s empty-netter closed out a 3-1 win for the Golden Knights.
Clarkson will face top-seed Wisconsin on Saturday at 2 pm central. The teams have met three previous times in the NCAA Tournament, with Wisconsin holding a 2-1 advantage. They beat the Golden Knights 3-1 in the first round of the tournament in 2022 and won a semifinal against them 5-0 in 2019 en route to a title. Clarkson won their first meeting, beating Wisconsin 3-0 for the National Championship in 2017. Overall, Wisconsin owns the series between the two teams 5-1-1.
This story will be updated.
