WORCESTER, Mass.-- Boston College left winger Teddy Doherty will enjoy a delayed spring break in the Sunshine State.
The senior from Hopkinton, Mass. isn't finished with college hockey, and he played that way in Saturday night's 3-2 victory over Minnesota Duluth in the NCAA Northeast Regional final at the DCU Center.
Doherty scored the Eagles' first two goals that put BC up 2-0 early in the second period, but the game came down to a defensive stand in the final seconds.
The Eagles advanced to the Frozen Four for the 25th time, and 12th in the last 18 years under coach Jerry York, and will face Quinnipiac in a national semifinal on April 7 (5 p.m.) in Tampa.
Frozen Four bracket"It's great and I really wanted to go to Tampa," Doherty said. "Just to extend the season by two weeks and being able to practice in Conte Forum again is something that I value way more than two goals.
"Maybe in a few years I'll look back, but right now in the moment getting to Tampa was the team's main objective since Day 1. We're lucky to get to practice in Conte for another week and a half here."
Boston College will go for its sixth NCAA title and fifth in this century, and have some good history on its side. The Eagles have used the DCU Center as a way station for their four titles since 2001. BC is 14-1 in regional games played at the DCU, and all four titles this century originated in Worcester.
BC also captured its last national championship in 2012 in Tampa, a fact not lost on the Eagles captain. Doherty walks past the team photos of the Eagles' previous national champions every time he enters the hockey locker room at Conte.
"You go to Day 1 and there are a million thoughts in your head, and you have to focus on the moment," Doherty said. "Coming into this weekend, we had a lot of believability within our team.
"We have the best goalie (Thatcher Demko) in the country for sure, and with that anything can happen. I'm so proud of our team. I'm proud of the upperclassmen for getting us through this, and it's going to be another great experience going down to Florida."
RELATED: Box score from BC's 3-2 win
Doherty is a case study of a senior giving his all for the colors. The 5-foot-10, 173-pounder is a natural puck-moving defenseman who had shifted between forward and the blue line the past two seasons.
Doherty was inserted on the first line with sophomore center Zach Sanford and junior right winger Adam Gilmour, and all three have benefitted from the move.
Doherty has played in 39 games and has 13 goals and 12 assists. Doherty recorded his third multi-goal and sixth multi-point game of the season against Duluth, and BC is 3-0 this season when Doherty has scored twice.
"He's a team-first guy, there is no doubt about that," Demko said. "Whatever coach wants him to do, he's going to do it. He doesn't care about two goals, he just wants to get to Tampa. That couldn't be more true just through his actions.
"He's a huge leader for us. He just leads by example and the guys look up to him. He sets the tone for the team."
