NCAA MEN'S FROZEN FOUR: DENVER VS BOSTON U.

April 11, 2024

Jay Pandolfo

Case McCarthy

Mathieu Caron

Xcel Energy Center

Boston U. Terriers

Semifinal Postgame Media Conference

Denver - 2, Boston University - 1 (OT)

JAY PANDOLFO: Really disappointing. I really feel for our seniors. They've done a tremendous job the last two years of, I feel like, re-establishing the culture at BU and what it means to play and be a Terrier. I want to thank those guys.

Case coming back for his fifth year. We were certainly happy he did. For him to get another chance to actually play in the Frozen Four was great to see.

And again tonight the margin of error in these one-and-dones is very slim. We made some mistakes that cost us, and there's no tomorrow for us. So it's a tough tournament, very tough tournament to win.

Q. Case, what can you say about the way Caron played tonight, kept you guys in it there?

CASE MCCARTHY: I thought he played unbelievable. Probably be on SportsCenter a couple times tomorrow morning. He kept us in the hockey game especially late in the second when they made their push.

Can't say enough good things about him. Great guy off the ice. Got to know him coming in. Unbelievable player. I'm going to miss him next year.

Q. Mathieu, what can you say about your last year, your development, transferring in from Brown, making it to the Frozen Four and playing every game along the way?

MATHIEU CARON: I'm very grateful for Boston University and Coach Pandolfo and all the players and coaches that welcomed me to the team. I learned a lot from everyone.

It's obviously not the way we wanted to end things. Really sad for obviously the seniors and grad students like Case. Really wanted to win it for them. I'm going to miss all those guys. And I'm just very thankful for the chance to have played with them.

Q. Case, Pando talking about how you guys have sort of rebuilt the culture, what are the core tenets of that culture that you want to see staying here at BU after you leave?

CASE MCCARTHY: I mean, we have five we talk about in the preseason, but I think the biggest two are respect and compete. That's what this program is about. That's what the history is built on. Compete, playing as hard as you can because you never know when it's going to end.

Q. Obviously not the way you want it to end but what's the biggest thing you take away from this season from what you did accomplish?

CASE MCCARTHY: I mean, for me, obviously bringing this team back to the Frozen Four. But, like, away from the rink, the group we had in that locker room was a special group, special group of people. Young guys to us old guys sitting up here.

It's special when you have a group like that. It makes coming to the rink everyday a lot of fun. Building those relationships with guys is something that you're going to hold onto for the rest of my life.

MATHIEU CARON: It comes down to the group of guys in the locker room. I think that everyone had an amazing year. Every single guy grew, not only as a hockey player but as a person as well.

Obviously being one of the older ones, older guys on the team, just seeing these young guys that are obviously going to have amazing careers moving forward and seeing their growth.

And just, again, the seniors, the guys that have been here before me, just really teaching me what it is to be a BU Terrier. I'm very proud to be a BU Terrier. I know I get referred to as the Brown goalie a lot, but I'm through and through a BU Terrier.

Q. Jay, just the challenge at the end of overtime, what were you looking for there?

JAY PANDOLFO: I guess there was a potential crosscheck, but there's obviously nothing there.

Q. Midway through the game I think Denver had six shots on goal. Was there kind of a blood-in-the-water moment there where you felt like you could maybe put their team away?

JAY PANDOLFO: Yeah, I thought the first period we played very well. The first 12 minutes of the second period, I think, they may have had five or six shots.

And I thought we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit by not continuing to play behind them. They had the one shift. They got a little bit of momentum and then they found a way to score a goal. It seemed like they got some life from that.

Yeah, it's been a little bit of an issue the whole year for our group, in the second period, not finding ways to put teams away. I would have liked to see us bear down and get a two-goal lead, but it didn't happen. They got some life at the end of the second, and that was a big momentum change.

Q. The penalty kill, how big did that come up for you guys, Sam Stevens, Cade Webber and Case McCarthy?

JAY PANDOLFO: I thought it was excellent from the goalie on out. They were sacrificing. We were pretty confident that they were going to get the job done. And then the one save that Caron made was incredible. So good for them.

Q. Zero penalties in the game for Denver. What kind of a layer of complexity does that add to the game when you have to keep playing 5-on-5 and it's not working as well as you wanted it to be?

JAY PANDOLFO: I don't know. You guys watched the game. I don't know if there was any penalties out there or not, but we didn't get on the power play at all. They got on four times. But we still have to -- that's not the reason we lost the game -- we have to find ways to put teams away 5-on-5. And we didn't do that.

Q. You always talk about how tough it is to win at this stage. Having only won it one time as a player in the Frozen Four, what's your message to the team, especially those younger players?

JAY PANDOLFO: I think they've learned that it's pretty difficult, and I've said it, that it's these little things over the course of the game that if you don't do them well, you could end up on the wrong side of it. And there was just a couple times some little things that cost us. We didn't put the puck behind them.

Anytime we put the puck behind them tonight we had some success. Couple times we didn't. It gave them a little bit of life. And that's the difference in games like this. You don't have another opportunity.

Of course, do you need a little bit of puck luck and bounces here and there? Of course you do. But you've got to create that, too. And we didn't create enough of that tonight after the way we played the first half of the game.

Q. What has Lane Hutson meant to this program the past two seasons in terms of getting you guys back to the national stage and building that reputation again?

JAY PANDOLFO: Lane, he's a special player. He's fun to watch. He competes. He wants to win so bad. He's been great the way he competes every day in practice. He's the type of kid that is looking to get better every day.

He pushes his teammates with the way he competes. Lane's been excellent for us, and we'll see what happens. But he's been a great Terrier.