CHESTNUT HILL — As Ryan McGuire’s shot trickled 150 feet down the ice and found the empty net with 2.1 seconds left, Cameron Whitehead paused to savor the moment.
He raised both of his arms straight in the air. He exchanged a hug and a few private words with captain Jack Williams. And then, he lifted his stick to acknowledge the Northeastern fan section high up in the bleachers.
Much like Northeastern’s entire team, the sophomore netminder has endured a rocky year. He was pulled mid-game on three occasions. Benched twice for a freshman backup. Struggled to string together consistent performances.
But with the season in the balance and the top team in the country on the other side — the same team who dropped eight goals on him in the Beanpot just one month earlier — Whitehead was the last one standing.
Led by 31 saves from Whitehead in his signature performance as a Husky and scores by Cam Lund and Joe Connor two minutes apart in the second period, the Huskies grinded out a 3-1 upset victory over No. 1 Boston College in the Hockey East Quarterfinals at Conte Forum.
With the win, Northeastern became the first-ever nine seed to advance to the conference semifinals, where they will take on second-seeded Maine on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
“It’s been an up and down season for us, and they still just have shown up every night to support us,” Whitehead said of his point to the crowd. “So it means a lot to us. To beat BC at BC and now get to go to the Garden again, that’s [a special moment].”
Simply put, there was no path to Northeastern’s victory on Saturday that did not include Whitehead stepping up in a major way. But that was only a starting point.
The Huskies recorded 20 blocks and played a well-connected game defensively, handling the Eagles’ speed on rushes and clearing dangerous pucks out of the slot off blocks and rebounds (and Whitehead’s rebound control was notably excellent).
And in the inevitable situations where the Eagles did flood the zone — namely a stretch on the power play in the first period where the top unit held on without a clear for over a minute, and in the late third period with BC making their final push — Whitehead gave the Huskies a chance with difficult saves in traffic.
“Really proud of the way they played and stuck together and played for each other out there,” said Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe. “It was just someone out eating pucks, committing to playing a checking game. And we had confidence knowing that if we played a certain way, we’d give ourselves a chance tonight, and Cam Whitehead was outstanding for us.”
After offensive zone and neutral zone turnovers led to numerous odd-man rushes for the Eagles in the 8-2 loss in the Beanpot Semifinal last month, Northeastern was far more disciplined on Saturday. That was the result of cutting down on turnovers in the first place, and backchecking hard the moment BC secured possession of the puck.
And the one time Ryan Leonard got loose 1-on-0 in the second period? It hit the crossbar.
To beat the top-ranked team in the country, it took both a remarkable all-around effort and some bounces going the Huskies’ way.
“Well, we usually score some goals,” BC coach Greg Brown deadpanned. “Northeastern did a great job tonight, really getting all five guys above the puck right from the beginning of the game. If they didn’t think they had pressure, they got back in the neutral zone, clogged it up, made it difficult. [Northeastern was] really being tactical, waiting for their one chance, two chances.”
And after escaping the first period tied 0-0, and then holding on through a number of special teams opportunities for both sides early in the second period, the Huskies eventually found their opportunities late in the second period.
With 5:49 remaining in the frame, Lund waltzed into the attacking end and fired a wrister off BC goalie Jacob Fowler’s glove and into the back of the net.
Then, just two minutes later, Christophe Tellier sent in a shot from above the left circle that Fowler let up a poor rebound on, leaving the puck out in front for Connor to dump in and double the lead.
“JC’s goal gave us some breathing room. Just gave us a little bit more momentum there,” Keefe said. “Obviously, hitting the first goal is huge. Not having to chase the game, especially in this building. But I thought going into the third period with a two-goal lead was really important.”
And much like Northeastern’s previous win against BC back in November, the Huskies entered the third period up by two goals and needed to withstand a vicious late push by the Eagles.
“We had to play exactly the same way in the third period as we did in the first two. So it wasn’t really changing anything in our mindset,” Keefe said. “We knew they were going to have to push and they were going to have a push, and we just had to make sure that we stuck to what we were doing and not panic.”
With the net emptied at the three minute mark of the third period still trailing by two goals, the Eagles set up a well-organized rush from the defensive zone and James Hagens buried a wrister to bring the game to within one goal with 2:34 to play.
But the Huskies did not panic. Things got even more dicey once Tellier was sent to the box for a hook with 25 seconds to go, leading to a 6-on-4 advantage for the Eagles with the net emptied.
But McGuire won the key defensive zone faceoff, then won a crucial puck battle in the neutral zone and sent the puck the length of the ice to seal the victory.
“A major part of why Coach brought me here was for situations like that. And I take a lot of pride in my faceoffs. And so my number one concern was just not losing it clean,” McGuire said. “When I did that, the next thing, I just wanted to get it out. And when it happened to fall on my stick, I wasn’t even really going for the net. I just knew the time was winding down and they wouldn’t be able to beat it down. I just got it down and it took a little curve.”
The heroic effort by McGuire was a microcosm of Northeastern’s entire road to victory. It took a relentless effort. Execution in tenuous sports. And the bounces going the right way.
Northeastern is the first No. 9 seed in the Hockey East Tournament to get to TD Garden. And if their performances in each of the past two games are any indication, this team still has plenty of life — and a goaltender ready to meet the moment.
“This group has some confidence right now,” Keefe said. “It’s not going to be easy. The next game wasn’t easy. Tonight wasn’t easy, against Merrimack wasn’t easy. But we have to go into the Garden, stick to our plan, and win a close game.”
Northeastern will face No. 2 Maine on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. from TD Garden. WRBB Sports will have live coverage of the game on WRBB 104.9 FM.