San Jose Sharks prospect Will Smith opened the scoring for Boston College on the team’s first shot. He took a feed from Ryan Leonard, waited just a split second for the University of Michigan’s Jake Barczewski to commit to the save and then lifted the puck over the sprawling goaltender for the first goal of the game. It was just 1:20 into the game.
Smith threatened several times after that opening shift but the University of Michigan tried to lock things down. It wasn’t until 12:25 of the second period, that Smith managed to score the second goal of the game, this time using Gabe Perreault as a great distraction in front of the net, while Smith did a wrap around play. The puck bounced off of both skates of the Michigan defenseman battling with Perreault and went into the net. 2-0 Boston College.
Sharks top prospect Will Smith sends BC to the NCAA Title Game 🙌 pic.twitter.com/FNSt2WJQ9p
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) April 12, 2024
While Smith never managed to get the hat trick, the Eagles went on to win the game 4-0 and secure the team’s spot in the Championship game on Saturday. Smith and the Eagles will play the University of Denver at 3 p.m. PT.
Denver beat Boston University in overtime earlier on Thursday by a final score of 2-1.
OHL Playoffs Update: Quentin Musty and Kasper Halttunen
In the OHL playoffs, a pair of Sharks prospects played last night.
Kasper Halttunen didn’t have an extremely impactful game on the stat sheet for the London Knights but his team still won the opening game of its second round series with the Kitchener Rangers. The Knight beat the Rangers 5-3 after a controversial goal call in the third period. You can read all about it here.
In the Eastern Conference, the Sudbury Wolves lost its opening game of the second round. The North Bay Battalion beat the Wolves 5-2. Musty scored one of Sudbury’s two goals.
A missile from Q off the rush has us back tied! pic.twitter.com/BcgId5iBLk
— Sudbury Wolves (@Sudbury_Wolves) April 12, 2024
The next game in both series is tomorrow.
