BU fans were still in a frenzy as Colby Cohen showed off the NCAA championship trophy, which he delivered with an OT goal.
(Barry Chin/Globe Staff)
Frozen Four Notebook
He took a shot, and it really paid off
Cohen's winner a sight to behold
BU fans were still in a frenzy as Colby Cohen showed off the NCAA championship trophy, which he delivered with an OT goal.
(Barry Chin/Globe Staff)
WASHINGTON - According to Boston University coach Jack Parker, when he and his staff recruit players, they look for a special trait that makes each young man stand out. It could be a goalie's ability to make the big save when the game is on the line, it could be a forward's creativity or a defenseman's ability to rebound from making a mistake.
In the case of sophomore Colby Cohen, Parker said it was his ability as an offensive blue liner as well as his cannon of a shot that made Cohen a must-have prospect.
Little did the veteran bench boss know that Cohen was destined to be the hero in last night's NCAA championship game.
Cohen's booming blast from the left circle at 11:47 of overtime lifted the Terriers to a 4-3 victory over Miami University at the
"For starters, [defenseman] Kevin Shattenkirk makes a big play," said Cohen, who turns 20 April 25. "He rolls to the blue line, just like we've done a lot this year, and he leaves it for me. I'd been getting close to scoring some goals this weekend. I hit a couple of [crossbars]. I just let it go and I saw it [deflect] and go up over the goalie's glove and I saw it go in and that was it. I don't remember anything after that. It's just an unbelievable feeling. I saw a guy [Roeder] coming at me and I thought about trying to fake and go around the guy but the ice was already a little chewed up at that point."
When teammate Nick Bonino, who scored the tying goal with just 17.4 seconds left in regulation, suggested that Cohen had shut his eyes, Cohen agreed.
"I closed my eyes and shot it and here we are right now," said Cohen. "I was just trying to shoot it toward the net, take a slap shot and get it to the net and hope for a rebound. But I got lucky, I guess."
Parker said it was more than luck. Because of Cohen's ability, it didn't really surprise him that Cohen was the guy who made the difference on a team full of clutch performers.
"The reason he got the goal is because he's a terrific offensive defenseman who can shoot the puck 100 miles an hour," said Parker. "The reason we recruited him is he was a great power-play guy not only because he can move the puck and make great plays but he's got a cannon."
Trained to succeed
BU captain Matt Gilroy said the team started to bond during difficult training sessions last summer. "We got here [to BU], everyone on Aug. 31, and we went though testing and we used to run the [Charles River] twice a week at 5 o'clock in the morning. It was horrible," said Gilroy. "It just brought us closer together." All that work was well worth it, particularly for Gilroy and a tight-knit senior class. Last night marked the 100th victory for the Class of 2009. "To see Colby score, I didn't even see it go in but just the bench, how it erupted," said Gilroy. "It was unreal and it's something the senior class will never, ever forget and it's unbelievable to go out the way we did." . . . Last night's NCAA title game was the first to be staged in the nation's capital. It was the 13th championship game to be decided in overtime. BU improved its record in title games to 5-5 . . . BU improved to 24-0-3 when Bonino records a point . . . BU went 17-0-2 in its last 19 games played away from home.
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