BOSTON — Growing up in Canada, Nolan Renwick said he didn’t even know college hockey existed.
So scoring a game-winning overtime goal in the Hockey East semifinals is more of a recent dream for the senior forward from Milestone, Saskatchewan.
Nolan Renwick’s goal at 11:02 of double overtime lifted Maine to a 4-3 win over Northeastern on Thursday night at TD Garden, plus a trip to Friday’s championship game.
“That’s the goal I dream of every night this year,” Renwick said. “Trying to help our team win games and trying to get to this moment.”
No. 2 Maine (23-7-6, 15-5-6 Hockey East) advanced to the Hockey East final for the first time since 2012, when it lost 4-1 to Boston College. Its opponent will be No. 4 Connecticut, a 5-2 winner over No. 3 Boston University in the evening’s first semifinal.
Sophomore forward Charlie Russell fired the puck from the right faceoff circle across the front of the goal and past Northeastern goalie Cameron Whitehead (57 saves) to the far side, where Renwick was stationed to redirect Russell’s pass into the net.
“We figured it was going to be a greasy goal to end it,” Renwick said. “I parked myself at the side of the net and (Russell) saw me and threw it to the back post, and I was lucky it went off me.”
Owen Fowler scored the only goal of the first period, which put Maine up 1-0 at 14:02. Coming out of the penalty box, Fowler scooped up a loose puck near the Northeastern blue line for a breakaway and went 5-hole on Whitehead for the lead.
“He finds a way to score big goals,” Maine coach Ben Barr said. “He’s done that this year for us in big moments. (I) think he enjoys playing in this building. That was big-time for him, getting those two (goals).”
Black Bears goalie Albin Boija finished with 33 saves.
Maine doubled its lead at 2:03 into the second period on Fowler’s second goal, but the Huskies stormed back. Dylan Hryckowian made it 2-1 on a power-play rebound at 4:01, then Cam Lund tied it on a 2-on-1 right after a nifty pass from Jackson Dorrington with just 49 seconds to play in the frame. That’s where it stood after two stops.
Andy Moore scored his first career goal on a rebound at 4:29 of the third period to give Northeastern its only lead of the night at 3-2, but the Black Bears controlled the rest of the frame and got the tying goal off the stick of Luke Antonacci at 12:44.
No. 9 Northeastern (14-20-3, 9-15-3 Hockey East), the lowest seed ever to reach a Hockey East semifinal, saw its Cinderella postseason run come to an end. The Huskies earned wins at No. 8 Merrimack (3-2 in double overtime) and No. 1 BC (3-1).
“Just getting to the final four teams, losing in double overtimes, having two huge playoff wins, that’s something to be really proud of in this league,” Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe said. “I’m really proud of this group to get here.”
Maine twice lost to UConn during the regular season (4-2 at home on Jan. 17 and 3-2 in overtime on Feb. 21 in Storrs, Conn.). The teams skated to a 2-2 tie (with the Black Bears winning the shootout) on Jan. 18 in Orono, Maine.
Maine is seeking it’s first Hockey East tournament title since 2004.
