Ohio State hockey upsets No. 4 Boston College, 3-2

Remember how Ohio State kept getting close, losing twice to perennial power Minnesota in overtime? Remember how they came within one goal of Miami and No. 1 Providence earlier in the season? Well, it just took until three days after Christmas for the Ohio State mens hockey team to finally upset one of the top programs in the country, as the Buckeyes upset No. 4 Boston College 3-2 in the Florida College Hockey Classic on Monday night.

The Buckeyes will face No. 9 Cornell in the tournament championship on Tuesday night after the Big Red upset No. 1 Providence earlier in the day in Florida. Meanwhile, OSU improved to 4-11 overall while BC fell to 13-3-1 on the year overall.

Things didn't start out so rosy for Ohio State, however, as Adam Gilmour put BC up 1-0 on a deflection past Christian Frey at 1:22 of the first. Then, just a couple of minutes later, Austin Cangelosi put the Eagles up 2-0 on a shorthanded 2-on-1. Ohio State would find their way out of the period down only two and outshooting BC, 10-6, but if OSU would have lost by five or more, it wouldn't have been unexpected after that opening.

The second would be almost the complete opposite, as BC would dominate in shots, 16-5, but OSU would take over in the goal department. Josh Healey was assessed a major penalty late in the first for elbowing, but Ohio State found a way to kill off all five minutes at the start of the second without any damage done. And Anthony Greco would take that swing of momentum and put the Bucks on the board with his seventh of the season at 3:10. Tyler Lundey would tie the game later in the second just his second of the year at 17:21.

The teams would go into intermission tied at two and would remain that way throughout the first half of the third, before John Wiitala scored on the powerplay for his third of the season with just over 11 minutes remaining in regulation. BC would put pressure on the Bucks for the remainder of the game, with Christian Frey making key stops and going back in time for his 2014 Big Ten Tournament form.

With just under a minute left, BC pulled star goalie Thatcher Demko and looked to gain the tying goal on that man advantage. But the comeback that would seem to fit how OSU's season has gone thus far wasn't to be. Miles Wood took a major penalty for BC with just over five seconds left and the Eagles wouldn't get a last chance. Ohio State got out alive.

Shots ended up being 32-19 in favor of the Eagles, but the only tallies that matter were 3-2 in favor of Ohio State. This is the biggest victory of the season, by far, for the Buckeyes, and their best effort since playing Providence tough early in the 2014-15 season, if not in the 2014 conference tournament against Minnesota.

The Eagles dominated but the Bucks got the win and that all that matters. This really happened. It's a Christmas miracle.