NCAA MEN'S FROZEN FOUR: WESTERN MICHIGAN VS BOSTON U.

April 12, 2025

Jay Pandolfo

Shane LaChance

Ryan Greene

Enterprise Center

Boston U. Terriers

Finals Postgame Media Conference

Western Michigan - 6, Boston University - 2

JAY PANDOLFO: Western Michigan played a good hockey game. They're a good team. I thought overall we played hard. We competed today. They got a couple more breaks and finished a couple more plays than we did and ended up on the right side of it.

It's tough to put into words how this feels, especially for our players, especially our senior class that's going to be moving on and other guys that may move on as well. But I'm really proud of this group, starting with these two guys up here, Devin Kaplan and Quinn Hutson, our leadership group that there's no way we get to this point without them and how well they've represented the program the last three years.

It's hard to get here. And clearly we know it's very hard to win this last game. But I'm really proud of them, and this is tough to swallow.

Q. Ryan, obviously not the result you want tonight, but can you speak about this year? Tough decision to come back and how pleased you were that you got to this point?

RYAN GREENE: Yeah, I mean, happy we got here. Didn't win it, so, I don't know, just sucks. Just really proud of our group. We've been through a lot. So just proud of our group.

Q. Shane, what does BU hockey mean to you?

SHANE LACHANCE: It means everything. I've grown up playing -- going to BU and watching games and stuff like that. You dream of winning a national championship. It just sucks that we came up short.

Q. Ryan, in the huddle around the goal right before the evening you had the speech. What did you say to the team in that moment?

RYAN GREENE: Just try to get them fired up. Just as every other game. We felt we were prepared, felt we had the right approach. Just trying to get them fired up for the game.

Q. Shane, this season was a little up and down for you guys at the start. Could you talk about the resolve and resiliency you guys showed to get to this point?

SHANE LACHANCE: I think Ryan talked about it. I'm extremely proud of our group. I'm not sure if anyone thought we would be here. We always did. I'm just proud of our group and believing in each other.

Like I said, it sucks that we're not on the other side of this.

Q. It was said, up and down season, what would you remember most about this group?

RYAN GREENE: Honestly, probably nothing to do with hockey. It's just like the things off the ice, camaraderie. We just had a really special group in there. And they're brothers to me now and just really thankful that I got to spend a year with them.

SHANE LACHANCE: Yeah, I mean, I think, you're at the rink every day, going to class with the same, whatever, 26 guys it is, and it's tough to kind of see it end so abruptly.

Like I said, like Greene said, it's not going to be anything without hockey. We had a successful year but what I'll remember most is hanging out with the guys off the ice, going to dinners, whatever it may be. It stings because you don't have much time left with this group.

Q. How do you take away this one? And was there an explanation on why that goal was disallowed with about eight minutes left?

JAY PANDOLFO: Yeah, they said it was tied up. So he blew the whistle, I guess. I haven't seen the replay of it, so I'm not sure exactly what it looked like.

Someone said it was on top of his pad and we pushed it in. It's hard to comment when I don't see the replay yet. Just live it looked like the puck was still moving, but it's far away from where I was sitting or standing.

So, yeah, the explanation was the whistle blew and it was tied up.

Q. You know how hard it is to get here and to win as a player and obviously as a coach. How do you balance being proud of getting here three straight times versus the disappointment of not being able to finish it off?

JAY PANDOLFO: Yeah, you're proud to get here, but you want to finish the job. So it hurts. I really feel for our players more than anything else because it's hard, and it's special to win this thing.

I want to see those guys experience that. That's my goal is for me to see our players and our program experience that again. That's what I want to see.

And we're going to keep knocking at the door here. Obviously we came up a little short, like I said. I am proud of our guys that I thought we competed all the way through.

Western Michigan is a good hockey team. They're well-coached. They're a heavy team. They play hard.

Overall it was a good game. I don't think it was quite a 6-2 game. Obviously we were pushing really hard there. It's 3-2, we're pushing hard. We're getting our chances, the puck's not going in the net. They end up getting a break and they make it 4-2, and it was a little tough from that point on.

Q. As you reflect back, what will be your lasting memory of this year's team?

JAY PANDOLFO: Just how resilient they were. We're a really young team. I mean, our lineup that's dressed tonight I don't think it was average age I bet it's not even 21. It's a really young team. I'm proud of them.

They've really matured over the course of the season. That's what you look at; from start to finish did your team improve over the year? And clearly we did. We made it to this point, just came up a little short. Real proud of this group.

Q. You mentioned it briefly in your opening statement. Could you just talk about what Ryan and Shane mean to you and this program?

JAY PANDOLFO: A lot. Ryan, Quinn and Devin Kaplan, Tristan Amonte, Jack Page, those guys were here my first year. They're a big reason why we're at where we're at as a program. They mean a lot to me.

Shane, obviously the relationship I've had with his family, his grandfather. His uncle was my roommate for four years at school. I know his mom really well. I know his dad really well.

Just to see him be able to experience this and how proud I am of him and the leadership he brought to our group. He's a sophomore captain. That's probably unheard of at most places but that's the type of person he is.

And same for Ryan, he was a great leader this year. He's grown a lot both on and off the ice. He's going to be in the National Hockey League shortly. I'm so proud of these guys. It makes me feel good about our program because of the type of character players we have and the type of people we have. So real proud of them.

Q. Where have you seen Ryan grow as a leader this year?

JAY PANDOLFO: Just his approach every day, the way he practiced every day. His habits. Those are probably the biggest areas. He was obviously a leader for us beforehand but he didn't wear a C last year. As I talked about it, this is a young leadership group. That's not always easy, especially when you have a young team on top of that.

So, yeah, it was fun to watch those guys grow as leaders this year, and they put a lot of pressure on them early on, especially when we weren't playing well. But they got past that and just realized they just have to go out and lead by example and do the things the right way, and that's what they did.