Brandon Svoboda got the Terriers on the board when he got to a loose puck in front of the net and shoveled it past Lawton Zacher (31 saves) to pull the Terriers within one at 17:40.
BU pulled even in the second period when Malte Vass sent a cross-ice pass to Sacha Boisvert, who beat Zacher glove side at 13:39. But Northeastern took a 3-2 advantage into the third period via Joe Connor’s goal with 1.3 seconds remaining. NU had just killed off a penalty when the Terriers turned it over in their own end. Connor gathered the loose puck and roofed a backhander over Yegorov.
That’s how the score stayed until 18:03 of the third, when Kamil Bednarik put home his own rebound from the doorstep. The Terriers were skating six on five, having just pulled Yegorov for the extra skater. Svoboda followed 18 seconds later, breaking past a defender and flipping the puck past Zacher, blocker side, to deliver the win.
It was a fitting matchup for the last call, as the rink once served as home ice for both schools. The Terriers played in the building from 1918-1971 when it was known as Boston Arena, going 306-158-11, before moving their games on campus in November 1971 after the construction of Walter Brown Arena.
Hockey Hall of Famers David Poile (left) and Jack Parker perform the ceremonial puck drop with Northeastern’s Vinny Borgesi (left) and Boston University’s Gavin McCarthy before the final game at Matthews Arena on Saturday.Ken McGagh/For the Globe
Northeastern pulled out all the stops for the contest. Bruins anthem singer Todd Angilly was on hand to perform the national anthem. Both schools were represented in the ceremonial puck drop by Hockey Hall of Fame alums. Both David Poile, Northeastern class of ’71, and former Terriers coach Jack Parker, BU class of ’68 were inducted in the Hall’s Builder category.
Poile was elected in 2024, having served as a general manager for 41 years in the NHL with the Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators. Parker went in last month, honored for his 40 years leading the Terriers to 897 wins and three national championships.
NESN analyst Billy Jaffe was brought in for double duty — calling the game alongside Northeastern play-by-play voice Rob Rudnick for the TV broadcast, as well as hosting the on-ice postgame ceremony to mark the official farewell.
The evening was bittersweet for NU coach Jerry Keefe, who first joined the program as an assistant coach in 2011. When he came in for the interview that summer, then coach Jim Madigan asked him to bring his family along. His son, Owen, was 5, and daughter Emmerson had just turned 1. Next year, Owen is set to join his father on campus and skate for the Huskies.
“I just remember how excited I was to come in here and just look at the rink and start thinking about, ‘Wow, this could be my home here.’ I’ll never forget that day,” said Keefe. “Since that day, Matthews has been a second home, not just for me, but my family. My son grew up here. He was always running around here, so that part means a lot to me.”
Of course, the memories extended on the ice, as Keefe reflected on the ceremony in October 2016 in which captains John Stevens and Zach Aston-Reese commemorated Northeastern capturing the Hockey East tournament championship the previous March at TD Garden, snapping a 28-year drought for the program.
“Those two guys had such a big impact on our program,” said Keefe. “To watch those two guys be able to raise that banner, that was a really cool memory.”
BU coach Jay Pandolfo skated at the arena, but as a visitor, when his Terriers would take the short trip to St. Botolph Street during his playing days from 1992-96.
“It’s a long time ago now, but I always enjoyed playing there,” said Pandolfo. “It’s a really cool, historic building.”
Pandolfo’s grandfather, John Byrne, played for the Huskies from 1936-39. He was named the area’s most outstanding college hockey player by the New England Hockey writers for the 1938-39 season and was inducted into the Northeastern Hall of Fame in 1979.
“It’s always pretty special for me playing against Northeastern, because of my grandfather playing there,” Pandolfo added. “He certainly made sure he was over at the Northeastern games, but he was rooting for BU, which I was happy about.”
Deconstruction of Matthews Arena will begin this winter, with construction of a new 310,000-square foot facility to follow. The men’s and women’s teams will play their remaining home games at Bentley, Harvard, Lowell, BU’s Walter Brown Arena, and in Portland, Maine.
College hockey fans file into the final game at Matthews Arena.Ken McGagh/For the Globe
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.
