This is Matt Gilroy. He’s the Senior co-captain of the Boston University Men’s Hockey Team. He’s the only player to named an All-American in the last two seasons, and is well on his way to the third. He’s currently one of ten finalists for the Hobey Baker Award (along with fellow Terrier Colin Wilson), awarded to the best player in the country. He was profiled in the New York Times earlier this year (the source of the above photo).

Tomorrow, he will be leading the Terriers into the first game of the 2009 NCAA tournament against Ohio State in Machester, New Hampshire. As of right now, BU is the number one overall seed in the tournament, after winning three regular season tournaments (including the Beanpot), claiming the regular season championship, Hockey East regular season championship, and the Hockey East Championship.

I’m going to be there.

The last time we were in this position was my freshman year. We had claimed all the same honors and were playing in Worcester, Mass. We took the bus out to the first game, where we destroyed the University of Nebraska-Omaha in a 9-2 victory. That became a night of infamy for the BU program, because when we got on the bus for the second game the next night, against Boston College (possibly the biggest rivalry in college hockey) we were informed that any swearing at the game could result in a bench minor penalty for the team. Turns out that cheering “Fuck ‘em up, Fuck ‘em up, BC Sucks” for every goal (cumulatively, so we cheered it nine times on the ninth goal) and for every power play can get you into trouble with the NCAA. That was the end of “the cheer” for BU, which became the subject of Rick Reilly column in Sports Illustrated.

We then lost 2-1 to BC. That was the longest bus ride home I’ve ever taken.

This year, we’ve been absolutely dominant all season. We’ve won every game that we needed to win, and I have so much faith in this team to bring home the National Championship. If that happens, that will give my two teams (the other being UF) five national championships, in three sports, over the last four years. Additionally, three of those would have come at the expense of Ohio State.

This is going to be a long weekend, but it will be worth it.