BOSTON -- Twelve years and counting. The long-simmering frustration of Ted Donato's No. 6 Harvard Crimson at the Beanpot continued Tuesday night, as No. 3 Boston University overcame a record-setting 63-save performance by Harvard netminder Steve Michalek with a 4-3 double overtime win at TD Garden.

"We were kind of expecting a one-goal game, or a game that would come down to the last minute," BU coach David Quinn said. "I certainly didn't envision double overtime, but I'm just really proud of our guys. I think we showed a lot of resiliency and resolve."

The Terriers came out buzzing at the start of the second overtime. Just after the two-minute mark, BU's Evan Rodriguez intercepted a lazy clearing attempt from Harvard captain Kyle Criscuolo and drove hard down the left side. Controlling the puck on his backhand, Rodriguez feathered a pass to a streaking Danny O'Regan, who flipped the puck over Michalek for the game-winner.

"I've been lucky enough to play with Evan for a while now. I know he's a great player," O'Regan said. "So I just put my head down and went to the net. I knew he'd find me, and he did just that."

Quinn agreed with O'Regan's assessment of Rodriguez. "He's highly intelligent. I know he did hound the puck," Quinn said. "He caused the turnover, stayed with it, and made a great play to Danny. He's been doing things like that all year."

The victory puts the Terriers (17-4-4) in position to win their 30th Beanpot title, but their first since 2009.

"We're real excited to get to a Beanpot final," O'Regan said. "Obviously it's been a dream, a lifetime dream, to win one. And the first step was today."

BU carried the play early in the game, including a nifty rush by super frosh Jack Eichel off his off wing that Michalek smothered, and captain Matt Grzelcyk denting the right post with a blast from the left point. The Terriers broke through at 16:50, when Cason Hohmann, snaking behind Harvard's Max Everson, converted a sensational cross-crease pass from Rodriguez and stuffed the puck behind Michalek.

"Evan's a resilient, hard-working player who has had a heck of a year. He's a heck of a hockey player," Quinn said. "There's not a lot that he can't do."

Harvard knotted the game just 75 seconds later, when North Reading's Jimmy Vesey fought off BU's John MacLeod and got the puck to Criscuolo, the Crimson captain ramming it home for his 12th on the season.

Harvard jumped ahead 2-1 just 22 seconds into the second, when a great hustle play by Jimmy Vesey forced Grzelcyk to cough up the puck behind the BU net. Criscuolo swooped in, curled and threw the puck in front of O'Connor, where Alexander Kerfoot tapped it past the sprawling BU netminder.

"I thought early in the second, we really got away from playing responsible hockey," Quinn said. "We gave up that goal early in the second, and I think we got deflated. All of a sudden, it looked like we were pressing, acting like there were two minutes left to go in the game."

A defensive miscue by BU's Ahti Oksanen helped Harvard boost its lead to 3-1 at 8:28. With O'Connor scrambling to get back into his net after making a save, Oksanen tapped a loose puck to the stick of Harvard's Sean Malone, and the sophomore from New York ripped a wrister into the back of the BU net for an unassisted tally.

The Terriers began clawing back at 15:34. BU's Nick Roberto sprung free on a breakaway, but fired the puck over the net. Matt Lane dug out the rebound and sent it back to Roberto. The sophomore from Wakefield, Massachusetts, snapped a shot that Michalek stopped by couldn't control, allowing freshman Nikolas Olsson to bury the rebound, cutting the Crimson lead to 3-2.

With only 23 seconds left in the middle frame, BU evened things up at 3-3. Oksanen found a soft spot in the slot by the right hash marks, took a behind-the-net feed from Hohmann and roofed a shot over Michalek's right shoulder.

"They have a team that's very opportunistic, and they have some great offensive players," Donato said.

The squads skated through a scoreless third, but not without a few scares for each side. Harvard's Eddie Ellis batted a puck midair that had eluded Michalek at the midway point, and Harvard's Seb Lloyd was denied an apparent goal after Malone crashed into O'Connor in the crease. The video replay proved inconclusive.

That set the stage for overtime, where BU took the initiative, peppering the Crimson net. Michalek made an outstanding split save on Rodriguez parked at the right corner of the crease just past the 3:30 mark.

"Steve was very solid, and spectacular when he needed to be," Donato said.

Four minutes later, with Michalek out of position, Harvard's Brayden Jaw gave up his body on the goal line to stuff a point-blank bid from O'Regan.

"I thought I did my job, said Michalek, whose 63 saves were a Beanpot record. "I thought everyone on the team buckled down defensively. We had numerous blocked shots on Grade A opportunities. This is a tough one to swallow."

The Crimson began to find their legs halfway through the first OT, and Tyer Moy had a clean breakaway at the 12-minute mark but lost control of the puck just as he was getting ready to shoot. O'Connor then blocked a backhand follow-up by Tommy O'Regan, Danny's brother.

That led to the heroics of Rodriguez and Danny O'Regan in the second overtime, sending the Terriers to next Monday's final with a chance for the first Beanpot title for the current BU players.

"It's my fourth year here, and we haven't had much success in the Beanpot since I've been here," Hohmann said. "I wasn't nervous, but every time they got a shot on net, I was like, 'Oh, please, don't trickle in somehow.' But I think we work really, really hard, and everyone's really excited. I can't wait to play in the finals next week."