Men’s Hockey: Grzelcyk Hat Trick, BU Strong in Win over UMass Amherst
By: Jake Reiser
After a stunning comeback win last game over the Harvard Crimson, the Boston University Terriers returned to Agganis Arena, set to take on the University of Massachusetts Amherst Minutemen. The Terriers were looking for an all-together return to form with momentum clearly on their side from their previous bout. A shaky start would not rattle Boston University tonight, as they took the contest by a hearty 7-2 score.
In that shaky start, the Minutemen were able to capitalize 2:50 in as after Steve Iacobelli put one on BU starter Sean Maguire, Shane Walsh bulged the twine into a virtually empty net on the rebound to make it 1-0 UMass. After an unsuccessful power play, the penalty kill had to hold its own for the Terriers, with a tripping call to Nikolas Olsson and a hold on Jordan Greenway. Coach Quinn said the PK came up large tonight for BU when it needed to.
“Our penalty kill was big tonight; it came up big killing penalties,” Quinn said.
At 17:45 of the first, Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson would backhand a puck on goal, which took a fortunate bounce off of UMass Amherst starting netminder Alex Wakaluk’s skate and into the net to tie the game at one. Bobo Carpenter would roof one on the backhand from the top of the left circle at the 12:09 mark of the second period, putting BU ahead. On a great rush, however, Steven Iacobellis finished off the play with a goal, re-tying the score. From there, it was all Matt Grzelyck. 20 seconds after the equalizer, the Terrier captain would wrist one through traffic, and after a quick review, the goal would remain on the board. On a powerplay caused by a Keith Burchett hook, Grzelyck would rifle a puck through bodies once again, a two goal lead for Boston University. And just 18 seconds into the third period, Grzelyck would send home another bomb, with JFK providing the screen in front, completing the natural hat trick.
Quinn said, “[Grzelyck] gets the puck away quickly, he’s got pace to it, he shoots it hard, it’s a quick release. He’s worked hard at it too, and it isn’t something that’s happened overnight, he’s put a lot of time into it and I’m really happy for him.”
“It’s obviously nice to be back out there and be there for your teammates,” Grzelyck said. “Again, struggling with injuries, kind of frustrating sitting back and watching, and just to be out there is cool enough for me.”
Boston University’s offense would not be done there, as after a power play expired, senior Robbie Baillargeon would find the short side of Wakaluk, and with 130 seconds left, Jordan Greenway would speed in and put another goal past the UMass netminder, the Terriers first short-handed goal of the season on a Nikolas Olsson roughing minor.
“You don’t get many nights like that in this league where the puck jumps in the way it did for us like that,” Quinn said.
After a two-win weekend this week, Boston University (11-6-3, 5-3-2 HEA) prepares for a tough home-and-home series against the Boston College Eagles. Puck drop is at 6:00p.m. at Conte Forum on Friday and 7:00p.m. back at Agganis Arena on Saturday.
After the game, Coach Quinn joked, “I’m ready for next weekend. Who are we playing? I’ll be ready for that weekend.”