Men’s Hockey: Terriers March Past Minutemen, 6-3 Win

By: Jake Reiser

After a hard fought win against the Northeastern Huskies in the Beanpot semifinals, the No. 9 Boston University Terriers traveled to Amherst to take on the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Minutemen. BU would be without the services of freshman Charlie McAvoy, who was listed as day to day with a lower body injury. It was also announced early in the week that Nikolas Olsson would miss the rest of the season, requiring shoulder surgery. That wouldn’t stop senior netminder Sean Maguire and the Terriers from taking a 6-3 victory in their only game of the weekend.

Boston University would get on the board quickly, as just 57 seconds into the game Jordan Greenway pushed one past Minutemen starter Henry Dill to make it 1-0 BU. At 2:43, fourth-liner Chase Phelps would wrap one around the net and in past Dill, stretching the lead to 2-0. That’s all coach John Micheletto would let Dill see on the night, passing the baton to freshman Nic Renyerd. But the Victoria, BC native wouldn’t fair much better early on, as on a rebound, Mike Moran would hammer home his second goal of the season, stretching the lead to 3.

“It’s nice when you spread [the scoring] around. I think we got contributions from three of the four lines, which is nice.” said head coach Dave Quinn after the game. “Any time you can do that, you have a better chance to win.”

Ray Pigozzi would get through a scramble to put the puck past Maguire on a power play, putting UMass on the board. But with 52.1 to go in the period, Danny O’Regan would find Oskar Andrén in the slot, who would wrist one through Renyard. The goal would re-extent the Terrier lead to three, and stands as Andrén’s first in a BU uniform.

“It’s nice to see him get rewarded with a goal,” Quinn said.

Neither team would find much offense in the middle frame, but Danny O’Regan would tip a Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson shot that would squeak through Renyerd, the 5th goal for Boston University.

In the third, BU seemed to sit on their lead and UMass capitalized. On a power play opportunity, Dominic Trento would roof one glove side over Maguire, and in a netmouth scramble, Joseph Widmar would send a puck past the goal line, cutting the Terrier lead to two.

“I thought we kinda let the score and the situation maybe at times dictate our commitment and our honest effort,” Quinn said.

At 12:10, Jordan Greenway would in essence ice the game with another goal. On a Matt Grzelyck dump-in, Greenway would take advantage of a bad Minuteman turnover, force himself to the front of the net and push one past Renyerd, re-establishing a three goal lead.

Greenway said, “We got the puck in deep, and I was just the first fore-checker in. I kept getting the puck to my stick, and eventually reached the front of the net and I was able to tap it in.”

Despite more special teams needs, 6-3 would be the final score.

“I liked our focus. I thought we were ready from the drop of the puck,” Quinn said. “A good, hard-fought two points for us, and now, we’re getting ready for Monday night.”

With this win in hand, the Terriers come back to TD Garden to face the Boston College Eagles in the Beanpot Championship game. Puck drop is at 7:30p.m. on Monday night.