Men’s Hockey: Shorthanded Terriers Stun Union

By: Jake Reiser

With No. 5 Boston University as shorthanded as they are with the World Junior Championship, their match-up against Union was going to be a tough one. Despite the odds against them, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson proved to be a savior with a hat trick, defeating the Dutchmen 5-4 in overtime.

Coach Quinn’s squad only had 11 forwards in the lineup, seventh and eighth defenseman dressing and new enrollee Nico Lynch dressing as the backup behind Connor LaCouvee.

The Terriers got the scoring started, as Shane Switzer’s power play shot found its way past Alex Sakellaropoulos through traffic. JFK nabbed his first tally of the night on a 2-on-1 with Bobo Carpenter, extending the lead to two just nine minutes into the game.

Union would regain its footing as Luc Brown tipped Nick DeSimone’s point shot past LaCouvee to bring Union back within one. Moments later, Cole Maier’s backhander slipped past LaCouvee to tie the game before the end of the first period.

Union took its first advantage of the night early in the second period when Sebastian Vidmar one-timed a doorstep pass to give Union a one goal lead. But the Terriers remained resilient. Bobo Carpenter took advantage of a bad turnover by Vas Kolias behind the net, surprising Sakellaropoulos to even the score.

Union again pulled in front during an second period shot-frenzy, as Brett Supinski’s power-play goal gave Union a lead once again. With time running out, a bad line change by Union caused a too-many-men penalty and JFK took over late for BU. His top shelf wrister tied the game with 2:54 to go, sending the game to overtime.

In the extra five minutes, Forsbacka Karlsson finished off his hat trick by snagging his own rebound and shooting against his body, top shelf once again, to give the Terriers the dramatic 5-4 victory.

“Just a really incredibly feel-good win against a good hockey team,” Quinn said.

BU will have its players from the WJC back on Saturday as they take on the University of Massachuetts-Amherst at Frozen Fenway with puck drop scheduled for 1:30 p.m.