Men’s Hockey: Terriers Season Comes To An End in 3-2 OT Loss

By: Jake Reiser

The end has come for Boston University. After pulling out a 4-3 2OT victory over North Dakota the afternoon before, this time, the Terriers fell in an extra frame, 3-2, to the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. Freshman Jake Oettinger made 20 saves between the posts, facing fellow freshman Hunter Miska, who made 22 stops in the blue paint. BU’s power play went 0-2 in the game while Duluth’s went 1-3, including the game winner.

“We had legs tonight, I thought we had jump to our game,” Coach David Quinn said. “I thought we got off to a great start. I didn’t think we looked like a team that played a game and a half last night.”

One trend that broke well for the Terriers to start the game was getting scored upon first. After 10 games in a row, Clayon Keller had enough. He skated around a Duluth defender, cut to the middle of the slot and snapped a backhander past Miska, off the back bar to put Boston University up 1-0. BU held the lead almost to the first intermission, but Alex Iafallo’s wrap-around found its way to the back of the net, evening the score after one.

The score remained 1-1 until mid-way through the third period, when Joey Anderson corralled his own rebound and pushed the puck past Oettinger to put Duluth ahead for the first time tonight. Late in the frame, Patrick Harper shifted past a blue-liner and rocketed one off the top-back crossbar. The puck bounced out of the net like a slingshot, but the referee on the ice called it a good goal, and upon further review, was upheld to tie the game once again.

Bobo Carpenter skated to the box quickly in the initial minutes of overtime, and the Bulldogs capitalized. The initial shot by Adam Johnson stung Doyle Somerby, hampering the senior for a second. That was all Johnson needed, as his second shot sailed to bulge the twine, ending BU’s season.

“You get 10 wins in your first season, you’re not sure what to expect after that,” said Somerby. “To make the tournament three times in a row is pretty special, and obviously, I wish it ended better. You always want to write the right end of the script, it was just a tough game.”

“I can’t say enough about this team. It was such a great group to coach,” Quinn said

The Terriers finished the 2016-17 campaign as Hockey East co-champions, 24-12-3.