Men’s Hockey: Farrance, Terriers complete upset sweep of No. 8 Massachusetts

By Patrick Donnelly

The Boston University Terriers came back from a 3-1 deficit heading into the third period to defeat the University of Massachusetts Minutemen, 4-3, in overtime on Monday thanks to a slick breakaway goal from junior assistant captain David Farrance.

“When we went into the locker room between periods there was definitely believability,” BU head coach Albie O’Connell said. “We’ve got a really good, resilient group. They’re really confident in their abilities.”

With the win, BU completed a sweep of the eighth-ranked team in the nation.

“To take five points in a Hockey East weekend, in our second weekend is a big one, especially in the fashion that we did.”

Freshman goaltender Drew Commesso got the start in goal for the Terriers, making a whopping 44 saves on 47 shots. Meanwhile, senior Matt Murray went or the Minutemen, coming away with a total of 28 stops.

“We’re psyched to have [Commesso],” O’Connell said. “He gave us a chance to get back in this game. He played really well.”

“He’s a great kid, and he’s very normal for a goalie, which is very nice.”

BU got on the board early as freshman forward Drew Peterson scored his second career goal and second of the weekend. After jumping into a battle along the boards, Peterson took a feed from freshman defenseman Cade Webber and had an open lane to attack the net, roofing a shot over Murray’s left shoulder to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead just 5:01 into the game.

With the primary assist, Webber notched his first collegiate point. First year forward Nick Zabaneh also picked up his first point with the secondary assist.

After the Terriers controlled play during the first ten minutes of the game, UMass took over in the second half of the period.

Nearly ten minutes after Peterson’s goal, the minutemen answered thanks to sophomore forward Cal Kiefiuk. The Terriers coughed up the puck along the half wall in transition, and UMass sophomore forward Eric Faith sent a wrister towards goal, and Kiefiuk came up with the deflection in front to beat Commesso, tying the game at one apiece.

The tied score held heading into the first intermission.

UMass came out with a vengeance in the middle stanza, out-skating and out-muscling the Terriers at every turn.

Less than five minutes into the second frame, graduate forward Carson Gicewicz came up with the puck in a scrum in front of the net, and cleaned up the loose change, putting UMass up 2-1. The goal came as Gicewicz’s tenth of the season, the most among the Minutemen.

UMass would not relent either. The Terriers surrendered a plethora of chances and odd-man rushes, but Commesso was able to stand tall to keep it to a one-goal deficit.

With under five minutes remaining in the second, Minutemen junior defenseman Colin Felix sent a shot in from the point, and senior captain Jake Gaudet came up with the deflection in front, beating Commesso to give UMass a 3-1 lead.

The two-goal differential stood heading into the third period with the Terriers desperate for any sign of life.

Just 35 seconds into the third, Gaudet laid a high hit on BU senior captain Logan Cockerill, knocking him to the ice for several minutes. Cockerill was eventually helped to the locker room, before briefly returning to the game for BU, only appearing in one shift for the remainder of the game.

The hit earned Gaudet a five-minute major penalty for contact to the head and a game misconduct.

“[The hit] just wasn’t a great play,” O’Connell said. “You don’t want to see a guy go down like that.”

On the ensuing advantage, the Terriers got to work quickly as sophomore defenseman Dom Fensore notched his first of the season, slicing UMass’ lead to 3-2 a mere 50 seconds into the final period of regulation. Fensore played catch with Farrance at the point, before attacking the shooting lane and sending a low wrist shot that found a way past Murray.

Sophomore forward Jay O’Brien picked up the secondary assist on Fensore’s tally.

Shortly after the goal, UMass sophomore blueliner Matt Kessel slipped past the BU defenders and broke in all alone on Commesso. The freshman netminder stood tall and made the stop, but Kessel drew a penalty against Fensore, which negated most of the remaining time on BU’s power play.

Neither the full two minutes of four-on-four play, nor the remaining power play time for BU resulted in any goals for either side.

Not long after BU’s five-minute power play came to a close, sophomore forward Wilmer Skoog notched his first of the year to tie the game at three goals per side. Freshman forward Luke Tuch forced a turnover along the boards, picking off a Umass stretch pass before feeding Skoog in the high slot, and the Swedish center unleashed a one-timer past Murray.

Late in the third period, UMass and BU traded penalties. First, Fensore went off for interference, giving the Minutemen a key power play opportunity, which did yield any success. Then, BU went to the advantage with under five minutes remaining in regulation after Garrett Wait went to the box for hooking, but the Terriers could not capitalize.

Commesso came up with 12 saves in the final ten minutes of regulation, including two in the final minute, keeping the score tied at three.

“[Commesso] gives the team confidence crom the bench, knowing that, nothing is gonna squeak in on him,” O’Connell said.

After 60 minutes of regulation play, BU and UMass went to overtime, marking the first time the Terriers would skate in a three-on-three format under the new Hockey East rules.

The two sides traded chances in overtime, but it was Farrance who cashed in for his team.

Coming off the bench in the midst of a change, Farrance slipped behind the UMass defense. After taking a feed from Fensore, Zabaneh sent a long stretch pass right to Farrance’s tape. The senior defenseman walked in all alone on Murray and slipped a forehand shot through the five hole to win the game for the Terriers.

Zabaneh has been one of the Terriers’ best players in overtime situations at practices, according to O’Connell.

“I was pretty excited to see him going out there and he zipped one to the far blue line on that change, to one of the best players in the league [in Farrance] on a breakaway, and [Farrance] finished it off,” O’Connell said.

“[It was] a nice move by a defenseman on a breakaway.”

With a goal and an assist, Farrance now has eight points (3g, 5a) in four games on the season, averaging two points per game and extending his season-long point streak. Zabaneh picked up two helpers, and Fensore extended his point streak to three games with a goal and 4 assists in that span. Peterson now has goals in two-straight games.

The Terriers return to action on Friday afternoon against Maine at Walter Brown Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

Featured Image: Senior assistant captain David Farrance skates in a game against Providence College at Walter Brown Arena on Jan. 8, 2021. Photo by Patrick Donnelly.

Share this: