Men’s Hockey: McCarthy, Terriers end winless streak with OT win at UMass

By Patrick Donnelly

AMHERST, Mass. — Junior defenseman Case McCarthy scored the overtime game-winner as the Boston University Terriers won 4-3 against the University of Massachusetts Minutemen at the Mullins Center on Saturday.

“All in all, it was really good weekend for us,” BU head coach Albie O’Connell said. “I thought we were the better team tonight, and I thought we were the better team last night… We didn’t give [UMass] a lot… I’m pretty happy with the way our team played defense, and obviously we’ve got some special players that can make big plays at the right time.”

The Terriers and Minutemen tied at Agganis Arena on Friday, with UMass taking the extra point in the shootout. The Terriers had been without a win in five games.

“That was pretty big,” McCarthy said. “It was our first win in a little bit, and it felt good coming on the road. It was a big weekend for us, and that was a good way to cap it off.”

Junior forward Jay O’Brien had a goal and an assist, and junior forward Robert Mastrosimone and junior defenseman Dom Fensore had two assists. Junior forward Wilmer Skoog and freshman defenseman Ty Gallagher scored for BU (4-7-1, 3-4-1 HE). Sophomore goaltender Drew Commesso made 20 saves.

Freshman Ryan Ufko had a goal and two assists for UMass (6-3-1, 4-1-1 HE), and senior captain Bobby Trovigno had a goal and an assist. Junior defenseman Matt Kessel scored, and graduate goaltender Matt Murray made 25 saves.

O’Brien scored at 18:01 of the first to give BU a 1-0 lead. Fensore rushed the puck into the offensive zone and drop-passed to O’Brien, who shot from the high slot. Returning from injury, O’Brien suited up this weekend for his first action in since the season-opening series against UConn.

“[O’Brien] was awesome,” O’Connell said. “When you have one of your best players out of the lineup for eight games, it’s hard… He was great. He was competitive and scored a huge goal tonight… We’ve had a lot of injuries, and I continue to give our guys credit.”

Skoog doubled the Terriers’ lead at 9:49 of the second on the power play, redirecting O’Brien’s shot.

Kessel answered for UMass at 11:01 with a shot from the point through traffic in front, and Trovigno scored with 34 seconds remaining in the second on the power play to tie it 2-2 with a one-timer from a shop angle.

Ufko made it 3-2 for the Minutemen at 5:12 with his first collegiate goal on a shorthanded breakaway, finishing a backhand-forehand move.

“We weren’t really too worried on the bench [when Ufko scored], to be honest,” O’Connell said. “[UMass] had a seven-minute stretch where they were really pushing hard, and we kind of weathered some of it. It’s always nice to bounce back and get a goal when when another team scores, but we were fully confident on our bench that we were gonna score at some point.”

1:28 later, Gallagher tied it 3-3 at 6:30 as he got to the puck first after a net-front scrum.

McCarthy scored at 3:29 of overtime to win it for the Terriers, blasting a one-timer from the high slot. The New Jersey Devils prospect now has four goals and five points in his last five games. His four goals are tied for the second most on the team.

“A lot of guys are making a lot of plays, and I’m getting lucky,” McCarthy said. “[Fensore] made a great play, keeping the puck in. I just happened to get myself in an open spot, hit the net, and luckily it went in.”

UMass was 1-for-4 on the power play. BU was 1-for-3.

BU will face Northeastern next weekend, beginning Friday at Agganis Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Featured Image: Junior defenseman Case McCarthy shoots the puck during the third period of BU’s 4-3 overtime win against UMass at the Mullins Center on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. Photo by Patrick Donnelly.