Men’s Hockey: Shorthanded Terriers topple Brown to ring in 2022

By Patrick Donnelly

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Sophomore forward Luke Tuch scored his first two goals of the season in a 5-1 win for the Boston University Terriers against the Brown University Bears at Meehan Auditorium on Friday.

It was BU and Brown’s first game after the holiday break and their last of 2021. BU played with just 15 skaters (11 forwards and two defenseman) and two goaltenders. Senior captain Logan Cockerill and sophomore Dylan Peterson, both forwards, played as defensemen.

“It was an unbelievable effort from our guys,” BU head coach Albie O’Connell said. “It wasn’t the best circumstances, coming to the game with that number of guys and guys playing out of position. I was really proud of the way Peterson and Cockerill played. They looked like two veteran defensemen. … We played together. We played like a team. So it was it was a good overall win. I’m really excited for the guys.”

Sophomore goaltender Drew Commesso was unavailable after being with the United States at the now cancelled IIHF World Juniors in Alberta, Canada. BU was also without freshman forward Tyler Boucher, who signed with the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. Mark Divver of New England Hockey Journal reported that the game would have been “in jeopardy if more positives popped for Terriers.”

The Terriers were just happy to play.

“[The administration] gave us the opportunity to play. At that point it’s out of our hands,” O’Connell said. ‘If we were down one more guy we would have been under the minimum. We’re psyched we got a chance to play. We didn’t get to play a lot of hockey last year. Any chance we can get, we’d love to play another hockey game.”

No. 3 Michigan cancelled its Dec. 30 game against No. 4 Western Michigan due to “health and welfare protocols within the Wolverines’ program.” Michigan had five players at the World Juniors, but the Wolverines still played No. 18 Michigan Tech on Dec. 29, a 0-0 tie, with a full roster. Michigan head coach Mel Pearson said this week that the decision to cancel against WMU was entirely up to Michigan’s athletic department and medical personnel.

“Coaches don’t really make those types of decisions,” O’Connell said. “I didn’t really weigh in on [playing today]. I just let [the administration] know that we wanted to play if we could.”

Graduate assistant captain Max Kaufman and junior assistant captain Alex Vlasic each had a goal and an assist for BU (7-9-3, 5-5-3 HE). Junior forward Jay O’Brien, who last played Nov. 27, had two assists, and sophomore goaltender Vinny Duplessis made 11 saves. Junior forward Sam Stevens also scored, and junior forward Jamie Armstrong had an assist.

Senior forward Justin Jallen scored for Brown (3-10-0, 3-6-0 ECAC), and freshman defenseman Brett Bliss and junior defenseman Luke Krys each had an assist. Graduate goaltender Luke Kania made 25 saves.

Tuch scored 2:33 into the game. O’Brien intercepted a Brown pass in the defensive zone and sprung Tuch on a breakaway, who shot blocker side.

Duplessis made a sprawling glove save at 8:15 of the first, reaching to deny Bears senior forward Jake Harris’ rebound opportunity. O’Connell was pleased with Duplessis’ effort in just his fourth appearance and second start of the season. It wa shis first game since Nov. 6, a 6-2 loss at Northern Michigan.

“Duplessis has not played in a long time, and he came in and played really well,” O’Connell said. “He made a game-changing save in the first period on the back door.”

Tuch doubled BU’s lead at 13:23. O’Brien sent a stretch pass to Kaufman, who skated into the offensive zone and passed to Tuch in front of the crease, and he redirected it in.

O’Connell was happy to see Tuch get on the board. The Montreal Canadiens prospect had missed nine games earlier in the season due to injury.

“He was a huge part of our team last year. … It took him a while to get back, and sometimes it’s just confidence,” O’Connell said. “He’s going to be an important piece to our team. I’m really happy for him. You could see the relief after he scored, and the rest of the game he was a man-child out there. He was dynamite, so it was nice to see.”

Stevens made it 3-0 at 5:02 of the second, redirecting Vlasic’s shot from the point after winning an offensive zone face-off.

Jallen got the Bears on the board 21 seconds into the third period. Duplessis fumbled Bliss’ dump-in from the neutral zone and Jallen put home the loose puck.

Kaufman and Vlasic each scored empty net goals in the final three minutes with clearing shots from the Terriers defensive zone.

Both BU and Brown were 0-for-4 on the power play.

O’Connell said he has “no idea” how many players the Terriers expect to get back next week.

“I know that definitely [Robert] Mastrosimone will be back,” he said. “Other than that, I’m not really sure. The protocol is the protocol, and we’ll see what happens.”

The Terriers will return to action next weekend at Agganis Arena as they host Arizona State for two games. Puck drop for Friday’s contest is at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday’s rematch is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Featured Image by Patrick Donnelly

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