Men’s Hockey: No. 19 Terriers cruise to 4-0 win over Maine

By Patrick Donnelly

BOSTON — Wilmer Skoog scored a lacrosse goal, and the Boston University Terriers handily overtook the University of Maine Black Bears in a 4-0 win at Agganis Arena on Friday.

Junior forward Robert Mastrosimone had two goals and an assist, and senior captain Logan Cockerill scored for the No. 19 Terriers (14-10-3, 10-6-3 HE). Sophomore goaltender Vinny Duplessis made 27 saves for his second career shutout. BU is 10-1-1 in their last 12 games, and they have not lost in regulation since Nov. 27.

“It was a good win for the team,” O’Connell said. “Duplessis hasn’t played in a while, and he got a shutout. He was pretty sharp. He was aggressive in his paint, and he did a good job. … Overall, happy with the effort. When we play the right way, we’re hard to deal with. … All in all, happy, and looking forward to the Beanpot.”

Sophomore forward Lynden Breen had a game-high five shots (tied with BU junior forward Jay O’Brien), and sophomore goaltender Victor Ostman made 35 saves for the Black Bears (4-15-4, 2-11-2 HE).

Cockerill scored 1:47 into the game on the power play, redirecting junior defenseman Case McCarthy’s back-door feed after the defenseman froze the Maine defender with a stutter step move. McCarthy (one assist) made his return to the lineup, not having played since Jan. 7.

“[McCarthy] obviously made an impact on the scoresheet on that play, but he didn’t last the whole game,” O’Connell said. “He was, I think, a little bit tired. He hasn’t skated much. He’s not in game shape, so that was a good good game for him to kind of get back into it. Maine’s physical. They’re big, strong. They’re heavy. He’s going to have to get some rest tomorrow so he can get prepped for Monday.”

Skoog made it 2-0 at 11:49 with the second lacrosse-style goal of his career. The junior forward got the puck behind the Maine net, faked one way, and roofed “the Michigan” to the top left corner on Ostman.

“I was thinking about it, but I was thinking not to do it at first,” Skoog said. “Once I moved a little bit over the middle, their [defenseman] followed me. I tried it a lot of times before, this season, and I figured I’d try it again. It worked out this time, so it was fun.”

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O’Connell was impressed with the talent Skoog put on display, recalling when Skoog pulled off the same move two games into his collegiate career in a 5-4 loss at Dartmouth on Jan. 11, 2020

“That was pretty incredible. It was nice play,” O’Connell said. “We got a couple good ones tonight, but [Skoog], he’s gonna blocked on that a couple times this year. He did it verses Dartmouth when he came in his freshman year, mid-year. He’s pretty good at getting it up, and that was really quick. It was a nice play.”

Mastrosimone tripled the Terriers’ lead at 5:21 of the second, burying graduate assistant captain Max Kaufman’s cross-crease pass before making it 4-0 after deflecting junior defenseman Dom Fensore’s wrist shot from the point at 10:32.

BU outshot the Black Bears 26-3 in the second period, and 35-12 through the first two periods, overall.

“In the second period, we could have scored seven or eight goals,” O’Connell said. “We really pushed hard in the second, and obviously extended the lead.”

Duplessis said he was trying to skate around during breaks to stay sharp and keep his heart rate up.

“I’m prepared for any situation that’s thrown at me,” Duplessis said. “So, it doesn’t really bother me to not have too much action.”

Duplessis made 15 saves in the third period to preserve the 4-0 final.

“It’s not just all on me,” Duplessis said. “It’s going to sound cliche, but the team played really well in front of me and played really hard. I guess it’s great for my confidence, but it doesn’t matter what I do today. It’s a new game on Monday, so I’ll get ready just like I did today.

The Quebec City native started in place of sophomore goaltender Drew Commesso, who is with Team USA at the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Duplessis made five appearances in place of an absent Commesso from Feb. 6 to Feb. 26 last season, posting a 4-1-0 record, a .939 save percentage, a 1.66 goals-against average and one shutout, all in front of empty arenas due to the pandemic. Friday was his first start at Agganis Arena.

“Obviously, it’s my first game with the student section rooting for me, and it just gave me a lot of extra energy today,” he said. “I heard a couple of ‘Vinny’ chats here and there. That’s always pretty fun.”

Junior forward Matt Brown (one assist) and sophomore forward Nick Zabaneh (four shots) also returned to the lineup after one and two-game absences, respectively.

“I thought [Brown] was really good, especially after not practicing with us for a bit,” O’Connell said. “I thought [Zabaneh] got a lot better as the game wore on. … He could have had a couple goals. He was good.”

BU will return to action on Monday evening as they face  Harvard in the semifinals of the 69th Beanpot. Puck drop is set for 5 p.m.

Featured Image: Junior forward Wilmer Skoog (32) scores a lacrosse-style goal in a 4-0 win for Boston University against the University of Maine at Agganis Arena on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. Photo by Carolyn Mooney.

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