Men’s Hockey: Terriers Earn Weekend Split Against Michigan with 3-2 Win
By Stevie Potter
No. 9 Boston University Men’s Hockey (2-1-0) used a big second period in the second game of their weekend series in Ann Arbor to beat the No. 6 University of Michigan (3-1-0) 3-2.
“That was a great road win by our guys,” BU Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said. “After what happened the other night, to come back out tonight and play that way was a big character win for our group. I think we were ready from the drop of the puck again tonight. We were more disciplined, we still can get better at that, but the end result was what we wanted.”
After Pandolfo said that junior goaltender Drew Commesso would play both weekend games during his weekly press conference, it was junior goaltender Vinny Duplessis who had the start in Sunday’s contest. He was backed up by graduate student Patrick Schena, and Commesso did not dress due to a hamstring injury; he is considered day-to-day.
BU started the first period with the same energy that it held in the first minute of Friday’s game, recording the first two shots on goal in 11 seconds. Despite an early rally from BU, Wolverine freshman center T.J. Hughes put the Wolverines up 1-0 5:42 in.
Throughout the period, BU had several 2-on-1 rushes that were shut down by Michigan’s junior goaltender Erik Portillo.
Just like Friday’s contest, BU was forced to kill off a first-period 5-on-3, as freshman left winger Jeremy Wilmer was called for holding the stick, and captain Domenick Fensore was called for elbowing. Michigan did not capitalize, and the period ended 1-0.
The Terriers outshot the Wolverines 10-8 in the first.
Penalties told the story of second period; of the four goals scored during the second twenty minutes, three of them occurred on the power play.
Just under seven minutes into the second period, BU tied the game with the only even-strength goal of the period. BU junior defenseman Cade Webber scored his first collegiate goal off a behind-the-net pass from freshman forward Ryan Greene. Freshman forward Quinn Hutson had the secondary assist on the tying goal.
“Obviously it feels good to get that first goal out of the way,” said Webber. “I thought it was a good bounce back for us… Everyone was pretty excited, but to be honest I didn’t even know it went in. It’s a big relief, but I wasn’t thinking too much about it, I was thinking more about the win.”
Less than two minutes after assisting Webber’s goal, Quinn Hutson was sent to the box for hooking. Michigan’s sophomore forward Dylan Duke capitalized on the man advantage to give the Wolverines a 2-1 lead. Duke’s goal came from a rebound on T. J. Hughes’ shot. With Duplessis out of position from the initial save, Duke had a wide-open net to tap it home. BU challenged the goal for offsides, but the call on the ice stood.
Over a minute later, Michigan senior forward Nick Granowicz was penalized for head contact. Fensore took a shot from the blue line, and the puck found the back of the net thanks to a screen in front from senior forward Wilmer Skoog. Fensore’s first goal of the year was assisted by senior forwards Matt Brown and Jay O’Brien.
BU’s third goal came on the power play after a tripping penalty from Wolverine captain Nolan Moyle. Brown got the puck side open in the slot after a board battle, and shuffled around the sliding Michigan defender, firing a shot past Portillo to give BU the lead. O’Brien and Fensore had the assists.
Despite five penalties and a period left of play, the score remained 3-2 entering the final minutes. Michigan pulled Portillo with 1:40 remaining to play, but despite having an extra attacker, they were unable to tie up the game, giving BU the 3-2 win and the series split.
The last-minute push from Michigan with the goaltender pulled gave them the edge in final shots on goal, outshooting BU 34-31.