Men’s Hockey: No. 14 Terriers win first series-opener 7-2 over No. 11/10 Massachusetts

By Miranda Lemus

After two weeks without competing, No. 14 Boston University Men’s Hockey (5-3-0, 3-2-0 HE) came out with a dominant 7-2 win over No. 11/10 Massachusetts Minutemen (5–4-1, 1-4-0 HE). The decisive win displayed another masterclass performance by the freshmen, as they produced five of the seven Terrier goals. 

To add to the freshman success, defenseman Lachlan Getz made his collegiate debut Friday evening, and freshman forward Ryan Greene tailed the first five-point game for the Terriers this season.

“I feel like Ryan Greene and Quinn Hutson have taken another step in the last couple of weeks,” BU Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said. “They’re gaining confidence. They’re both very good offensive players, and they’re dialed in defensively as well, so I think it helps their offensive game because of that.”

Seven minutes into the first, Greene started the scoring off with an unassisted breakaway goal. Greene had been scoreless since his two-goal collegiate debut against Bentley in late September. 

“After that second half of the first period, we started finding our legs,” Pandolfo said. “I thought we started taking the game over from there.” 

The first frame ended with some 4-on-4 action after senior captain Domenick Fensore and UMass forward Ryan Lautenbach took matching minor roughing penalties. The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Terriers at the end of the first period.

Quickly returning to even-strength play, senior forward Wilmer Skoog scored his first goal of the season with an unassisted lacrosse-style goal less than two minutes into the period. This was Skoog’s fourth lacrosse goal at BU.

According to Pandolfo, Skoog practices the lacrosse style a lot during practice.

“He’s good at it, so I trust it. He’s a big, strong kid. Once he separates the guy from down low and he can see the back of the net, he’s going to try it sometimes,” Pandolfo said.

With 11:51 left in the second, UMass forward Cole O’Hara was called for a slashing penalty. BU’s dominant power play led to a goal from freshman forward Quinn Hutson. Huston’s brother, freshman defenseman Lane Hutson, was credited with the primary assist. 

Four minutes later, Quinn scored his second goal of the game after a great zone entry from the Terriers. Junior forward Luke Tuch brought the puck into the zone and quickly passed the puck to Greene. Greene gave a clean cross-crease pass to Hutson, who was able to roof the puck past UMass goaltender Luke Pavicich. 

10 seconds after the Terriers’ fourth goal, Greene scored his second goal of the game due to UMass forward Michael Cameron redirecting what was meant to be a pass to Tuch into the back of the UMass net. The goal sent Pavicich to the bench, and junior goaltender Cole Brady would stay between the pipes for the remainder of the game.

After five straight goals from the Terriers, sophomore defenseman Ryan Ufko was able to get the Minutemen and their top-ranked power play on the scoreboard with a slapshot from the point.

Before the end of the second period, assistant captain Jay O’Brien hit UMass  forward Taylor Makar from behind. No penalty was called at first, but UMass Head Coach Greg Carvel challenged the play and as a result, O’Brien was given a game misconduct for slew footing and was sent to the dressing room for the rest of the night. 

However, what should have been an uninterrupted five-minute power play for the Minutemen was diminished to a three-minute power play. UMass was given a protocol violation for not getting back to the bench in time when Carvel remained on the ice when the warm-up clock started. The third period started 4-on-4. 

Two minutes into the third, UMass got a power play. Sophomore defenseman Scott Morrow gave a pass to senior forward Reed Lebster, who was able to get a quick shot off in the slot making the score 5-2.

The majority of the third period was very back-and-forth, but going into the final minutes of the game, the Minutemen called Brady to the bench to gain an extra man. Senior forward Matt Brown scored an empty-net goal for the Terriers with four minutes remaining to make it 6-2. 

With 1:11 left in the third, the Terriers found themselves on a 5-on-3 power play. Freshman forward Devin Kaplan, who drew the first penalty to get BU on the power play, scored the final goal for the Terriers. 

“I have trust in all our guys, up front we have a ton of depth,” Pandolfo said. “Whoever’s in the lineup, I trust and know they can contribute offensively and that’s what everyone’s doing. Especially tonight for sure.”

The Terriers return to Agganis Arena to face UMass in the second half of their back-to-back Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm.