Men’s Hockey: No. 14 Terriers Earn First Series Sweep in 5-1 Win vs. No. 11/10 UMass
By Sasha Abrams
Boston University Men’s Hockey (6-3-0, 4-2-0 HE) defeated the No. 11/10 Massachusetts Minutemen (5-5-1, 1-5-0 HE) 5-1 to complete BU’s first series sweep of the season. The win came with goals from five different Terriers, two of which earned their first goals of the season.
“Our players have high expectations for themselves,” BU Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said. “They’re doing things the right way. Every day in practice, every day they come to the rink, so it’s important for us if we’re gonna have success for them to buy in, and they’ve been doing that, so it was a great weekend for us.”
Junior goaltender Drew Commesso made 28 saves, 14 of which came in the first period when UMass was leading in shots on goal.
“I didn’t think we got our legs right away,” Pandolfo said. “It took us a little while to get going and I thought Drew Commesso was excellent this weekend. He was excellent early in the game until we found our legs and started playing in there a little more.”
BU freshman forward Ryan Greene opened the scoring at 9:18 in the first off a pass in front of the net from junior forward Luke Tuch. Greene’s strike from the slot completed his six-point weekend, now tied with senior forward Matt Brown for most goals on the team (5). Freshman forward Quinn Hutson picked up the other assist.
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“[Greene] is playing all situations now, killing penalties, he’s on the power play. He’s playing more and he’s earned it,” Pandolfo said. “He’s very calm out there. He makes smart decisions with the puck, and he’s been really good for us.”
BU senior forward Jamie Armstrong made it 2-0 at 17:25, finding the back of the net off a rebound from sophomore forward Ty Gallagher’s initial shot on the net. From the blue line, Gallagher attempted to score his first goal while Armstrong was there to follow it up. Senior forward Sam Stevens earned a point as well.
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“The biggest thing for us was having a little bit more of a shot mentality and recovering pucks, and that’s what we did and we were rewarded because of it,” Pandolfo said.
Senior defenseman Case McCarthy lifted BU to a 3-0 cushion at 12:23 in the second period on a one-timer from the right circle to move his season total to three points (2g, 1a).
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UMass senior captain Eric Faith put the Minutemen on the board 38 seconds into the third period. Faith’s first goal of the season brought him to four points this season (1g, 3a).
Senior forward Ethan Phillips found junior forward Nick Zabaneh in the slot for his first goal of the season at 8:59 of the third period, extending the lead to 4-1.
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“Last night we had our chances, we just didn’t put it in the net, and I think today as a line we just kind of talked about like it’s gonna come,” Zabaneh said. “We’re gonna get our chances and we’re going to score.”
Less than a minute later, it was O’Brien’s turn to celebrate his first goal of the season for the Terrier’s only power play goal of the night at 9:38 of the third.
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“It felt like a month that we didn’t play,” O’Brien said. “That bye week felt like forever. We were all chomping at the bit to play this weekend and it obviously showed.”
BU returns to Agganis Arena for another conference series against the Northeastern University Huskies on Friday with puck drop set for 7 p.m.