Men’s Hockey: No. 11 BU Fall 6-5 in OT Against U.S. Under-18 Team

By Sasha Abrams

 A three-goal third-period comeback by the Terriers was not enough to claim the win as No. 11 Boston University (8-4-0, 5-3-0 HE) fell 6-5 in overtime in an exhibition game against the U.S. National Team Development Program’s Under-18 Team in Agganis Arena Saturday afternoon. BU goaltender Vinny Duplessis made 33 saves in the loss. 

“I thought we started off really slow today, we weren’t ready to play,” BU Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said. “And sometimes it’s tough, an exhibition game at two o’clock in the afternoon.”

The U-18s featured two BU commits: defenseman Kai Janviriya, who tallied an assist, and goaltender Michael Chambre. Chambre made 14 saves in 41:53 before getting replaced by Trey Augustine, a Michigan State commit.

The U-18s opened the scoring early in the first period at 1:01. University of Minnesota commit Oliver Moore scored off an initial rush to the net, sliding the puck right through the legs of Duplessis. The lone assist came from defenseman and Notre Dame commit Paul Fischer. 

The Terriers answered at 8:20 to even the score at 1-1 with a power play goal from senior forward Ethan Phillips, but this was the Terrier’s only goal of the period with the U-18s finding the back of the net three more times. Phillips followed up on his initial shot to eventually find the back of the net with the assists tallied to freshman forward Jeremy Wilmer and senior forward Matt Brown.  

The Boston College commit Ryan Leonard put the U-18s up 2-1 with a short-handed goal at 9:13. The assist came from Will Vote, a fellow Eagles commit and brother of BU Women’s Hockey sophomore Christina Vote. 

At 13:47, the U.S. took the lead to 3-1 when Alex Weiermair, headed to the University of Denver, scored on a 2-on-1. The assist came from Austin Burnevik, a St. Cloud State commit, and Kai Janviriya, a future Terrier. 

“Janviriya played very well,” Pandolfo said. “I thought he played very well defensively, moved the puck very well, so I was really impressed with him tonight.” 

The final goal of the period, scored at 18:53, came from a follow-up shot on Duplessis by BC-bound Gabe Perreault, assisted by future Eagles Will Smith and Leonard. BC has the most commits out of any other college coming from the U-18s, with six. 

The second period was dominated by BU, with the Terriers cutting the deficit to two goals at 6:15 with a goal by Sam Stevens to make it 4-2. Sophomore Jack Page earned an assist in his first game of the season, along with senior forward Jamie Armstrong.  

Perreault brought the U-18s lead back to three at 14:16 with their final goal until overtime. Perreault’s goal, which made it 5-2, earned Smith and Fischer their second assist each. 

The second period ended with an unassisted goal from Brown, BU’s leader in goals, assists and points. While Brown leads the Terriers, he’s one of the few players on the roster not drafted by an NHL team. 

“He’s a big part of our offense, he drives our offense with his speed,” Pandolfo said. “I’m sure there’s teams watching him. He’s producing every night.”

BU opened the third period with two quick goals to tie the game at 5-5. The first, at 0:30 by senior forward Wilmer Skoog, and the second scored at 1:53 by freshman defenseman Lane Hutson.

“Third period we found our legs, we started pushing a little bit,” Pandolfo said. “We were better in the second than we were in the first, and I thought we still had more to give and the guys I think kind of woke up a little bit.” 

 Chambre was replaced by Augustine after the tying goal. The future Terrier holds a 4.05 goals against average and a .860 save percentage through four games played. 

“It was unfortunate for Chambre that we got two quick ones in the third there and they decided to take him out, but he’s just coming back, he had an injury that was bugging him, and I know he’s only played like three or four games, so he’s probably just trying to find his game again,” said Pandolfo.

With 10 seconds left in regulation, tied at 5-5, Hutson took a minor penalty for holding, which spilled over to the 3-on-3 overtime, giving the U.S. a fourth skater on the ice for the remainder of the penalty. During the man advantage, the U-18s won the game at 1:35 into OT, with Moore finding the back of the net for the second time off an assist from Paul and BC commit Aram Minnetian. 

With the loss going unaccounted for in the Terrier’s record as it’s an exhibition game, BU will return to season play this weekend for a home-and-home series against the University of New Hampshire. Puck drop on Friday is set for 7 p.m. in Agganis Arena.