Men’s Hockey: BU Loses Desert Hockey Classic Championship against Michigan Tech 3-2
By Sasha Abrams and Stevie Potter
Boston University Men’s Hockey (13-6-0, 8-4-0 HE) fell short in their comeback attempt against Michigan Tech (14-6-3, 7-4-3 CCHA) in the Desert Hockey Classic Championship, losing 3-2. This is the second time the Huskies have won the Desert Classic in its fourth annual year.
BU played itself into a steep deficit early into the game, allowing all three goals in the first period, giving Michigan Tech a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.
“It was not the start we wanted,” BU Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said. “We dug ourselves a hole getting down 3-0 in the first period. For whatever reason, we weren’t ready to play. … We weren’t ready for their pressure off the start, so I’ll take some responsibility for that.”
Michigan Tech opened their scoring in the first period when junior defenseman Jed Pietila made a cross-ice pass to his brother, senior forward Logan Pietila, who dumped the puck past Terriers junior goaltender Drew Commesso at 7:06.
In goal for the Huskies was the third Pietila sibling, senior goaltender Blake Pietlila, who stopped 29 of 31 shots faced. Pietila holds a .922 save percentage and a 2.18 goals against-average for the season.
Tech freshman forward Kyle Kukkonen doubled the lead at 11:09, putting the puck over Commesso’s glove to make it a 2-0 game. The assists came from Logan Pietila and junior forward Ryland Mosley.
The eventual decisive goal for Tech was tallied by senior forward Tristan Ashbrook at 15:57, who swiftly moved the puck from his forehand to his backhand and then scored. Ashbrook was assisted by Jeb Pietila and senior forward Jake Crespi.
Both the Huskies and the Terriers refrained from taking any penalties during the first period.
BU managed to get itself on the board at 5:33 to score what would be the only goal of the second period. Senior forward Matt Brown, who leads the Terriers in scoring, found his way past the Husky defense to make it 3-1. The assists on the first Terrier goal of the night came from freshman forward Jeremy Wilmer and freshman defenseman Lane Hutson.
During the third period, freshman forward Devin Kaplan cut the Huskies lead to one with a shot that deflected in off the skate of Tech’s goaltender Pietila at 10:50. The final goal of the night was assisted by junior forward Luke Tuch and senior forward Jay O’Brien.
In a last-minute attempt to tie the score, the Terriers pulled Commesso in favor of an extra attacker with just under two minutes left to play. The extra man attack came up short, and BU finished their time at the Desert Hockey Classic with a 3-2 loss.
After being scored on three times during the first period of play, Commesso showed up in the second and third periods, finishing the night with 20 saves, including 12 in the third period.
The second and third periods saw six penalties in total, but none of the five goals scored in the matchup came during a special teams opportunity.
The Terriers will begin a five-game home stretch at Agganis Arena on Wednesday and will conclude after the start of Spring semester on Jan. 27.