Men’s Hockey: Terriers wrap up five-point weekend with tie to UMass Amherst

By Alexa Podalsky

Boston University men’s ice hockey (3-2-1, 1-1-1 HEA) skated to a tie against the University of Massachusetts Minutemen on Saturday afternoon, coming away with a 1-0 shootout victory despite never leading on the scoreboard once. 

The No. 9 Terriers finish the weekend unbeaten, having taken down the No. 19 Minutemen (4-2-1, 0-1-1 HEA) the night before, 5-2.

The Minutemen had a handful of opportunities come early on in the game. They held the advantage in the first period with 12 shots compared to BU’s eight.

UMass was aggressive off the opening faceoff, storming into the offensive zone early.. Junior goalkeeper Mathieu Caron lost sight of the puck as freshman forward Cam O’Neill attempted a shot on goal a minute into the match, but the Terriers were saved by the whistle. 

The first period proved to be penalty-ridden for the Terriers. Their biggest error was allowing the Minutemen to make up the majority on the ice. 

Sophomore forward Devin Kaplan gave UMass the first power play of the game after taking a slash.

Despite Caron keeping the puck out of the net for most of the power play, freshman Jack Musa gave the Minutemen the first goal of the game. He fought through the Terrier defense and found an opening on the right side of the net. 

The first period was filled with penalties, as Quinn Hutson, Lane Hutson, and Kaplan finding themselves in the box. However, opportunity presented itself at the conclusion of Kaplan’s second penalty.

As soon as Kaplan was let out of the box, senior forward Luke Tuch fired the puck across the ice to meet him, sending the sophomore on a breakaway to tie things up. 

The Minutemen recorded their second goal of the game during four-on-four play, following coinciding penalties to senior forward Dylan Peterson and UMass sophomore forward Kenny Connors. After a combination of shots and rebounds, Tuch lost possession of the puck allowing freshman forward Dans Locmelis to score.

Tensions were high entering the third period. After some back and forth, freshman Macklin Celebrini tied the game after creeping the puck past Hrabal a few minutes into the period. 

Freshman forward Aydar Suniev brought the Minutemen back into the lead after a reset. He shot the puck from the blue line, through a wall of defenders, and past Caron. 

The game was almost over for BU with four minutes left on the clock. 

But as time ticked down, Macklin Celebrini recorded his second goal of the night with just two minutes left off an assist from Tuch. Tuch sped into UMass’s corner to provide Celebrini with an opportunity to easily slide the puck into the net. 

The teams remained deadlocked at the conclusion of regulation, and the game entered overtime.

The Terriers dominated the ice in the overtime period. They had multiple scoring opportunities, but failed to finish. Macklin Celebrini, Tuch, and Quinn Hutson all played off each other but couldn’t overcome the Minutemen defense. 

Heading into the shootout, Quinn Hutson made the only goal asCaron turned away all Minutemen attempts. 

The Terriers will move on to play the fourth-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at Agganis Arena. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.