Men’s Hockey: Quinn Hutson hat trick, Caron’s 28 saves lead No. 9/8 Terriers to win over UMass Lowell

By Alexa Podalsky

In a high-energy night, No. 9/8 Boston University men’s hockey (6-3-1, 3-1-1 HEA) took down the UMass Lowell River Hawks (4-6-0, 1-5-0 HEA) 6-1 at Agganis Arena on Saturday evening.

Six skirmishes broke out and 15 penalties were given between the two teams, but the coolest head on the ice was junior goaltender Mathieu Caron, who steered away 28 of 29 shots.

“We got contributions up and down the lineup from our goaltender on out, so really happy with our effort again tonight,” coach Jay Pandolfo said.

The Terriers couldn’t quite find their footing coming onto the ice. They lacked puck control, oftentimes looked as if they lost their place in general, and at one point they practically handed the puck to the River Hawks, but Caron stood tall.

“I’m feeling good,” Caron said. “I feel like just overall, everyone played their role tonight. It makes my job a lot easier.”

Boston entered their first power play early in the first period after graduate forward Flip Fornåå Svensson was called for slashing. But, instead of capitalizing on the man-up, the puck hardly moved from the Terrier side of the ice. 

Freshman defender Tom Willander took the puck out of the Terrier third. He passed the puck to freshman forward Doug Grimes, who skated across the ice and passed the puck to graduate student Sam Stevens to record their first goal of the night. 

Shortly after the reset, freshman forward Macklin Celebrini and senior forward Luke Tuch dished to sophomore forward Quinn Hutson. Hutson snuck the puck into the bottom left corner of the net and brought the score to 2-0, not even halfway into the first period. Celebrini came into this game tied in second place for the most points among all NCAA skaters. 

UML came out of their locker room with even more aggression than they did before. But, despite the River Hawks’ improvement, almost every shot on goal they attempted landed on Caron’s pads.

Sophomore forward Scout Truman started a chain reaction by landing a seat in the penalty box for tripping. He was followed by junior forward Matt Crasa for holding and senior defender Brehdan Engum received one for cross-checking. 

Sophomore defender Lane Hutson landed another puck in the net after another assist from Macklin Celebrini. The younger Celebrini brother would add two points to his record. 

After a successful penalty kill, Boston added two more goals to the scoreboard. Quinn completed a hat trick a week after his brother, Lane completed one against North Dakota, bringing his career goal count to five, while UML finally got on the scoreboard with six minutes left. 

A full-on brawl broke out between junior forward Stefan Owens and senior forward Nick Zabaneh which led to both team captains having to have a meeting with the referee.

Junior forward Jack Hughes easily hit the puck into the lower left corner of the goal with a minute left on the clock. As the seconds counted down and the River Hawks accepted their fate, Boston closed out the night with yet another win. 

“I just like our effort defensively the whole weekend. We didn’t give much up in the slot,” Pandolfo said. 

The match was penalty-ridden on both sides, but BU was able to remain out of the box better than their opponent.

“We’re a younger team, so it’s good to experience that. We kept our heads level and that’s a huge sign of a mature team,” Caron said. 

The Terriers will move on to play the University of Maine Black Bears on Friday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at Agganis Arena. The game will be covered by NESN and streamed on ESPN+.