Men’s Hockey: Special teams continue to be a struggle for the Terriers as they fall 5-2 to Maine

Featured image by Joe Eachus

By Claire Smieszny

ORONO, Maine – As it’s needed to be seemingly all season: discipline, discipline, discipline.

Fending off a full 2-minutes of 5-on-3 hockey, and three skaters in red crowded in the visitor’s penalty box, the No. 11 Terriers allowed two goals in the final thirty seconds of the second period.

Just like that, a doable final-frame comeback became just manageable, and then less so.

Despite two goals in the opening half of the third, Boston University men’s hockey (5-5-0, 2-2-0 HE) fell to the No. 7 University of Maine Black Bears (7-2-1, 4-2-1 HE) 5-2 on Friday, Nov. 15 in front of the Maine faithful at Alfond Arena.

“It’s a tough place to play, and our guys did a good job handling the pressure,” coach Jay Pandolfo said post-game. “I thought we had our chances.”

The game started off chippy, with both teams fighting to get a hand on the puck and control it. Tensions between the two teams rose as both got physical and exchanged some jawing, but nothing came from it except for a few decent chances on either side.

Sophomore Max Lacroix got the nod in net tonight and proved why as he fended off several close-range Maine attacks within the first few minutes.

“I thought [Lacroix] competed,” Pandolfo said. “He made some timely saves for us, some great play saves. I thought he competed, so I thought he played well.”

BU looked to get their first real taste of offense just under five minutes into the period when Nolan Renwick went to the box for a slashing minor. Unfortunately, Maine’s junior forward Owen Fowler got open with the puck in BU’s end and sniped a shorthanded goal off the far side post past LaCroix’s blocker to take the lead early.

The Terriers responded with a newfound intensity, taking the puck to Maine’s end of the ice and sustaining offensive pressure for the first time in the game. Sophomore Albin Boija acted as a brick wall for the Black Bears, living up to his .931 save percentage on the season.

The Terriers were still scoreless as the first period wound down, and the team began showing signs of frustration. Sophomore Dougie Grimes was sent to the box for tripping, shooting down any chance BU had at trying to build momentum going into the second.

Both teams came out fiery in the second period, as Maine looked to double their lead and the Terriers to even the field. The Black Bears were rewarded first, as just over three minutes into the period, sophomore defenseman Frank Djurasevic slipped the puck between Lacroix’s legs for his first goal of the season.

Maine continued their efforts and came to play at a level the Terriers didn’t have an answer for. The Black Bears drew several penalties off of BU in the period, allowing them to build their dominance with the puck and stifle any offensive opportunity for the Terriers.

BU’s defensive disarray left them scrambling to keep up with the Black Bears most of the time.

The consequences almost cost the Terriers a chance to get back in the game, as they allowed Ross Milton of Maine to get a breakaway from out of the penalty box. Lacroix stood tall in net to keep BU in the game, but it wouldn’t last long.

The Terriers took a slew of penalties at the conclusion of the second period, handing the Black Bears a golden opportunity with three players in the box to up their lead to 3-0 with a goal from junior forward Thomas Freel tapped in backdoor.

“Today, [penalties] hurt us, especially in the second,” Pandolfo said. “You have guys that get in a lot of ice time killing penalties, then it’s harder to get back five on five… It’s tough when you have to kill those penalties off, so we certainly have to do a better job.”

The nail in the coffin for the Terriers’ second-period effort was a last-second goal from Maine’s Harrison Scott, whose shot from the point beat the clock to reach the back of the net.

The third period started with BU getting themselves back on track with a powerplay goal. The Terriers pinged the puck around, looking for an open man until it found captain Ryan Greene to tap it in behind Boija.

The goal lit a flame underneath the Terriers as they continued to piece their play back together after being decimated in the second period. More confidence with the puck and fast plays allowed them to crawl back in the shot count, but Maine still sat comfortably ahead of them there with a 30-20 tally in the box score.

The Terriers’ newfound intensity earned them another goal to cut the Black Bears’ lead to two, as Grimes got his first of the season off a quick wrister from senior Matt Copponi’s pass right in front of the net.

BU’s last hope of getting back in this game was putting an extra man on the ice for the last two and a half minutes of the game, but it would quickly be squashed as Maine would slide the puck in from long range to make the score 5-3 with a minute left to play. The clock wound down, and cheers erupted inside Alfond Arena as the Black Bears kept their undefeated home streak alive, trouncing the Terriers.

“I didn’t love some of the calls, but you’ve just got to deal with it,” Pandolfo said. “I thought we pushed back a bit in third, we just couldn’t find a way all the way back.”

BU will look to turn it around Saturday night back at Alfond Arena to draw even with the Maine Black Bears in this weekend series. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. in Orono, Maine, with streaming available on ESPN+.