Men’s Hockey: Hutson brothers shine in third period, erasing 2-goal deficit for 4-2 win over UMass
Featured image by Spirit Veron
By Ryan Owens
The No. 13 Boston University Terriers (9-6-1, 5-3-1 HE) bounced back to defeat the University of Massachusetts Minutemen (8-7-2, 2-5-2 HE), 4-2, at the Mullins Center in Amherst.
The Terriers’ fourth victory in five games came in large part due to Cole and Quinn Hutson, who combined for three goals and six points to give BU a four-goal comeback after trailing by two over halfway through the game.
UMass began the game with high energy and was rewarded quickly, forcing a turnover at the BU blueline and throwing a barrage of shots on Terrier goalie Mathieu Caron, leading sophomore Jack Musa to shove a puck through the crease and make the score 1-0 for the Minutemen less than two minutes into the game.
UMass quickly had another high-danger chance, nearly scoring before the combined efforts of Caron and sophomore captain Shane Lachance prevented a goal.
Things went from bad to worse for BU halfway through the period, as Cole Hutson was forced to take a tripping penalty to prevent a 2-on-0 opportunity for the Minutemen, giving UMass their first powerplay of the game and adding to the Terriers’ national lead in penalty minutes.
With four minutes left in the first, the Minutemen’s Kennedy O’Connor took an interference penalty on Terriers forward Jack Hughes to provide BU its first powerplay of the game. This penalty was immediately followed by another for UMass, with Nick VanTassell heading to the box and the Terriers carrying their second mad advantage into the intermission.
BU was unable to capitalize to begin the second period, failing to generate momentum in the leftover powerplay time.
The first half of the middle frame slowed to a crawl, with neither team able to generate strong momentum or chances either way.
A costly positioning mistake by defenseman Gavin McCarthy gave UMass a 2-on-1 going the other way, with junior Cole O’Hara dishing the puck across the slot to sophomore Aydar Suniev, who was able to easily tap the puck past Caron to score his team-leading tenth goal of the season and increase the Minutemen’s lead to 2-0 with just under seven minutes left in the frame.
BU went on their third powerplay soon after, managing to capitalize thanks to junior Devin Kaplan, who was waiting in the crease to tap a rebound in and cut the Terriers’ deficit in half heading into the second intermission.
UMass began the final period with a fire under their seats, generating heavy momentum and leading BU to take back-to-back penalties.
The Terriers managed to kill both, giving them momentum which was rewarded with eleven minutes left in the game, as Cole Hutson dangled through the zone and shot from the slot, tying the game 2-2.
This momentum would grow, as UMass defenseman Larry Keenan took another penalty and gave BU another powerplay. The Terriers would capitalize, as Cole Hutson sniped his second of the game from the left faceoff dot and over goaltender Michael Hrabal’s shoulder to give Boston a 3-2 lead with half of the third frame left to go.
Cole’s brother Quinn would find himself on the score sheet just a few minutes later, finishing the play on a well-angled pass from Cole Eiserman to give BU four unanswered and a two-goal lead. The Terriers would manage to carry this momentum through the rest of the game, finishing the game up 4-2.
For BU, this win serves as a needed bounceback following their matchup against UMass last Saturday, where they were shutout 4-0 at Agganis. BU expands their lead on the all-time record against the Minutemen to 72-14-9.
The Terriers will return to Agganis Arena on Friday, Dec. 13, to face the U.S. Under-18 team in an exhibition match, which will be available to stream on ESPN+.
This story will be updated.