Men’s Hockey: Terriers hope to keep momentum from their 13-goal effort last weekend as they prepare to take on UNH

Featured image by Spirit Veron

By Mel Mastela

Coming off a sweep against the University of Vermont last weekend, Boston University Men’s Ice Hockey (11-7-1, 7-3-1 HE) will look to hold onto their number one spot in the Hockey East standings as they prepare to take on the University of New Hampshire Wildcats (10-6-3, 2-5-2 HE) this weekend in a home-and-home series.

“We were trying to do the things that make us successful as a team, transitioning well…creating second and third chances in the offensive zone, just little things that make a difference over the course of games that help you win hockey games,” Coach Jay Pandolfo said about how the team played last weekend. “I thought for the most part our guys were buying into that and I think that’s important moving forward.”

A tremendous 13-goal weekend against UVM saw captain Ryan Greene with a four-point game, Cole Eiserman with his first collegiate hat trick, and Quinn Hutson had a five-point weekend. 

After his phenomenal weekend, Hutson was named Hockey East Player of the Week, factoring a plus-4, and fired a team-leading 10 shots on goal in the process. Hutson now has a four-game goal streak and recorded a point in six of his last seven games played.

“We know that Quinn’s always gonna find a way to score,” Pandolfo said, “He’s a great goal scorer, but he’s rounded out his game too. He’s so much better defensively for us…he doesn’t get scored on very often.”

The Terriers and the Wildcats have been battling on the ice for almost a century since their first meetup in February of 1925. Their most recent matchup ended in a win for BU after they doubled UNH’s score last year with a 6-3 win.

BU boasts a 49-29-13 all-time record over the Wildcats, winning 2/3 of three matchups in the 2023-2024 season. Prior to the lone loss in October of 2023, the Terriers had a 12-game win streak dating back to 2017.

Goaltender Mathieu Caron will likely get the nod in net after his 53-save performance over Vermont, bringing his save percentage to .909. 

For the Wildcats, Jared Whale will undoubtedly get the start between the pipes after making his start in all 19 games for UNH this season. Whale holds a .905 save percentage and a 2.21 goals-against average. 

“UNH is a really good team, [and] Hockey East is a really tough league so it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, you have to be ready,” Pandolfo said. “They just came off a weekend where they lost to UConn twice, so they’re gonna be hungry and I know we’re gonna get their best.”

The first game of the home-and-home series will take place at Whittemore Center Arena in Durham on Friday, Jan 17th, with a 7 p.m. puck drop. The Terriers then return home to Agganis Arena, where they host UNH on the second end of the back-to-back for a 6 p.m. start time on Saturday, Jan 18th. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.