Men’s Hockey: Terriers Were Victorious in First Road Game of The Season

By Ethan Pott

These Terriers don’t need home-ice advantage to win.

Boston University Men’s Ice Hockey (3-3-1,1-1-0 HEA) defeated the University of Connecticut Huskies (3-3-0, 1-1-0 HEA) in Storrs to split the weekend series and secure its first in-conference win of the season in its first game outside Boston.

The Terriers bounced back from a brutal 8-4 beatdown loss the previous night with a hard-earned win, relying on fundamentally sound play and opportunistic scoring.

“I really liked the effort from start to finish,” BU Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said. “It was a really good team effort, and we played the game the right way; we played winning hockey.”

UConn applied most of the pressure early, but BU had its chances. Freshman forward Cole Eiserman charged Huskies senior goalie Tyler Muszelik on an early breakaway but was denied. That was one of two failed breakaways for BU in the first period; freshman forward Jack Murtagh also missed a chance two-thirds of the way through the frame.

The Huskies went on a power play after BU received a too-many-men penalty. The Terriers’ penalty kill unit opened a successful night, allowing UConn just one shot.

Just before the end of the first, BU went on the power play as UConn junior forward Jake Richard was called for hooking. Husky senior forward Tyler Heaslip immediately locked down the puck on the penalty kill, keeping it lodged in the corner away from the Terriers.

Once BU got the puck, however, Terrier junior forward Jack Harvey drove to the front of the net and scored an unassisted power-play goal to put the Terriers up 1-0. It was Harvey’s first goal of the season.

“It’s been a little up and down, but it felt good to get the monkey off the back a little bit,” Harvey said.

The Terriers took control in the second. BU came out of the locker room looking ready to defend its one-goal lead. Breaking through the pressure, UConn freshman forward Carlin Dezainde stole the puck from two Terrier defenders, but goaltender Mikhail Yegorov stopped his shot.

After Yegorov turned away another shot, BU junior defenseman Mick Frechette let his temper get the best of him. He took a two-minute minor for roughing, giving the Huskies a chance to tie the game.

UConn was cautious on the power play, looking for the best lane to place a shot. The Huskies’ strategy of watching and waiting didn’t pay off as the Terriers cleared the puck and kept it out of their zone. Still in the power play, BU freshman forward Ben Merrill had a shorthanded chance, but Muszelik made the save.

With nine minutes remaining in the middle frame, UConn senior forward Jake Percival was sent to the box for hitting from behind. The Terriers immediately capitalized as sophomore forward Sacha Boisvert buried one into the netting, giving BU a 2-0 lead.

Just two minutes later, the Huskies saw a shift in momentum. UConn junior forward Joey Muldowney – who ranked second in the nation in goals scored last season – got the Huskies back in the game with an unassisted goal from behind the net, cutting BU’s lead to 2-1.

With five minutes left on the clock, the Terriers regained puck possession, and Harvey scored his second goal of the game, restoring a two-goal lead for BU.

The Huskies had two chances to continue the scoring before the second intermission, but sophomore forward Ethan Whitcomb couldn’t sink one past Yegorov.

Adding insult to injury, Whitcomb promptly took a minor penalty for tripping. BU headed back to the locker room with a man advantage upcoming and holding onto a 3-1 lead going into the final frame.

Opening the third, the Terriers’ power play looked shaky as UConn had a scoring chance and killed off the penalty. Offense wasn’t the primary focus of BU’s period, however, as the Terriers held the score by making restrained, deliberate plays and striking only when given the opportunity.

The Huskies pressed hard over the final ten minutes. BU stayed disciplined defensively, wary of fumbling the lead as it did in the first game of the weekend series against UConn.

With two minutes remaining in regulation, UConn Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh pulled Muszelik. Though the Terriers were unable to score an empty-net goal, they held off the Huskies’ last-ditch efforts to secure the series split.

“As a group, when you do it together, it feels good,” Pandolfo said. “Our guys feel good about the way they responded today, and now it’s building off it.”

“Hopefully, this group learned a lot this weekend,” Pandolfo said.

The Terriers will look to build momentum in conference play with an away series at Maine, starting Friday, Oct. 31. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.