Terriers Win, Lose, And Draw

After posting a 4-1 win at Boston College’s Conte Arena last Wednesday, the No. 6/7 Boston University men’s ice hockey team had its eight-game unbeaten streak snapped on Friday evening with a 5-2 home loss against No. 14/13 Boston College. Sophomore Matt Gilroy and junior Bryan Ewing each scored for the Terriers, who suffered their first multi-goal loss of the season to fall to 13-5-6 overall and 10-4-5 in Hockey East play. The Eagles never trailed in the game and held a 3-2 edge late in the third period before earning an insurance goal followed by an empty-netter.

BC jumped out to an early 2-0 lead five minutes into the game with goals just 1:11 apart. Freshman Ben Smith knocked in an elevated rebound on a power play at the 3:49 mark before sophomore Nathan Gerbe made it a two-goal lead. Gerbe’s goal ended BU’s streak of 248:46 without allowing an even-strength tally.

Determined to get on the board, BU came out firing in the middle period and got some help with a 5-on-3 advantage that lasted for well over a minute. After peppering Schneider with several shots, the Terriers got the puck past him when Gilroy cleaned up off a rebound at the 3:28 mark. Senior Kenny Roche and Ewing assisted on the play.

Just four minutes after BU’s tally, however, BC regained a two-goal lead when senior Brian Boyle redirected a puck in the slot just 18 seconds into the Eagles’ first power play of the second period.

Ewing helped the Terriers make it a one-goal affair again with 6:14 left in the second when he sent in a rebound from the left portion of the crease off a shot by sophomore Chris Higgins. Ewing set up the play, attacking from the right side before having his shot saved by Schneider. Higgins skated around the net before picking up the loose puck and putting it back in Schneider’s direction.

BU doubled up BC in shots in the second period, 16-8, and held a 15-10 advantage in shots in the final stanza, but could not come up with an equalizer.

Junior Dan Bertram gave the visitors their fourth goal of the night on a play in transition with 2:42 left in regulation. Sophomore Benn Ferriero tacked on an empty-netter at the 19:10 mark.

The game was the season-series finale, as all three games were won by the visiting team. BU was 13-0-1 in its last 14 games played in January entering Friday’s contest.

The Terriers, who have not suffered back-to-back losses since Nov. 26-Dec. 2, 2005, returned to the ice the following night at the University of Massachusetts. Senior Kevin Schaeffer scored a pair of goals, including a game-tying tally, as the team rallied from a three-goal deficit to come away with a 3-3 tie at the Mullins Center. After completing a stretch of five games in nine days, the Terriers now stand at 13-5-7 on the year with a 10-4-6 record in conference play.

UMass got on the board first with two goals in the final two minutes of the first period before taking a 3-0 lead on a power-play goal at the 5:02 mark of the second. Schaeffer kick-started the BU comeback less than four minutes after the Minutemen scored their third goal, as the senior sent home a blast from just inside the blue line on assists from sophomore John McCarthy and junior Brian McGuirk.

After heading into the second intermission with a 3-1 deficit, the Terriers wasted little time in making it a one-goal affair. Sophomore Chris Higgins knocked in a rebound off a shot by junior Pete MacArthur just 32 seconds into the third.

The game-tying goal came with 13:36 left in regulation after a prolonged possession for the Minutemen in the BU zone.

After sophomore Gilroy knocked the puck away from the Terriers’ cage, Schaeffer collected it just outside the left face-off circle before clearing the puck to get a line change. With the puck heading towards the other end, UMass sophomore Jon Quick tried to take advantage of the line change by stopping the puck instead of letting it go for icing. However, the puck deflected off his stick and caromed towards the unoccupied net for the Terriers’ most unlikely goal of the season.

Each team generated good scoring opportunities in the final minutes of regulation, but with time winding down, the Minutemen were able to attack the cage and cause a scramble. Amidst the traffic, junior Pete MacArthur was whistled for intentionally dislodging the net, resulting in a penalty shot for UMass.

Senior Kevin Jarman took the penalty shot and attacked from the left, but junior Karson Gillespie was up to the task, kicking away the puck with his right skate.

Play was back-and-forth throughout the overtime session, but neither team could muster a game winner and the Terriers headed back to Boston with their seventh tie of the season.

BU will return to action on Friday, February 2 when they play host to UMass Lowell. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

This article appears courtesy of BU Athletics.