By Scott McLaughlin/DFP Staff
The Boston University men’s hockey team picked up its second straight win over a ranked opponent when it defeated No. 7/8 Boston College, 3-2, on Friday night at Fenway Park.
The Terriers (6-9-3, 4-7-2 Hockey East) scored the game’s first three goals to take a commanding lead, but the Eagles (10-6-2, 7-4-2) stormed back in the second half of the game to pull within one. They had several chances to tie it in the final 10 minutes, but BU was able to hang on for the victory thanks to some big saves from sophomore goalie Kieran Millan (27 saves) and some timely blocks from the BU defense.
With the win, the Terriers jump from an eighth-place tie in the conference standings to a sixth-place tie. BU and the University of Vermont both have 10 points, nine behind first-place University of New Hampshire.
“We played pretty thorough,” BU coach Jack Parker said. “It was one of our better games as far as being smart with the puck, not too many turnovers. We could’ve been better as far as penalties that we took. I thought we played a very, very solid game from start to finish.”
BU controlled play for most of the first period with aggressive forechecking and crisp breakout passes that limited BC to very few extended possessions. The Terriers capitalized at the 6:58 mark with a power-play goal from sophomore defenseman David Warsofsky, his fifth of the season.
The Marshfield native, fresh off winning the gold medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championships, took a pass from senior forward Zach Cohen at the left point, walked toward the middle and fired a slapper through a screen that beat junior goalie John Muse (28 saves). A lifelong Red Sox fan, Warsofsky celebrated by tossing an invisible ball into the air and driving it deep to right field with his stick-turned-bat.
The Terriers made it 2-0 a little more than two minutes into the second. Junior defenseman Colby Cohen shook two Eagle defenders at the blue line and stepped into a slapper that got redirected to the end boards. Junior forward Joe Pereira quickly backhanded the rebound toward the net, and it banked off Muse’s right skate and just inside the post for his fourth goal of the season.
A little more than eight minutes later, it was 3-0. Junior forward Nick Bonino took a pass from freshman defenseman Sean Escobedo and skated in from the right half wall. He threw the puck on net and freshman forward Wade Megan flipped the rebound up and over Muse for his second goal of the season. The assist for Escobedo was his first collegiate point.
“We thought that if we got the puck down low, we could go to work and protect it and get the puck to the net,” Bonino said. “And the last two goals were right in front of the net, just getting to the net. That was our game plan, and it paid off.”
The Eagles finally got on the board with 1:41 to go in the middle frame. Sophomore forward Paul Carey beat Warsofsky down the right wing and had two jam attempts from the crease stopped by Millan. Millan could only hold his ground for so long, though, and junior forward Brian Gibbons streaked in untouched to bury the third chance for his eighth goal of the season.
Aside from the three goals scored in the second, a critical moment in the game was a 1:56 5-on-3 for the Eagles that they couldn’t convert. Leading the way on the crucial penalty kill for BU was junior defenseman and captain Kevin Shattenkirk. He intercepted two passes cleanly and cleared them down the rink himself, and then went down to one knee to block another centering pass, leading to another clear. BC finished the game 1-for-8 on the power play.
“That was a disappointing part of our game for sure, especially the 5-on-3,” BC coach Jerry York said. “That’s a golden opportunity to put some points on the board. I think these conditions –– the outdoor ice, the wind, the snow –– if we had to do it over again, we’d just think about shooting pucks and try not to make many passes.
“It made it difficult on the power play to execute three or four passes, and I think the game plan should’ve been just back to the point and shoot pucks . . . BU did a nice job of blocking shots when we did shoot from the point.”
The Eagles cut the lead to one 7:43 into the third. Gibbons broke in on a shorthanded 2-on-1 with sophomore forward Cam Atkinson. Gibbons’ first centering pass was blocked by Shattenkirk, but the puck came right back to him. Gibbons sent it back out front and Atkinson one-timed it past Millan for his 10th of the season.
BC kept the pressure on for the remainder of the game, ultimately outshooting the Terriers, 13-7, in the final 20 minutes, but BU didn’t break. The Eagles had two golden chances on scrambles in front of the net where Millan was caught out of position after making the initial save.
Midway through the period, freshman forward Pat Mullane corralled a rebound in the slot while Millan was off to the left side of the net, but senior forward Luke Popko dropped to one knee in the crease to block Mullane’s point-blank chance.
Then, with just under five minutes to go in the game, Millan was caught facing backward after stopping not one, but two chances in close. Senior forward Ben Smith was left with a third chance and an empty net, but Warsofsky slid in at the last moment and batted the puck away with his glove.
“We knew they were gonna come out hard in the third,” Warsofsky said. “But we hung in there, we took their shots. We took every battle they could offer. In the end, we had some guys make some big plays in big situations. Ultimately, that won us the game.”
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