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Terriers balance offensive attack in 5-1 win

By Annie Maroon/DFP Staff

LOWELL, Mass. — Scoring four goals in one period is generally a remarkable feat, but it’s all the more noteworthy when the tallies come from four different players, with eight different men recording points in a 17-minute span.

Against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell on Friday, the Boston University men’s hockey team coasted to a 5-1 win thanks to an explosive second period and a balanced offensive attack, getting goals from five different members of its top three lines and offensive involvement from its young defensemen. The Terriers beat UML goaltender Marc Boulanger shorthanded and at even strength, with tip-ins and breakaways, and proved that the scoring touch on this team does not belong solely to any one player or even one line.

“I really thought that [junior forward Andrew] Glass one was in right off the bat, too,” Parker said. “The goalie made an unbelievable save, and that would have been a goal for that line, too. I think all the lines played well. Guys are jacked up to play and want to try to have a better shift when the last line had a good shift, so that helps out, too. But there’s talent on all four lines.”

As Parker mentioned, Glass, BU’s fourth-line left wing, was robbed early in the first when Boulanger made a diving stop on a high shot. His linemate, junior forward Kevin Gilroy, also had what could have been a goal disallowed in the first when the officials ruled the puck was knocked in with a hand. Glass and Gilroy each have one goal on the season.

Through most of the first period, the game was shaping up to be a goaltenders’ duel between Boulanger and BU junior goalie Kieran Millan. Sophomore winger Alex Chiasson put an end to that notion with less than three minutes left in the period, beating Boulanger with a one-timer on a 2-on-1 rush with junior defenseman David Warsofsky.

The next two Terrier goals were what could be called “junk” goals, although they might be better defined as “goals that win games.” Junior forward and co-captain Chris Connolly sent a ricocheting puck past Boulanger from the side of the crease. Then junior forward Corey Trivino found himself in perfect position to control a bounce off of the end boards and slide it past a diving Boulanger. Freshman defenseman Adam Clendening picked up his second assist on Trivino’s goal, while Ryan Santana recorded his first – and his first point of the year – on Connolly’s.

BU then demonstrated its ability to score more highlight-reel-worthy goals, twice. Freshman center Charlie Coyle took a feed from his new linemate, freshman wing Sahir Gill, and ripped a wrist shot into the top corner of the net. Gill finished off the scoring with a shorthanded breakaway that brought the BU fans in the crowd to their feet, fighting off a hook from UML defenseman Chris Ickert and fooling Boulanger with a low backhand shot.

“Both of those goals are really skilled plays,” Parker said. “When you’ve got skilled players and they play, they look pretty sharp.”

Going into Friday’s game, BU had seven players with three points or more. That number is now nine, and every player who has dressed for all six games now has at least one point. In addition, Gill, who had been playing on the third line, switched places with Connolly on the first line on Friday, and both were able to continue producing offensively.

“It shows we have four lines of players that can put the puck in the net,” Connolly said of the team’s performance tonight. “Come playoff time, you need guys to step up. You need the third and fourth lines to put the puck in the net.”

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