By Scott McLaughlin/DFP Staff
The No. 2 Boston University men’s hockey rebounded from its first loss of the season with a 4-2 triumph over the No. 7/8 University of New Hampshire on Saturday night. Junior goalie Grant Rollheiser made a career-high 41 saves and sophomore forward Alex Chiasson netted the game-winner with 3:38 remaining in the second.
The Terriers (7-1-4, 5-1-4 Hockey East) took their first lead of the night on Chiasson’s shorthanded tally. Junior forward Corey Trivino forced a turnover at the offensive blue line and set up a one-timer for Chiasson, who rocketed a shot over junior goalie Matt DiGirolamo’s shoulder and just under the crossbar.
Freshman forward Sahir Gill extended the lead to 4-2 with 17.8 seconds remaining in the period when he forced a turnover and chased down the puck along the right half-wall. He then cut to the net, got DiGirolamo down with some nifty stickhandling and slid a cross-grain forehander inside the right post.
The Terriers found themselves trailing 1-0 after a first period that was almost all Wildcats (6-2-3, 3-1-2 HE). But it didn’t take them long to get things going in the second. Just 28 seconds into the middle stanza, freshman forward Matt Nieto found a loose puck in the slot and banged it past DiGirolamo for his second tally of the year. The play started with a centering pass by junior defenseman David Warsofsky that got tipped to Trivino on the right doorstep. His jam attempt was stopped, but Nieto was able to bury the rebound.
Seven minutes later, UNH had a goal waved off when Mike Borisenok’s second-chance bid crossed the line after the net had been knocked off its moorings. A minute and a half later, though, Paul Thompson did make it 2-1 when he found a rebound on the right doorstep and knocked it in for his third goal of the weekend.
The back-and-forth action continued when freshman defenseman Adam Clendening knotted the game at 2-2 with his first collegiate goal just 1:45 later. The freshman started a rush down the right wing and sniped the top right corner with a wrister from atop the circle.
The Wildcats outshot the Terriers 15-7 in the first. BU helped give UNH momentum going into the break by taking two penalties in the final four minutes, proliferating a weekend-long discipline problem. The Wildcats made the Terriers pay when Clendening was called for a hold with 1:11 remaining. Just 21 seconds into the power play, Brett Kostolansky took a pass from Thompson at the top of the slot and snapped a shot by Rollheiser for his first collegiate goal.
Saturday marked the second straight night a BU goalie set a career high in saves after junior Kieran Millan made 44 stops Friday night.
More to come in Monday’s Daily Free Press.
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