Kieran Millan comes up big as BU beats UNH 2-1

By Scott McLaughlin/DFP Staff

DURHAM, N.H. – Junior goalie Kieran Millan continued his stretch of great play as he made 39 saves to lead the No. 15 Boston University men’s hockey team to a 2-1 win over No. 7 University of New Hampshire at Whittemore Center. Sophomore forward Ross Gaudet scored what proved to be the game-winner with 7:17 left in the second.

Both teams had some quality chances in the first, as they combined for 23 shots on net, but Millan and junior netminder Matt DiGirolamo (23 saves) of UNH were the best players on the ice and kept the game scoreless heading into the intermission.

BU (11-7-6, 8-5-4 Hockey East) appeared to score midway through the period when sophomore forward Wade Megan batted a puck out of the air and into the net, but the referees immediately waved it off for a high stick and a review upheld the call.

Freshman forward Charlie Coyle had another good chance when he took a pass from freshman linemate Matt Nieto, blew by a defender and cut across the crease with DiGirolamo down and out, but the puck slid off his stick before he could bury it into the empty cage.

The Wildcats (13-5-4, 11-2-2 HE) got on the board first five minutes into the second on their first power play of the night. Moments after senior forward Joe Pereira failed to clear a puck out of the zone, Millan made a nice save sliding to his left, but the rebound popped into the slot and sophomore forward Greg Burke banged it past sophomore defenseman-turned-goalie Max Nicastro for his first marker of the season.

The Terriers answered just 3:24 later on a power play of their own. After some nice puck movement, freshman defenseman Adam Clendening wristed a shot through a screen and off the left post. It bounced right to Coyle, who easily tapped it home for his seventh goal.

A few minutes later, the refs had to go to review for the second time in the game when the Wildcats thought a backhander from senior forward Paul Thompson squeezed past Millan and trickled over the line, but replay confirmed that the puck did not cross the line.

Instead of UNH going up 2-1, it was the Terriers who took the lead less than two minutes after the no goal. Gaudet found a loose puck in the slot and poked it past two Wildcats and through DiGirolamo’s five-hole for his second of the season.

UNH turned up the heat as the period came to a close, tallying the final seven shots of the frame, but Millan continued his stretch of great play between the pipes with several key saves to keep BU out in front. Notable among them was a sliding kick save on a Thompson one-timer with less than two minutes to go.

The Terriers appeared to up the lead to 3-1 with 12:22 left in the game, but for the third time in the game, there was a review and a no-goal call. There was a scrum in the crease and sophomore forward Alex Chiasson eventually whacked the puck over the line, but replay showed the net came off its moorings before the puck went in.

The Wildcats kept the pressure on throughout the third, but Millan stood tall time and time again as the Terriers hung on for the win to take the season series from UNH.