By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff
The score sheet from Friday night’s game between the No. 13 Boston University Terriers and the No. 2/3 Boston College Eagles required a lot of ink. Aside from the eight goals scored in BU’s 5-3 win, the teams combined for 79 penalty minutes on a total of 30 penalties through the 60-minute game. BU sophomore defenseman Garrett Noonan took four penalties alone, three of which came in the second period.
BU’s penalty total was especially alarming since it took more penalties (17) than total shots (15) in the game.
“It doesn’t surprise me with this team,” said BU coach Jack Parker when asked what he thought of the number of penalties his team took.
But both Parker and sophomore forward Charlie Coyle said after the game that they were upset by the number of dives BC took and got away with Friday night. By the third period, when the two teams combined for 15 penalties, the referees finally picked up on the Eagles’ diving and ejected forward Steven Whitney from the game for embellishment.
“You could definitely see it out there,” Coyle said of BC diving. “I saw one guy, obviously 21 [Whitney], doing it all game, and there’s just no need for that. It kind of ruins the game and it ruins the flow of the game.”
Parker voiced his frustration with BC’s diving, but also blamed his team for taking too many dumb penalties and turning a 5-3 win into a disgraceful showing.
“[BC was] diving all over the place,” Parker said. “They finally got a dive penalty, but they … they dove and got some penalties, but we took some stupid penalties too. Pathetic, that stuff that’s going on out there. Absolutely pathetic.”
Cisse collects first collegiate goal
Not all of Friday’s game was disappointing for the Terriers. Redshirt freshman forward Yasin Cisse finally found the back of the net to earn his first collegiate goal and point.
Cisse’s tally came with 2:57 remaining in the first period and BU holding onto a 1-0 lead. Freshman forward Alexx Privitera sent a long pass up to Cisse, who was waiting by the BC blue line and sped past two Eagles to earn a breakaway before roofing a shot over BC goalie Parker Milner’s shoulder.
“It was a great pass by [Privitera] to send him in,” Parker said. “He pulled away from the guy with really great-looking speed and drilled it. Really nice goal.”
The goal was especially sweet for Cisse since it was his first in almost two years. Cisse was playing his final season of USHL hockey for the Des Moines Buccaneers in December of 2009 when he suffered a torn tendon in his right ankle. Cisse had 19 points through the club’s first 18 games, but was unable to return to the ice that season.
In his freshman year at BU, he re-injured the same ankle in the team’s opener on Oct. 8 at the Icebreaker in St. Louis, and he had to miss the rest of the 2010-11 season. Cisse finally returned to the ice for the Terriers on Nov. 5 in a game against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Despite his physical play and some artistic passes and set-ups in the offensive zone, however, Cisse did not see any results in the points column next to his name until Friday night.
Cisse is expected to be both a physical presence and a goal-scorer for the Terriers, and Coyle, Cisse’s linemate on Friday, said it was a relief to finally see Cisse cash in.
“We’re all happy for him,” Coyle said. “You could tell he was waiting for it, obviously, and just to get it, especially in a big game like this against BC, it made it that much more special for him. So we were all happy to see him get that and hopefully continue that.”
Notes: Freshman forward Cason Hohmann also netted his first career goal Friday night when he scored on the power play eight minutes into the third period to make it a 4-1 game … Freshman defenseman Alexx Privitera earned his first career point Friday on his assist on Cisse’s goal … Senior goaltender Kieran Millan was outstanding in net, stopping 42 shots, 21 of which came on BU penalty kills. The save total was two shots short of his career-high of 44, which he recorded in a game against the University of New Hampshire last season … BU’s win Friday marked the first time the Terriers have won back-to-back games at Conte Forum since the 1993-94 season. BU’s current five-game win streak is its longest since winning seven straight to close out its 2008-09 NCAA championship campaign.
When did BC add Skating & Diving to its list of varsity sports?
Whitney needs to take a few drama courses. Was that just bad acting, or is he a bad comedian, too?
I doubt that Jerry York was too amused by it.
What goes through the head of Chiasson? I mean really with the back to back penalties at the end of the game.