Game Recaps

BU unable to find an answer late in defeat at No. 5 Massachusetts

BU and UMass battle for a puck on Friday night. Photo by Jenna Vansickle.

Three third-period goals downed the Boston University men’s hockey team in a 4-1 defeat at No. 5 Massachusetts on Saturday night.

We kind of ran out of gas,” said BU head coach Albie O’Connell.

Mitchell Chaffee opened the scoring for UMass (7-3, 3-3 Hockey East) in the first period, cashing in at the right post on the extended five-on-three opportunity.

The 1-0 lead stood until 8:42 into the second when junior defenseman Cam Crotty drew BU (3-4-4, 2-3-3 Hockey East) level with his first goal of the season.

With passes from senior forward Patrick Harper and junior defenseman David Farrance, Crotty ripped one which sophomore goaltender Filip Lindberg couldn’t keep out.

“I just joined the play late,” said the BU assistant captain. “It found a way in,”

A goal in his second game back in scarlet and white was just what Crotty had in mind after a lower-body injury kept him sidelined for two weeks prior to Friday’s contest.

“It was nice to come back and bring some energy and bring my game.”

BU survived a five-minute major and game misconduct assessed to freshman forward Jamie Armstrong minutes after Crotty’s tally to get into the second intermission tied.

“I thought we killed the major well,” said O’Connell, who then added, “you can’t kill penalties all game.”

The third period was when UMass pulled away. Chaffee struck again on second-effort shot from the slot halfway through before Matthew Kessel finished off a flurry of chances at 15:24 and Colin Felix added an empty-netter inside the last two minutes.

“That’s two games in a row we let them score three goals in the third period,” said Crotty. “That’s just not going to cut it in any league.”

With a decisive final frame, the Minutemen would seal the 4-1 win and earn a split of the series with the Terriers.

“We got the first win, which was really nice. Obviously would’ve liked to have the second,” said Crotty.

Not to be lost in the defeat was another strong outing from graduate goaltender Sam Tucker, whose 36 stops finished off an 85-save weekend.

“Sam was great,” O’Connell said of his keeper.

BU will now look to turn the page to a two-game set next weekend at Agganis Arena against the University of Vermont.

4 Comments

  1. Son of Caesar Carlaci

    Can not kill penalties and have enough energy to score against one of the better teams in hockey. Missing a Cockerill means a lot in these kind of games. D will be OK and this team should get a lot better with experience. Have to start thinking of how we can replace Wise who does nothing for us as a second line center. On the whole I am well pleased so far.

  2. I posted the following comments on the live blog last night, but I am still upset, and hope that by reiterating them here it will provide me a cathartic effect. PSD

    One minute shy of one-half hour of penalty time, vs six minutes for UMASS. UMASS player loses an edge, slips and falls, = tripping penalty for BU. The last allowed UMASS goal was questionable for a high stick, but was NOT REVIEWED. Last UN-ALLOWED goal was nearly identical, was reviewed, and the review clearly showed a high stick – earlier high stick tip deserved at least a cursory review, with the game hanging in the balance. Inconsistency was disappointing. We did very well considering we had to play both UMASS and the officiating. PK was excellent, as was Tucker. BU played half of the entire game short handed against two opponents, and we were still in it.

    Friday night the officiating allowed the players to determine the outcome of the game. Saturday that was not the case. PSD

  3. I watched Wise play 3 games in high school. i saw absolutely nothing then and even less now

    might be time to cut ties with him. sorry but that is the cold reality

  4. We were out played and deserved the 5 minute penalty. Some of the calls were Ricky tack and the majority were called on us. What upsets me the most Paul touched on there second goal was close to being off sides and from my vantage point a high stick. In today’s hockey east everything is getting revived. I saw captain Curry outside refs crease lobbying for what I believe to be a review and the ref keenan I believe pointing to the dot ignoring curry plea. Again we were in this game and that goal changed the outcome and they did not even look at it. Last week they looked at a offsides that happened 1 minute prior to goal and took it off the board. To add insult to injury they reviewed and took a goal away from u mass for high sticking which meant nothing at that point of the game. So frustrating no consistency. It seems to me if the play leads to a goal especially a late go ahead goal review it.