Patrick Curry gets set for a draw at UMass Lowell. Photo by Emily Hunter.
BU and UMass Lowell tied 2-2 at Tsongas Center on Saturday night. Here are my top five moments of the game.
Blackmun gets UML going
After being shut out on Friday night, UMass Lowell got one past Ashton Abel 8:28 into the first period when Chase Blackmun swatted in a puck deflected down by Matt Brown in front of Abel.
Wall stones Curry’s breakaway
With UMass Lowell caught forward midway through the second period, Patrick Curry took an errant pass and skated in on a breakaway but couldn’t get by Tyler Wall in the crease.
Chabot lasers one past Wall
With BU carrying play in the second period, Gabe Chabot finally got one by Wall with a wrister on the rush that beat the netminder glove-side with 3:26 left in the frame.
O’Rourke restores the UML lead
BU had the game knotted up for two minutes and 21 seconds late in the second period, but Austin O’Rourke put the River Hawks back on top with a one-timer from the slot.
Curry ties it up late
The Terriers tied the game 2-2 with 2:14 left in regulation when the BU second line forced a turnover in the UML zone and Patrick Curry potted Dom Fensore’s feed from close range.
Not a sweep , but a very good weekend for the Terriers, 3 out of four points vs a top 20 team will move them up in HE and the pairwise. terriers came out strong and forced the Riverhawks out of their comfort zone and forced them to attack which created odd man rushes for BU. Its so important to get ahead against a team that plays the defense trap like Lowell does. Although they were behind most of the way the terriers hung in there which allowed them to tie the game late and a chance to win. The additions of Cockerill , Skoog and Able have given BU the needed depth to roll 4 lines which all gave a very solid effort. Good job.
Great analysis Vito. I love your point about the additions – they have made a major difference even just a month in (or less in Cockerill’s case), and credit to BU for finding and bringing in the right guys in Skoog and Abel.
Yes Vito, earning three out of four points against the #12 ranked team in D-1 is a fine weekend. I am most pleased to see Wise earn another point and to see how well Abel has performed in goal. Jumping from the NAHL to D-1 is no easy task. Though he was a top goalie in that league, it was pretty much impossible to project how that would transfer to Hockey East. The body of evidence is still quite small but I am pleasantly surprised. Go BU!
Abel has been huge, Glenn. I told Patrick last night that he reminds me a little bit of Lekkas up at Vermont. Not the biggest guy and crouches pretty low, but he has quick reflexes and can hold his ground against opponents crashing the net. With the way he’s playing, we might not see Sam Tucker for a while.
I love going to Abel’s Elite Prospect page and seeing those numbers … 1.58 GAA and 0.937 save percentage! Only four games but I’m getting quite excited.
Although it wasn’t a sweep it was the best two games the Terriers have put together in a long time. I thought Mastrosimone (sp) played very well this weekend and two very solid games fro Able. Tucker was a nice addition to this years squad but I think Able might be someone that we can ride for a bit.
You actually nailed the spelling on Mastrosimone, Dan! I think you’re right about the goalies. Tucker got hot for a stretch there in the first half but with the way Abel has started, you have to feel like BU will stick with him and hope he’ll only get better. Talking to Sam, though, it seems like he embraces the leadership role he’s in, so I have a feeling he’ll be nothing but supportive towards Abel (and that could help him develop even more).
Having met Sam Tucker, I can say he totally seems like one who would go out of his way to help the team in any way he could, even if it meant supporting a player he was competing against for the job of starting goalie.
I got the same impression, Glenn. Plus, as a grad transfer, he may just want to have the best chance at a trophy he can get, and if it means he’s not the guy to get BU there, so be it.