The Terriers celebrate a goal against UMass Lowell. Photo by Jenna VanSickle.
The Boston University men’s hockey team caught fire in the third period on Friday night at Agganis Arena, beating UMass Lowell 5-0 behind four power-play goals. Here are my three takeaways immediately following this game. All opinions are my own.
Bodies in front made the difference
BU head coach Albie O’Connell has talked all season about the importance of going to the net and creating traffic around the crease, and tonight, that gameplan worked to perfection. BU scored two goals from quick passing that led to a close-range score, and two more goals from long shots that Lowell goaltender Tyler Wall couldn’t find through the crowd in front of him. The Terriers were aggressive around the net, and it paid dividends.
Abel was good, defense was better
Ashton Abel made 17 saves to record his first collegiate shutout on Friday night, but to me, BU’s defensemen were more responsible for the flawless defensive effort. For the full 60 minutes, BU kept Lowell to just a handful of chances in dangerous areas and, as Albie O’Connell pointed out after the game, the Terriers kept the puck safe in their own end. Abel was capable when called upon, but BU’s skaters made his job easy with as strong a defensive performance as I think we’ve seen all season.
Terriers were aided by UML mistakes
There are plenty of positives to take from this game, especially in the third period, but I do want to add a certain caveat to this praise. The River Hawks were not at their best tonight, and some mental lapses that led to late penalties were a major cause of their downfall. BU certainly deserves credit for taking advantage of its opportunities, but I would have been interested to see how the Terriers played with their lead had they not been able to build on it so easily with the major penalty.
Spot on analysis Brady . I also have been saying over and over need to get traffic in front of goalies. U mass took some dumb penalties but also got called for some ticky tack ones. It’s about time we were beneficiaries of some bad calls going the other way. Bu played a mature game tonight which they have not been able to do for 60 minutes. For the majority of the game they were frustrated but they stuck to there game plan. They did not try to play selfish hockey it was a total team effort. I noticed Lowell tried to cherry pick on a few occasions but bu D was there. I can’t say enough good things about Farrence and Fensore offensively and defensively but Kasper and Crotty played a physical game last night not allowing Lowell forwards and time and space . McCarthy looked very good as well. Vlasic bounced back as well. Great team win need to get after it tonight. Go bu
I’m with you Colin – BU played simply, patiently, and was opportunistic when the chances came up, including the calls that went against Lowell. BU’s defense was as good as we’ve seen all season I think, and the whole team played the full 60 minutes and never gave Lowell a chance to come back. As good an all-around effort as they’ve given all season.
Great win. Tonight will be a bigger test to see if we can get our first sweep in a long long time. Vermont last year has a major ***