BU men’s hockey silences the Ralph with 4-3 win to split series with North Dakota

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — The Friday night lights were too bright for the Boston University men’s hockey team.

On Saturday, the Terriers shone the light on themselves.

Before doors opened to the public, a line of people snaked around the outside of Ralph Engelstad Arena. The student section flooded the aisles and packed their allotted seats as soon as they were welcomed inside, and the rest of the sections followed their lead.

The Ralph was humming before the Fighting Hawks (3-2-0) even appeared, still hot off the demolition job UND completed over BU (4-1-0) the night before. It exploded when the team skated out into the light show illuminating the ice in green and white.

“This is a fun place to play,” BU head coach Jay Pandolfo said. “They can get some momentum going pretty quickly.”

That didn’t happen Saturday night. The Terriers scored first and never trailed, capturing a thrilling 4-3 victory.

The Fighting Hawks looked to start the second game the way they did the first. BU senior goaltender Mathieu Caron made his first save 34 seconds into the game.

The first few minutes of the game calmed the crowd with back-and-forth looks for each team. Caron, who got yanked halfway through the first period the night before after giving up four goals on six shots, was more settled, making the save on every puck he saw in the initial 20 minutes and taming the crowd.

The Ralph was resurrected 16 minutes into the game, raining boos down at the referees on the ice, as their own Fighting Hawk sophomore defenseman Abram Wiebe took a seat in the penalty for a trip.

BU junior forward Ryan Greene shut them up a minute later.

Greene took a gentle feed from freshman defenseman Cole Hutson near the blue line and fired it through the center of the ice into the back of the net for BU’s first lead of the series.

The differences between the first periods were stark. The Terriers cleaned up their defense, not committing a single penalty in the opening frame, and Caron looked comfortable despite the shelling from just the day before.

The first buzzer rang out into the muted arena, and the Terriers took their 1-0 lead into the locker room.

The fans remained quiet until UND stormed into their offensive zone seven minutes into the second period.

Sophomore defenseman Caleb MacDonald trailed the bulk of the skaters, and junior forward Owen McLaughlin waited for him at the blue line to pass him the puck as MacDonald drove the net. MacDonald followed his momentum through the weak side of the ice and rocketed the puck past Caron for the equalizer.

The North Dakota fans were right back in it as “Chelsea Dagger” blared through the speakers.

The momentum shifted after the goal. Greene was called for tripping almost immediately after, and North Dakota dominated control of the puck from there. 

Despite the penalties, Caron and the Terriers were able to keep the Fighting Hawks from adding on.

As the clock ticked down under a minute left in the period, freshman forward Cole Eiserman picked up an unguarded puck in the BU defensive zone and flung a stretch pass to sophomore forward Jack Harvey who had created a breakaway chance. Harvey took advantage of his trailing defender and cashed in on the one-on-one look he had at North Dakota graduate goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter to retake the Terrier lead, poking the puck through Semptimphelter’s five-hole.

BU took its 2-1 lead into the second intermission.

Discipline, on both sides, started to falter in the third. 

The Terriers were gifted two opportunities to add some insurance with a North Dakota penalty called for too many players on the ice just two and a half minutes into the period, and another for slashing not even three minutes later. BU was unable to take advantage of the power plays.

The puck spent most of its time in the Terriers’ offensive zone for the half of the period until freshman forward Brandon Svoboda was called for tripping, sending UND to the power play.

Senior forward Cameron Berg sent the Ralph into a frenzy as he slammed home a one timer to once again tie the game.

The crowd was reinvigorated by a change in the tides of the game, and another power play not even a minute after their goal only fed into the cacophony that filled the arena.

“I felt calm, and it seemed like they did too,” Pandolfo said. “Our guys were really helping each other out tonight, and that goes a long way.”

Just as the fans became deafening, junior forward Devin Kaplan silenced them.

Kaplan plucked the puck from North Dakota sophomore forward Jayden Perron and took it through the neutral zone himself. He burst into the attacking zone in a two-on-three with Harvey. Hounded by Perron on the backcheck, Kaplan lost a handle on the puck in front of the net, but he recovered it himself and launched the puck past Semptimphelter’s glove.

Kaplan slammed himself into the glass in front of the student section with the lead back in hand.

“You want to try and silence a crowd and take them out of the game when it’s a big game like that,” Kaplan said.

Sophomore defenseman Tom Willander added onto the lead with a shot from the blue line on the power play in the 17th minute to make the score 4-2. Black-and-green jerseys began to file out of their seats.

North Dakota pulled Semptimphelter with just under two minutes left to play in the third. Sophomore defenseman Jake Livanavage took advantage of the extra attacker and deflected a shot past Caron to bring the Fighting Hawks within one, but they were unable to finish the job.

Caron finished with 29 saves in the game, and Terrier defenders sacrificed themselves in front of him to collect 18 blocks. The defense stepped up, and the offense backed them up to take home the 4-3 win.

“After last night, we somewhat got embarrassed, and for our guys to respond the way they did today, it’s a credit to them, credit to our leadership,” Pandolfo said. “I thought that right from the drop of the puck, those guys were ready to play, and I think everyone followed.”

The Terriers play the No. 10 University of Michigan in the comfort of Agganis Arena next weekend on Nov. 1 and 2, looking to build on what they learned from this heavyweight series.