Game Recaps, Men's Hockey, Recaps

BU men’s hockey takes series opener at New Hampshire, 6-3

Photo by BU Athletics.

DURHAM, N.H — Almost three months ago, Jay Pandolfo sat at the dais at Agganis Arena and told reporters that “it starts getting old when you have to keep responding.” For the rest of 2024, it kept getting older.

Deflating losses for the Boston University men’s hockey team piled up — the worst of which a 7-5 loss at Yale to end the calendar year — only for BU to respond, then lose, then respond again.

But Friday night at the Whittemore Center was the first time since he said it that Pandolfo’s quote didn’t feel poignant.

No. 11 BU defeated No. 18 UNH 6-3 in the series opener, the weekend after the Terriers finally swept their first series of the year. BU is 3-0 in 2025 and is on a three-game winning streak for only the third time this season.

And with Maine losing at home to UConn, the Terriers (12-7-1, 8-3-1 Hockey East) now have sole possession of the conference lead for the first time this season.

Shots on goal finished 42-32 in favor of UNH. Here are three takeaways from the victory:

BU put pucks on a struggling goalie’s net and got rewarded for it.

One of Pandolfo’s many complaints during BU’s inconsistent fall semester was that the Terriers were overcomplicating their offense, but after making progress in that area against UMass in late December and last weekend versus Vermont, BU continued to put pucks on the net on Friday night.

UNH goalie Jared Whale owned a .905 save percentage through 18 games entering the series — good for 53rd in the nation — and BU’s first two goals came off tame shots that Whale probably should’ve kept out. Junior assistant captain Devin Kaplan flicked a backhander towards Whale’s goal 1:15 into the game and the puck squeaked through Whale’s five hole. At 8:48, junior captain Ryan Greene fired a wrister against his momentum from the point, and it found its way past Whale through traffic.

Greene won the game for BU 5:40 into the third when Whale committed a brutal turnover behind his goal. Greene fired on an empty net from a tight angle, and an unknowing UNH defender redirected the shot into the net as he skated into the crease.

There was a rhythm and flow to BU’s offense which hasn’t been seen often.

On several occasions, BU broke out of its defensive zone with smooth one-time passes that met their recipient in stride. On BU’s first power play, sophomore captain Shane Lachance started a tic-tac-toe play with a no-look pass through his legs. On BU’s second man-advantage, Lachance dumped a pass down to a wide-open Quinn Hutson, who easily deked around Whale for the Terriers’ third tally.

And in general, BU glided through the neutral zone with relative ease. Junior Jack Hughes clinched the win for BU 13 minutes into the third on a rebound born from an odd-man rush, then freshman Cole Hutson added another on a snipe from the slot late in the frame.

It was the kind of offense the Terriers haven’t put on display often enough this season given their immense volume of talent. Perhaps, now that Pandolfo finally kept BU’s forward lines the same from one weekend to the next, the Terriers are developing chemistry they’ve lacked for most of the season. The top line of sophomore Jack Harvey, Greene and senior Matt Copponi was especially productive on Friday.

BU already sat at second in the country with 3.9 goals per game, despite failing to find any consistent line combinations. If the Terriers’ offense is about to find them — look out.

A small step forward for BU’s defense.

Friday night wasn’t without its fair share of mistakes, and even some breakdowns, but in the end, BU’s much-maligned defensive core will head back home with a performance to build from. UNH tied the game in the first period when associate captain Connor Sweeney scored his first career goal, jamming one past senior goalie Mathieu Caron (33 saves) on a tally that needed an official review to see if it crossed the line. In the second period, the Wildcats got themselves within one on a power play, sophomore Nick Ring potting a good look from the slot.

Other than that penalty-kill concession, BU’s defense was pretty good, especially in the first five minutes of the third. UNH’s Robert Cronin tied the game late in the second on a rebound Caron should’ve caught, but when needing to kill a five-minute major committed by Gavin McCarthy a minute later (BU was only on a man-disadvantage for the first three minutes of the third) BU’s kill stood tall. 

There weren’t many Grade-A chances for the Wildcats throughout the 60 minutes, and in the moments it looked like one might be imminent, BU got a critical stick in the way. The Terriers will need to fix their discipline problems — McCarthy was ejected on BU’s ninth game misconduct of the season, after BU entered leading the country in penalty minutes — but the Terriers’ defense was good enough on Friday night to make up for it.

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