#9 Boston University Defeats UMass Lowell, 3-2

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On Friday night at Tsongas Center, the #9 ranked Boston University Terriers (5-3-1, 2-1-1) came to Tsongas Center to meet the UMass Lowell River Hawks (4-5-0, 1-4-0). Lowell came into this game winners of only one of their last four games. All of them have been one-goal games. The Terriers, who began the season as the preseason #1 in the country, have gone 3-2 in their last five games. They have been a .500 team on the road at 2-2-1 while the River Hawks have been 1-1-0 at home.

Your starting goalies for Friday night’s game were Mathieu Caron (3.24 GGA) for the Terriers and for the River Hawks Henry Welsch (2.00 GGA). The River Hawks power play got an early chance as BU defenseman Luke Hudson went off for tripping at 5:21 of the first. It was a PP that went nowhere. From there, the Terriers got two great scoring chances. First, Jeremy Wilmer cut inside a Lowell defender and put one on Welsch that he turned aside. Seconds later, Quinn Hutson off of a blocked shot, raced down the right wing side and put a shot on that Welsch stopped with his chest. The Terriers kept the pressure on as Ryan Greene took a drop pass inside the River Hawks zone and tested Welsch, who made the stop. The River Hawks tested Caron with a right-wing shot by Scout Truman off a scramble in the slot. Caron was ready to make the save. The up-and-down first period ended scoreless between BU and UMass Lowell. The River Hawks held a 16-12 shot advantage.

The second period began with the teams at even strength. Early on, the Terriers held an advantage in the River Hawks zone. It almost paid off as a shot from the right point was deflected in front and rang off the post to Welsch’s right. He was able to cover it for a faceoff. The shot came off the stick of Nick Zabaneh. Boston University’s first chance on the power play came at 5:50 when TJ Schweighardt went off for tripping. It took seconds for the Terriers to put a power play goal on the board. Lane Hudson picked up a loose puck at the left side of the River Hawks goalmouth and put a backhander past Welsch. Shane Lachance and Jeremy Wilmer picked up the assists. The goal came at 6:05. It was Hudson’s seventh of the year and fourth on the power play. It was BU’s eighth power-play goal of the season. UMass Lowell got their second chance on the man advantage when Aiden Celebrini went off for tripping at 9:08. The power play was only able to get one shot on goal. The Terriers got another power play shot as River Hawks center Jak Vaarwerk went off at 12:47 for high sticking. After killing the penalty, Vaarwerk came out of the box and took a long pass which led to another Terriers penalty at 15:01. It was called on Tom Willander for holding. While the River Hawks kept the puck in the attack zone for most of the power play, they did not get great scoring chances off of it. The River Hawks have not scored on the man advantage since they did it twice on October 21 vs Colgate. The period ended with the Terriers up 1-0. They held a 17-9 shot advantage through two periods.

The third period got underway at even strength. UMass Lowell came within a post shot of tying the game, Nick Granowicz’s tip on that hit the pipe to the left of Caron. The pace of the game was still solid. Both teams got pucks on net, but nothing dangerous. With 8:52 to play, the River Hawks were still looking for that one shot that could find the back of the net. Alex Peterson missed from the left side of the BU cage. He tried the near side and missed the net. BU did not miss when they got their chance a few minutes later. Quinn Hudson, off a rebound of a Cade Webber shot, gave the Terriers a 2-0 lead at 13:29, his second of the season. The River Hawks made it a one-goal game again. Ben Brunette first of the year came off a center pass from Scout Truman. Owen Cole picked up the second assist. The time of the first collegiate goal for Brunette was 14:06. With 4:37 left we had a finish. The River Hawks made things tough on themselves with an interference penalty to Truman at 15:50. The Terriers took advantage and retook a two-goal lead as Lane Hudson took a cross-ice pass from Luke Tuch and buried it. For Hudson, it’s his seventh of the year. Devin Kaplan also grabbed an assist. 3-1 Terriers. Cole had a shorthanded partial breakaway down the right side that Caron stopped. BU picked up a penalty as Ryan Greene went off for slashing at 18:19. The River Hawks pulled their goalie to make it a 5-4 advantage. Once again, Lowell made it a one-goal game with 19.2 seconds left. A power-play goal by Isac Jonsson picked up his first of the year at 19:41. Cole and Matt Crasa assisted on it. The goal came about from a deflected pass that Jonsson jumped on from the left slot to beat Caron between the legs. However, there was not enough time left for UMass Lowell to try and tie the game. BU gets the win 3-2.

After the game, BU head coach Jay Pandoffe “liked the effort of his team.” He was pleased with his defensemen all night. The two power plays goals the Terriers scored proved to be the difference. River Hawks coach Norm Bazin did not believe “There is enough of an attack mentally” with his team. He was happy to see goals from a couple of his defensemen. However, he is looking for more from his team. The River Hawks will try to supply more tonight night when they face the Terriers at Agganis Arena.