Led by short-handed goals from senior Zach Cohen and sophomore David Warsofsky, the Boston University men’s hockey team topped the No. 18 University of Massachusetts-Lowell, 3-2, Friday night at Tsongas Center.
The win was BU’s (11-11-3, 8-9-2 Hockey East) third in a row, the Terriers’ first such win streak of the season. The River Hawks dropped to 14-11-2 (8-8-2) on the season.
“I thought we were as thorough as we’ve been in a while on the defensive end,” BU coach Jack Parker said. “[UML] cam come at you pretty quickly and they can get the puck to the net real quick.
“The fact that we only gave up two shots in the third period is a testament to how focused we were and how competitive we were.”
Sophomore Ross Gaudet added BU’s other tally, while senior Ben Holmstrom and junior Scott Campbell netted UML’s two goals.
The teams didn’t wait long to get the scoring going.
Just 22 seconds in, junior defenseman Ryan Blair passed from the top of the right circle to Holmstrom at the opposite faceoff dot. Holmstrom lifted a laser from there and beat Millan top-shelf for his sixth goal of the year.
Forty seconds later, BU responded. Gaudet found a loose puck as he was driving to the UML cage, and poked it by River Hawk netminder Nevin Hamilton for the equalizer. Gaudet’s linemates &- juniors Joe Pereira and Nick Bonino &- picked up assists on the goal, which was Gaudet’s eighth.
“I thought the biggest goal of the game was Gaudet’s,” Parker said. “We hadn’t won a game all year in which we had given up the first goal. They get a goal, and less than a minute later, we get a goal.”
BU’s first shorthanded strike came midway through the first period. Working from his own blue line, junior Kevin Shattenkirk slid a pass between a pair of UML defenders to a streaking Cohen.
Cohen slowly undressed Hamilton with a series of dekes, then went in for the kill with a backhand-to-forehand shimmy and finished with a shot over Hamilton’s sprawled leg pads.
“Shatty made an unbelievable pass to me &-&- just threaded it right between both defensemen,” Cohen said. “I came down and was just wishing I didn’t miss.
“I had a breakaway the other game against UMass and I did the same move but the goalie was right on me. I got a little more time here than the one at UMass and luckily got him beat.”
About two minutes later, the BU penalty kill again went on the offensive, this time led by Warsofsky. The sophomore forced a turnover along the halfwall of the BU zone, then streaked all alone down the left wing to the UML cage. From just inside the left faceoff dot, Warsofsky fired on Hamilton and sniped the senior top-shelf for his fifth goal of the year.
“I think the kid had it on the halfwall, and I kind of pokechecked it,” Warsofsky said. “The puck was rolling when I was going down, so I was just hoping to get a shot on net. It kind of surprised the goalie a little bit, and luckily it found its way through.
“When you’re in that situation, you kind of just shoot where you see what’s open. I thought glove was open, and luckily it went in.”
Game notes:
BU defenseman Colby Cohen was scratched with a lower-body injury. . . . BU overcame an early faceoff deficit to win 14-of-17 third period draws to preserve the win. . . . The Terriers outshot UML, 33-18, for the game. . . . The River Hawks went 1-for-7 on the power play. The Terriers were 0-for-5. . . . Shattenkirk led all players with a plus-2 rating. . . . Pereira and Bonino tied for the game-high in shots with five each. . . . BU is now tied for fifth with Lowell and the University of Vermont at 18 points. UMass is in fourth with 22 points.
