The No. 19 Boston University men’s hockey team broke back into the USCHO.com top-20 for the first time since Nov. 19 and climbed above the .500 mark for the first time this season with a 5-2 win over No. 15 University of Maine on Saturday at Agganis Arena.
Five different players scored for the Terriers (13-12, 10-9), who secured their first weekend sweep of the season and moved into a tie for fourth position in Hockey East with the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
“I told the team I like their poise, I like their competitiveness. We’re feeling very confident about ourselves right now, in all situations, in our zone, through center ice and in their zone,” said BU coach Jack Parker.
The only drawback for Parker’s Terriers was a high-ankle sprain sustained by sophomore forward Corey Trivino, after Maine defenseman Jeff Dimmen checked him hard into the boards early in the third period.
The Toronto native has emerged as a strong defensive center on BU’s first line, charged with shutting down the opponent’s top line night after night. Parker made it clear there would be no quick recovery but was nondescript on an exact timetable.
“Whenever he feels better,” he said.
Maine (14-11, 11-8) coach Tim Whitehead had his share of flaws to pick from, but he tapped the amount of penalties called, 13 in all for the Black Bears, as his team’s undoing.
“The penalties cost us. I think that was the difference in the game,” he said. “I’m a little disappointed embellishment wasn’t called at the beginning of the game because that would have put a stop to the embellishment. The officials and I don’t agree with how that should be called.”
Although BU was just 2-for-9 on the power play, eight third-period penalties put a muzzle on the Black Bear’s attempt to roar back in the final stanza.
However, the Terriers didn’t need any help from the whistle to get off the mat early in the first.
Just 4:29 into the game&-prior to his third-period injury&-Trivino scooped up a loose puck from the low slot and beat Maine goalie Scott Darling stick-side, as he scooted left-to-right through traffic.
Dimmen tied the game up at the 10:35 mark on a one-timer from the blue line. The puck flew through a screen set by junior forward Tanner House and crossed the line before BU sophomore goalie Kieran Millan could find it.
The Terriers were able to recapture the lead midway through the second when sophomore forward Chris Connolly scored off a feed from junior forward Joe Pereira (3 assists).
Working from behind the net, Pereira fired a pass through two defenders to Connolly, as he skated past the right post. The 22-year-old underclassmen outsmarted Darling with a shot across his body that beat the netminder low and to the left to put BU up 2-1.
But Dimmen potted his second goal of the night on a give-and-go from Maine sophomore forward Gustav Nyquist to knot the game back up late in the second, 2-2. BU defensemen lagged back in the zone and blocked Millan’s view of the puck, depriving the sophomore goalie a decent chance to defend it.
Despite losing the lead for the second time, the Terriers carried on into the third period with a verve senior forward Zach Cohen hadn’t seen during the season’s first half.
“Everybody still had the confidence and everybody was still driving to the net and making hard plays,” he said. “The first half of the year, we would have been down and out and not thinking that we could have kept going.”
At 5:33 in the third, Cohen (1 goal, 1 assist) got his stick on a rebound above the crease to score what turned out to be the game-winner.
The Terriers added two more down the stretch, including one in the final moments from senior defenseman Eric Gryba (1 goal, 2 assists).
Millan made 28 saves on the night to even his season record at 11-11-0. He was able to sit back during a flurry of third-period power plays and kept Maine’s dynamic top line scoreless all weekend.
“When [the first line] guys were on the ice, [BU] definitely limited their chances. Space was tough to come by, so it was a tough weekend for our top line,” Whitehead said. “But they battled hard tonight, I will say that.
