AMHERST – As No. 2/2 Boston University men’s hockey coach Jack Parker, among others, has said, last year is last year. Just in case the message hadn’t sunk in, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst reminded the Terriers first hand Friday night at the Mullins Center.
Despite an onslaught of shots and scoring chances in the third period, BU (0-1-0, 0-1 Hockey East) failed to recapture the comeback magic that defined BU’s national title run after UMass (2-0-0, 1-0-0 HE) senior Will Ortiz put the Minutemen up, 3-2, 1:57 into the final frame.
Both of BU’s goals were scored by freshman Alex Chiasson, who was making his collegiate debut. Freshman Rocco Carzo and sophomore Matt Irwin tallied UMass’ other two goals, as UMass netminder Paul Dainton turned away 39 BU shots.
Ortiz, who tallied a goal and an assist in a first-star effort, scored the winner off an oddman rush with sophomore Danny Hobbs leading the puck in from the right wing. Hobbs skated the puck to the bottom of the right circle before sliding a pass in front of sophomore goaltender Kieran Millan to Ortiz, who was driving inside the left circle.
Senior defenseman Eric Gryba broke the pass up in the crease, but before the 6-foot-4 defenseman could do anything with the puck, Ortiz put his stick blade behind Gryba’s and pushed the puck into the net.
‘I think I went through his stick,’ Ortiz said. ‘It was kind of a swing for a home run because I knew the puck was there, and luckily it went in and turned out to be the game-winning goal.’
For BU, the defending Hockey East and national champions, the night was marked by a number of turnovers and misplayed pucks in the neutral zone. The chief offenders near center ice for the Terriers were their upperclassman defensemen, namely Gryba, junior captain Kevin Shattenkirk and junior Colby Cohen.
‘Having many of our guys, many of our important guys not play up to their capabilities, I’m surprised at the score,’ BU coach Jack Parker said, also expressing disappointment in his top-two scoring lines. ‘If you would’ve told me we’d have that many of our guys of our upperclassmen struggle, I would’ve thought the score would be much greater.’
Two of UMass’ three goals were the direct result of odd-man rushes created by neutral-zone turnovers.
‘Our center ice play was horrible,’ Parker said. ‘We gave them jumps all night. We haven’t practiced a lot of initial rush work, I guess, or not enough for sure, but we’ve got four defenseman who are making 3-on-3s into 2-on-1s.’
Among the few bright spots for BU was the play of its freshmen, Parker said. In the second period, rookie defensemen Sean Escobedo and Max Nicastro, who began the game paired with Gryba and sophomore David Warsofsky, respectively, began taking shifts together.
‘I liked the way [Nicastro and Escobedo] were playing better than my upperclassmen,’ Parker said. ‘So I played them together so they wouldn’t get rattled by their upperclassmen partner making a mess out of our zone.’
While the defensemen began their collegiate careers off with strong performances, Chiasson’s two-goal night is likely to be the most memorable.
The St. Augustin, Quebec native picked up his first goal 13:17 into the first period. With the Terriers trailing by two and on a power play, Chiasson screened a wrist shot from Warsofsky that fell at Dainton’s feet.
Chiasson took in the loose puck and decked to the right post. Dainton dove glove-side to block the shot, but Chiasson lifted the disc over his outstretched arm and into the back of the cage.
‘Chiasson looked like a force out there as far as getting on pucks,’ Parker said. ‘He was playing hard, and he was making the next right play without trying to be, ‘Hey, look at me. I’m gonna make a big play.”
Kibbles and Bits
UMass’ other two goals were scored by freshman Rocco Carzo and sophomore Matt Irwin. . . . Just like in its two preseason games, BU outshot UMass by a wide margin, 41-26. . .BU outshot the Minutemen 16-4 in the third period. . . . Junior Nick Bonino and sophomore Chris Connolly led all players with seven and six shots, respectively. . . . Sophomore Andrew Glass, whose play Parker raved about after last weekend, was a healthy scratch after Parker said he broke team rules.
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