CHESTNUT HILL — For a fleeting moment, it felt like the Boston University men’s hockey team had a chance in the second game of what could only be described as a stinker of a weekend. Senior captain Joe Pereira had just scored 5:26 into the second period to end a streak of three Boston College goals and close the lead to 3-2. There was plenty of time for the Terriers to close the lead and potentially take a point out of a weekend that began with a horrid showing in a 9-5 loss to the team’s hated rivals.
But just like that, all hope was lost, and two egregious errors were the culprit.
An offensive collision between freshman defenseman Max Nicastro and junior defenseman David Warsofsky and a separate turnover by freshman defenseman Garrett Noonan – both occurring in the BU offensive zone – led to the two breakaway goals that sealed the Terriers’ fate and put an end to a weekend in which the Eagles doubled up their canine counterparts 14-7.
Those were just the latest in several miscues that led to BU’s first losing streak since February of last year.
“Three or four of our real key guys, really important guys were the best examples of that,” said BU coach Jack Parker. “Just wilting out there, making bad decisions, just getting rid of pucks. Not being physical, not wanting to get touched. We made some real bad decisions with the puck.”
“We had too few guys like Joe Pereira give us everything they’ve got. Too few guys.”
The poor judgments didn’t just come in the offensive zone, though, as the Terriers at times struggled to clear their own end. Freshman defenseman Adam Clendening had perhaps the roughest go of it behind the blue line. In his opening shift, he turned the puck over on two separate occasions approximately 20 seconds apart, and later in the first period, he made a pass directly to BC forward Paul Carey but was bailed out on a save by BU junior goalie Kieran Millan.
Another Terrier who had his fair share of struggles was junior forward Corey Trivino, whose giveaway in the first led to a shot attempt by BC forward Brian Gibbons and a rebound goal by forward Cam Atkinson. Parker eventually moved the center down from the first unit to the second alongside Pereira and freshman Sahir Gill with freshman Charlie Coyle replacing him. Trivino later got the second assist on Pereira’s tally in the second.
“The reason I made that switch is I was really very disappointed in Corey, and then he came back and played OK,” Parker said. “Once I made the switch, he played much better so we’ll see what happens there. He’s an important guy to us, and he hasn’t stepped up.”
Even Millan – the recipient of praise for most of the team’s first 13 games – couldn’t escape his coach’s criticisms. After allowing three goals in just a period of play in Friday’s loss, Millan (29 saves) let five more slip through in the rematch. The Edmonton, Alberta native’s saw his goals-against average and save percentage numbers, which started the weekend at 2.41 and .925 respectively, worsen to 2.82 and .913.
“We were getting fabulous goaltending,” Parker said. “One of the reasons we were at the top of our game was the mistakes we made weren’t showing up in the net. We were getting fabulous goaltending, and we struggled in the net this weekend.”
The team’s lone captain to see ice time Saturday – junior Chris Connolly is still sitting out with a broken finger and likely won’t return until the New Year’s Day – blamed the team’s misgivings on not raising its level of play against a quality opponent never mind a cross-town foe.
“We didn’t step up and match their intensity,” Pereira said. “It’s something you can’t do, especially against a great team and your rivals. I think maybe we didn’t come ready to play. We didn’t come focused.”
The coach instead agreed that at least part of the issue was some mental problems that his team will now need to deal with after suffering just their second and third losses of the season.
“We’re a team that’s lost our confidence, a team that was playing very, very confidently about a week ago,” Parker said.
That being said, the bench boss saw some positives, especially from those up front who were getting their first taste of the BU-BC rivalry, that he hopes can be used as building blocks going forward.
“We probably had five or six guys who played real hard all the time and some of them have a lot of skill,” Parker said. “Joey Pereira gives you everything he’s got. Charlie Coyle gives you everything he’s got. I think Sahir Gill gives you everything he’s got. Lately, Matt Nieto’s been playing extremely well.
“In general, we’ve got enough to build on. We’ve got enough to be a good team. But we’re a long way from being that team, that’s for sure.”
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