The Boston University men’s ice hockey team ended its weekend sporting a 10-3 record after going 1-1 against the Merrimack College Warriors. The Terriers were outworked by the Warriors in a 5-2 loss Friday, but BU bested Merrimack 4-2 Saturday.
The series started off on a great note for the No. 8 ranked Terriers. Key players senior defenseman David Farrance and freshman goaltender Drew Commesso were suited up for the first time since late January.
However, with fellow freshman Vinny Duplessis putting in excellent work between the pipes, BU head coach Albie O’Connell elected to go with the hot hand. For the Friday matchup at Walter Brown Arena, Duplessis got the starting nod.
Just after the midway mark in the first period, the Warriors found their offensive touch. The scoring started when Merrimack junior forward Mick Messner made a slick feed over to sophomore forward Regan Kimens, who was open in between the face-off circles. The sophomore buried the opportunity to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.
Then the floodgates opened. Not even a minute later, Merrimack was on the hunt for more goals.
Warriors sophomore forward Ryan Nolan delivered a pass over to sophomore defenseman Declan Carlile, who was cocked in a shooting position. The sophomore blasted the rubber past Duplessis.
Things quickly went from bad to worse for the Terriers. With just under eight minutes remaining in the first, Merrimack senior defenseman Patrick Holway showed off his offensive repertoire. He glided in from the blue-line, threw in a shoulder fake and then fired a wrist shot past Duplessis for the Warriors’ third goal in less than three minutes.
O’Connell pulled Duplessis from the game and called a timeout.
The Terriers then responded. After a clean face-off win by sophomore Jay O’Brien, Farrance showcased his offensive ability. The senior made a crafty fake to create space and came down the slot with a lot of ice to work with. He then rifled a shot past sophomore goaltender Jere Huhtamaa to get BU on the scoreboard. Terriers were now down 3-1 with 7:13 left in the frame.
Less than two minutes later, BU was on the prowl for more goals. Good work along the boards got the puck over to sophomore defenseman Alex Vlasic. His shot was deflected in by junior forward Matthew Quercia, getting BU within a goal at 5:42 left in the first period.
But whatever momentum BU had accumulated quickly evaporated. Under four minutes to go, Merrimack sophomore forward Liam Walsh tipped home a goal, swelling Merrimack’s lead back to two.
BU was unable to chip into the deficit throughout the final 40 minutes. An empty net goal by sophomore defenseman Liam Dennison with under two minutes left sealed the Terriers’ fate — 5-2 was the final.
“I thought Merrimack beat us,” O’Connell said in a postgame press conference. “It’s not that we beat out ourselves, Merrimack beat us.”
For the Saturday matchup at Lawler Rink, BU was looking to put together a much better performance as a unit. However, even with Commesso back in net, the Warriors would again strike first.
With the Terriers hemmed in their zone, Holway blasted an attempt from the blue-line that was tipped in by Walsh 7:34 into the game.
This time, BU did not wait until they were down multiple goals to respond. Sophomore forwards Wilmer Skoog and Markus Boguslavsky found themselves on the ice together, and the combination worked in BU’s favor.
Skoog whipped a back-hand attempt on net, and when freshman goaltender Zachary Borgiel could not contain the rebound, Boguslavsky pounced on the loose change and buried the rebound with 3:09 left in the first. The score remained 1-1 when the first period ended.
In the second frame, with just under six minutes into the period, O’Brien picked up the puck on the far boards and whipped the rubber over to sophomore defenseman Case McCarthy. With a wall of players blocking Borgiel’s vision, McCarthy walked in and slung a shot past the goaltender to give the Terriers their first lead of the series.
The score would remain 2-1 in favor of BU as both teams headed into the final 20 minutes. Not quite six minutes into the frame, sophomore forward Robert Mastrosimone continued to cause chaos for the Terriers. The forward stole the puck underneath the goal-line and found senior forward Logan Cockerill in the slot. The captain potted his own rebound and gave the Terriers the insurance goal they were searching for.
But Merrimack refused to quit and led a rush of their own up the ice. A minute later, a back-handed attempt from the right circle by sophomore forward Filip Forsmark snuck past Commesso. With 13:13 remaining in regulation, BU was ahead 3-2.
Just over five to go, Mastrosimone was in a race with sophomore defenseman Zach Uens to try and pull away for a breakaway. The forward got the angle, but crashed into the goaltender. Despite the fray, Mastrosimone was able to get the puck across the goal-line while not interfering with Borgiel.
The score gave BU a 4-2 lead with 5:12 to go. Despite pulling their goaltender with just under two minutes left, the Terriers stifled any Warrior comeback plans and left North Andover with a 4-2 win.
“I think overall, each position, forward, [defense] and goalies all played better,” O’Connell said. “That was a huge back bounce win. That was one of the more important games of the year.”
The Hockey East will announce BU’s opponent for the final week of the regular season later this week.
