The Boston University men’s hockey team hosted Sacred Heart University in a back-to-back series at Agganis Arena this weekend. After a late third-period game-winning goal from the Pioneers (1-3) on Friday, the Terriers (2-2) were out for redemption and garnered a 4-1 victory Saturday.
“We challenged the group today. We had some hard meetings with some lines and individuals, and the team in general, about how we need to play to win, and I thought we responded really well,” head coach Albie O’Connell said in the postgame press conference. “It was a different feel on the bench. It was a different energy.”
The first half of the opening frame was a pingpong match of penalties. Pioneer junior forward Kevin Lombardi landed himself in the sin bin for a tripping penalty at 1:05. The Terriers had no success on that power play but were back on the man advantage at 3:16 after Sacred Heart got called for a too-many-men penalty. Again, BU had no puck luck on the power play and was unable to get much of a cycle going.
Sacred Heart went up a man at 5:56 after freshman forward Tristan Amonte collected two minutes for interference. The Terriers had a productive penalty kill with junior forward Robert Mastrosimone breaking out of the zone for a breakaway and attempted deke. Junior netminder Justin Robbins was able to deflect the shorthanded shot to keep the game 0-0.
Consistent with the special teams theme that unraveled in the first, the home team finally got one to the back of the net at 16:28 with a highlight-reel shorthanded goal from junior forward Sam Stevens. Set to take the faceoff, Stevens propelled the puck forward right over Robbins’ shoulder to lift his squad to a 1-0 edge.
“That was an incredible goal,” O’Connell said. “Not only the shot, but the intelligence and where his stick placement was going into the draw and understanding where the goalie was, too.”
Stevens’ tally seemed to kickstart the BU bench. Playing with a spark of life and purpose, the Terriers were flying around the offensive zone, creating chances by throwing nearly everything on net. Ending the period on a high, the group headed into the second looking to defend the lead.
Freshman forward Tyler Boucher doubled the Pioneers’ deficit in the opening minutes of the second period. Sitting at the doorstep, Boucher tapped junior forward Matt Brown’s initial shot from the right circle past the left pad of Robbins to garner his first goal as a Terrier.
The Pioneers clawed back to within one off a snapshot from senior forward Todd Goehring at 7:42. It didn’t seem to rattle the Terriers, though, as they began to find their groove and respond a little less than three minutes later.
Junior forward Ethan Phillips netted his first goal since Jan. 24, 2020, of his freshman year campaign. His redirect of a shot from Mastrosimone at the point put the competition at 3-1.
“It feels really good,” Phillips said in the postgame press conference. “I had some chances in the games we’ve already had this season, and to finally get the monkey off the back after almost two years feels really good.”
The scarlet and white sustained their fast-paced tempo for the remainder of the middle frame and finished the period up 19-12 in shots on goal.
BU showed up to the last 20 minutes of play determined to secure the team’s first Agganis win in over 600 days. Junior forward Wilmer Skoog received a slick pass from junior defenseman Domenick Fensore on the left wing, wristing the puck right past the goal line for his first of the year.
Skating with their largest lead of the regular season so far, the Terriers played with a greater sense of unity — connecting passes, communicating on defense and finding the open shot much better than they have in recent games.
Junior defenseman Alex Vlasic found himself in the box at 7:54 for a slashing call, but his squad held it down on the penalty kill, limiting Sacred Heart’s chances with their physical edge.
Sophomore goaltender Drew Commesso had some key saves in those two minutes and throughout the night. The netminder ended the night with 30 saves, notching an impressive performance for the books.
O’Connell said the team was excited to win at home for the first time this season.
“The locker room was pretty rambunctious, the music went on quick,” O’Connell said. “It’s nice to win at home, it’s nice to have a crowd, nice to have people cheer you when you win. It’s nice to salute the fans after you do it.”
The Terriers will be back in action next weekend in a home-and-home series against the Merrimack College Warriors. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. in North Andover Friday, and at 7 p.m. back in Boston Saturday.
For a preview of the upcoming action and complete BU hockey coverage, check out the Boston Hockey Blog and follow along with @BOShockeyblog on Twitter and @boston.hockey.blog on Instagram for updates.
