The Boston University men’s hockey team (3-7, 2-4 Hockey East) fell to the Northern Michigan University Wildcats (4-5) in the second leg of their away series this past weekend. The Saturday night game ended in a score of 6-2 and would be the second consecutive week where the Terriers were swept.
“We played well, 5-on-5,” head coach Albie O’Connell said in a press conference after the game. “[The defense] did a good job managing the puck in the neutral zone. They hinged well, they got the puck in at the offensive blue, they were pretty good.”
Instead of starting with their usual netminder, sophomore Drew Commesso, O’Connell opted for sophomore Vinny Duplessis to start in goal after the deflating 5-3 loss to Northern Michigan the night before. Commesso had let in 10 goals in the last three matchups.
“I think we’d like them to be better,” O’Connell said. “I think they probably want to be better, but at the same time, especially on the penalty kill, we have to be better as a group.”
Just over five minutes into the first period, Wildcat sophomore forward Mikey Colella skated up the left wing alone and opened up the scoring for his squad. This was the Wenonah, New Jersey, native’s sixth goal of the season and first of the night.
Two minutes later, freshman defenseman Ty Gallagher tallied his first collegiate goal to knot the score at one apiece. For Terrier fans, it would be one of the only bright spots for the rest of the 60 minutes.
Northern Michigan took the first penalty of a highly whistled matchup when junior defenseman Tanner Vescio was sent to the box for cross checking at 10:46. Gallagher was sent to the box four minutes after Northern Michigan’s successful kill for a tripping call of his own.
While on the man advantage, Colella netted his second goal of the night at 17:53. Senior defenseman Trevor Cosgrove’s shot attempt rebounded off of Duplessis’ pad and Colella was able to pick up the puck and sneak it just between Duplessis and the net to put his squad up 2-1.
Twelve seconds after the goal, Gallagher was sent back to the penalty box on a cross checking call. Now on their second power play of the night, the Wildcats added to their tally.
Grad student forward Max Kaufman successfully blocked junior forward AJ Vanderbeck’s first shot, but Vanderbeck picked up his own rebound and flew the puck over Duplessis’ shoulder to bring the score to 3-1.
The second period followed suit, with sophomore forward Dylan Peterson taking a penalty for tripping at 1:04. The penalty kill was successful, and the Terriers even had a few solid short-handed opportunities from junior forwards Sam Stevens and Robert Mastrosimone. But BU couldn’t get past Northern Michigan sophomore netminder Rico DiMatteo.
The Terriers were then unable to capitalize on power plays of their own. At 14:13, Mastrosimone got a high sticking call, putting the Terriers down a player for the fourth time of the night in 35 minutes. Northern Michigan had another capitalizing opportunity when Cosgrove’s slapper from the blue line flew past Duplessis, extending the score to 4-1 Wildcats.
A minute after the goal, the undisciplined play continued on both sides. Freshman forward Tyler Boucher was sent to the box for elbowing, then Wildcat junior defenseman Michael Van Unen received his second penalty of the night on a cross checking call.
In regard to all of the whistles blown in the Saturday matchup, O’Connell said the coaching staff is responsible for organizing their players correctly.
“Our penalty kill was poor the entire weekend, from how we manage it off the rush, and that’s on the coaches,” O’Connell said. “They’ve got to execute some things, but at the end of the day, it’s on us to get those guys to make sure they’re positioned better and in spots.”
The Terriers got an opportunity to minimize the gap with a goal from junior defenseman Domenick Fensore, who picked up a pass from junior forward Ethan Phillips and shot the puck between the legs of DiMatteo. The play was under review for several minutes, but was deemed a good goal. Fensore’s second goal of the season brought his group up by one and carried the score to 4-2.
It could have been a game-changing goal, but BU could not hold onto the momentum. At 9:56 in the third, Boucher got his second elbowing penalty of the game, giving Northern Michigan another power play and ultimately, another goal.
Colella scored his third of the night as his shot went bar down, and he was able to secure a hat trick. The Terriers, who had 26 penalty minutes in 60 minutes of play, let in their fourth power-play goal of the night, making the score 5-2.
To add salt in the wound, Wildcat junior forward Andre Ghantous scored an empty-net goal at 18:14. The 60 minutes came to a close with the Wildcats victorious at 6-2.
“We’ve got to do a better job of coaching those guys up … It comes from our leadership group,” O’Connell said. “There’s nothing we can do but just continue to try to get better, and I think that’s kind of the mantra that the group has. There’s definitely a high level of frustration.”
The Terriers will be back in Boston Friday night to take on last year’s NCAA champions, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, at 7:30 p.m. at Agganis Arena.
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