BURLINGTON, VT.&-Despite playing much better than it did Friday night, the No. 20 Boston University men’s hockey team left the University of Vermont with no points on the weekend following a 3-2 loss Sunday afternoon.
“I thought we played very hard and very smart for the most part,” said BU coach Jack Parker, who called his team’s 7-3 loss Friday “an embarrassing performance.” “We didn’t get what we wanted to get out of the game as far as a “W,’ but we’re back on track as far as the way we’re supposed to be playing hockey.”
Junior forward Josh Burrows scored the game-winner for the No. 18 Catamounts (15-11-6, 9-10-6 Hockey East) with 3:42 left in the contest. After senior defenseman Patrick Cullity took a big hit at center ice to move the puck, freshman forward David Pacan found Burrows in the left circle. He quickly snapped a shot that beat sophomore goalie Kieran Millan (17 saves) glove-side for his third goal of the weekend.
The Terriers (14-15-3, 11-12-2) dominated 5-on-5 play throughout the first two periods, outshooting Vermont, 19-11, at the second intermission. They got on the board first when junior defenseman Colby Cohen tallied his team-leading 14th goal of the season 8:08 into the first period.
Freshman forward Alex Chiasson cycled the puck to sophomore forward Chris Connolly on the right halfwall. He then zipped a pass cross-ice to Cohen at the left point. The blue-liner settled the pass and teed up one of his patented rockets. Sophomore goalie Rob Madore (25 saves) got a piece of it with his blocker, but not enough to keep it out of the net.
After senior forward Brayden Irwin rifled a shot into the top right corner to tie the game, BU regained the lead with less than seven minutes remaining in the first. Junior defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk wrapped behind his own net and started the rush up the left side of the ice.
He then executed a pretty give-and-go with junior forward Joe Pereira at the Vermont blue line. Upon entering the zone, Shattenkirk pulled up and dished to senior forward Luke Popko in the high slot. Popko gathered the pass and wristed a shot inside the right post for his second goal of the year.
“It was funny, I was talking to Shatty during the pre-game skate &- only a few of us came out today &- and we were working on that same thing, him just passing to me in the slot and shooting it on net,” Popko said. “So, it’s kind of funny how that worked out.”
The Catamounts tied it again, though, midway through the second when sophomore defenseman Drew MacKenzie slapped a pass from the right point to a wide-open Colin Vock on the left doorstep. The senior forward easily redirected it past a helpless Millan.
“It’s tough when you play a good game and lose,” said junior forward Nick Bonino. “But we know it’s a lot better than playing a poor game and losing. No one’s happy right now, but we’re optimistic that if we give this effort from here on out, things will turn out better.”
With the loss, the Terriers are now tied with Vermont and Northeastern University for fifth in the standings. As of right now, BU would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with both teams and would be the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament. But the Terriers have a chance to change that in next weekend’s home-and-home with Northeastern.
“It wasn’t for lack of effort tonight. It wasn’t for lack of focus tonight,” Parker said. “I was happy with that game. If we can play like that the last weekend of the year and into the playoffs, I’ll be happy.”
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