DURHAM, N.H. – Coming off a pair of 3-2 losses to No. 13 Merrimack College and No. 3 Boston College, the No. 15 Boston University men’s hockey team was in desperate need of a win heading into Saturday night’s contest at No. 7 University of New Hampshire.
The Terriers got just what they needed, beating the Wildcats 2-1.
Junior goalie Kieran Millan led the way with a spectacular 38-save performance, while freshman center Charlie Coyle and sophomore winger Ross Gaudet each netted goals in the second period.
“I think you can’t underestimate how much we needed two points tonight, whether it was home or away,” BU coach Jack Parker said after the game. “If we were playing the Little Sisters of the Poor, we needed to get two points. The fact that we played UNH and beat them up here is even nicer. It gives us some momentum and makes us feel better about staying in the hunt for home ice.”
The reversal of fortune began with better first period play. In the losses to Merrimack and BC, the Terriers (11-7-6, 8-5-4 Hockey East) found themselves trailing 3-0 heading into the first intermission. Although they played much better over the final 40 minutes in both games, the early hole was too big to overcome.
On Saturday, BU outshot UNH (13-5-4, 11-2-2 HE) in the first and entered the break with the game still scoreless. The Terriers also recorded the two best chances of the period. Sophomore forward Wade Megan appeared to score midway through the frame when he batted a puck out of the air and into the cage, but the goal was immediately waved off for a high stick and a video review upheld the call.
Coyle had a great chance a few minutes later when he took a pass from freshman linemate Matt Nieto, blew by a defender and cut across the crease with junior goalie Matt DiGirolamo (22 saves) down and out, but the puck slid off his stick before he could bury it.
“I said, ‘Hey, look, we didn’t score, but we’re not losing 3-0 tonight. That’s a good start for us,’” Parker said. “I thought that was our best period as far as overall control of the game. I thought we were pretty sharp.”
Despite the strong start for BU, it was the Wildcats who got on the board first with a power-play goal five minutes into the second. Moments after senior forward Joe Pereira failed to clear a puck out of the zone, Millan made a nice save sliding to his left, but the rebound popped into the slot and sophomore forward Greg Burke banged it past sophomore defenseman-turned-goalie Max Nicastro for his first marker of the season.
But the Terriers answered just 3:24 later on a power play of their own. After some nice puck movement, freshman defenseman Adam Clendening wristed a shot through a screen and off the left post. The biscuit bounced right to Coyle, who easily tapped it home for his seventh goal.
A few minutes later, the refs had to go to review for the second time in the game when the Wildcats thought a backhander from senior forward Paul Thompson squeezed past Millan and trickled in, but replay confirmed that the puck did not cross the line.
Instead of UNH going up 2-1, the Terriers took the lead less than two minutes after the no-goal. Gaudet found a loose puck in the slot and tried controlling it, but a Wildcat defender knocked it off his stick and through DiGirolamo’s five-hole for what proved to be the game-winner.
Gaudet, who had 10 goals last season, was happy to take it any way he could get it. The Burlington native has struggled to find the back of the net all season, as the fortunate bounce gave him just his second tally of the year.
“It’s been very frustrating,” Gaudet said. “If you look at my two goals, one went off my shoulder and then I get that one. I’ve had a ton of great chances this year. It seems like last year, every chance I had, it went in. This year, none of them are going in. That’s just how hockey works. I try not to get too frustrated. Hopefully this will be the start of a streak for me.”
UNH turned up the heat as the second period came to a close, registering the final seven shots of the frame, but Millan continued his stretch of great play between the pipes with several key saves to keep BU out in front. Notable among them was a sliding kick save on a Thompson one-timer with less than two minutes to go.
The Wildcats kept the pressure on throughout the third, but Millan stood tall time and time again as the Terriers hung on for the win to take the season series from UNH.
“In general, I thought we played a pretty solid game, starting with Kieran Millan,” Parker said. “He had a great night.”
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