Saturday, January 25, 2020

Terriers blank River Hawks, 5-0


Terriers broke open a scoreless tie with five third-period goals to pin a 5-0 shutout on #12 Lowell at Agganis Arena. Senior Patrick Harper (2G,1A) and freshman Trevor Zegras (1G,2A) led the BU attack, while freshman goalie Ashton Abel kept his net empty to gain his second win and first shutout. Fellow freshmen Ethan Phillips and Robert Mastrosimone also scored for the home team.

BU dominated the first period, outshooting the River Hawks 15-4 and holding the visitors without a shot for the first 6:30. Goalie Tyler Wall, who had the conference’s top save percentage going into the game, turned all 15 Terrier chances away. BU came closest to scoring on freshman Domenick Fensore’s end-to-end rush.

The middle period was more evenly played with BU holding a 9-8 shot advantage. They actually did break through Wall early in the period when a Zegras shot trickled through the goalie, but Chase Blackmun kept it from crossing the goal line. Junior Logan Cockerill later tested Wall with a backhander from 10 feet away. BU killed Lowell’s only power play of the game, yielding just a single shot.

BU’s all-freshman line ended the scoreless tie. Mastrosimone rushed the puck up ice, lost—then regained—control and slid the puck to Wilmer Skoog in the right circle. He dished it to Phillips for a one-timer from the left circle, beating Wall high to the glove side.

With BU on a power play, Lowell’s Connor Sodergren was whistled for a major penalty for elbowing junior David Farrance to the head. BU needed just 16 seconds to connect on the 5-on-3. Zegras curled from the right circle to the high slot and wristed a shot top shelf to give BU a 2-0 lead. Harper and Farrance assisted.

The power play continued and so did the Terrier scoring. At 11:34, Harper followed Zegras’ script, rifling home a shot from the high slot with Cockerill screening Wall. Farrance and Zegras assisted.

Two minutes later—still will the man-advantage, Harper banged home the rebound of senior captain Patrick Curry's slap shot off Wall’s pads, extending the lead to 4-0 and chasing Wall.

The Terriers, who held Lowell to five shots in the final period, would add a fourth power-play goal late in the period with some slick puck movement from the freshman line. Skoog’s cross-ice pass to Phillips was quickly sent to Mastrosimone at the right post for a tap-in goal to celebrate his 19th birthday.

Coach Albie O’Connell: “I thought overall we played a pretty thorough game from the drop of the puck. “It’s the smartest we’ve played all year.” He lauded the team’s—and in particular, the defensemen’s—efficient puck management.

“It wasn’t easy,” O’Connell added, commenting on Wall’s 30 saves. “He was really good, especially in the first period. He’s one of the best goalies in the league, but we kept shooting. He’s a terrific goalie and I’m sure he’s going to be sharp tomorrow night.”

Following his third appearance in the Terrier net, Abel, who came to BU from the AJHL at semester break, has a 1.48 GAA and a .941 save percentage.

The teams conclude the home-and-home tonight at Tsongas Arena with puck drop at 6 p.m. NESN will air the game.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score


● Boston Hockey Blog recap, Three Takeaways

● Lowell Sun recap



Looking ahead

2020 recruit Jay O’Brien scored his 20th goal and added a pair of assists in Penticton’s 6-2 win against Merritt. O’Brien, who earned the game’s second star, has 55 points in 38 games for the Vees, and is tied for third in BCHL scoring.



2021 recruits Tyler Boucher and Jeremy Wilmer each recorded an assist in the NTDP U17s’ 5-3 loss to Des Moines.

Women’s Team

#7/8 Terriers gave up a late power play goal and settled for a 1-1 overtime tie with Merrimack at Agganis Arena. It was the second tie this season between the teams, who will meet again Saturday at Lawler Rink with faceoff set for 2 p.m.



BU took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period on Abbey Stanley’s shot from the left point, assisted by Deziray De Sousa and Breanna Scarpaci. The narrow lead held until 14:09 of the third period when the Warriors converted on a power play.

BU outshot Merrimack 36 to 24, including seven in overtime.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score




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