Sunday, November 20, 2022

Lane Hutson finishes OT thriller; Women sweep UConn

 

                                  Photo credit Kyle Prudhomme

After being stymied and shut out Friday night by Northeastern, the #11/9 Terriers solved Devon Levi four times, including Lane Hutson’s overtime game-winner, and defeated the #18/16 Huskies, 4-3, at Matthews Arena for a split of the home-and-home series.  Other BU scorers were Matt Brown, Ryan Greene and Captain Dom Fensore, who was spectacular all night in all three zones.

And so was goalie Drew Commesso, especially in overtime when he made five of his 30 saves.’

After NU had blocked 24 BU shots Friday, Coach Jay Pandolfo asked his troops to get more shot attempts on goal, which they did. Five minutes into the game, Ty Gallagher’s pass sent Dylan Peterson into the offensive zone. He held the puck while crossing the top of the left circle, then dished to Fensore who blasted a shot from the left dot, beat Levi five-hole.

BU nearly added to the lead during a penalty kill when Luke Tuch stole the puck and broke in alone, only to be stoned by Levi. Fensore then rang a shot off iron in the final minute of the period.

Five minutes into the middle period, the Huskies evened the score on an odd-man rush. Gunnawolfe Fontaine took a drop pass in the left circle and beat Commesso cleanly to the stick side. They took the lead on a power play at 8:51 when Aidan McDonough’s one timer from the right circle found the net.

With just over two minutes left in the period, BU knotted the score. Jeremy Wilmer skated into the offensive zone and dropped a pass for Brown at the top of the right circle. The New Jersey native waited while the defense dropped back and, using a defenseman to screen the goalie, fired a shot just inside the left post for his sixth goal.

Northeastern retook the lead six minutes into the third on a Sam Colangelo redirection goal, but it took less than three minutes for BU to respond. Starting behind the BU goal line, Fensore raced up ice and across the NU blue line. Drawing both defensemen toward him, the Captain slid a pass to Greene, unmarked in the right circle, who wired a shot past Levi, stick side for his sixth goal and a 3-3 tie.

The frenetic overtime saw each side fire five shots with both goalies making spectacular saves. Commesso kept the Terriers alive when Jayden Strubel came in alone, but was stopped on a pad save at the goalmouth. Halfway through overtime, Commesso directed a Fontaine shot to the sideboards, sending BU on a 3-on-1 rush with Jay O’Brien carrying the puck up the right side. Inside the blueline, the senior assistant captain centered the puck to Hutson, who closed to the paint, showed forehand, then slid a backhander that clipped the post on its way into the net. It was the freshman’s second overtime game-winner in the last five games.


Fensore told the media that “[Overtime] was nerve racking.  They’re two great goalies, they’re making big-time saves. I thought it was over a couple of times for us and them, so it was awesome.”

"A really good response by our guys," said a very please Pandolfo. "The effort tonight was so much better than last night. We were a lot more competitive and a lot harder on the puck. To go down 3-2 in the third and stick with it and then find a way to tie. In overtime anything can happen. We found a way to win, so it was a huge win for our guys. Overall, that was a good college hockey game." More from Pandolfo in the post-game link below.

Officially the games three stars were 1. Hutson, 2. McDonough and 3 Fensore, but both goalies, especially in overtime, made multiple 5-bell saves.

Commesso was terrific all night but particularly in overtime, making five of his 30 saves in the extra session, including the Struble breakaway bid.

Brown continues to lead the Terriers with 14 points while the two standout freshmen, Hutson and Greene, each have a dozen. Fensore was a plus-3 on Saturday and generated four shots on goal.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Post-game comments: Pandolfo

● Video Highlights

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

● College Hockey recap

● WTBU Sports recap

It was a big night for Terrier defensemen past and future, too. Read on.

 Looking ahead

2023 recruit Gavin McCarthy scored his first two goals of the season, but Muskegon was edged by Dubuque, 5-4. The defenseman, younger brother of Case McCarthy, has a 2-10-12 scoring line.

2024 recruit Kamil Bednarik scored his sixth goal in the NTDP U17s’ 8-2 loss to Cedar Rapids. Fellow recruit Cole Hutson picked up his 17th assist in 18 games and leads all U17 defensemen with 18 points.

2023 recruit Jack Harvey’s goal-scoring streak was halted, but he assisted on the overtime game-winner—extending his point streak to seven games—as Chicago edged Youngstown, 2-1. He continues to pace all USHL scorers with 28 points (15G,13A). 2023 recruit Macklin Celebrini had an assist for the Steel.

Looking back

Former Terrier All-American defenseman Charlie McAvoy assisted on four goals as the Bruins thumped the Blackhawks, 6-1, for their record-setting 11th consecutive home win. Both Matt Grzelcyk and AJ Greer recorded an assist for Boston.

Jake Oettinger turned aside 27 of 29 shots in the Stars' 5-2 win over the Islanders.

 

 

Women’s Team

Led by Haylee Blinkhorn’s two-goal effort, Terriers broke a 2-2 tie, scoring the final three goals and defeated #12 UConn at Walter Brown Arena to complete a sweep of the home-and-home series. BU has now won three in a row.

Catherine Foulem put BU on top when she converted the rebound of a Christina Vote shot, but the Huskies answered back quickly to tie the score.

In the second period captain Nadia Mattivi’s power-play shot from center point found its way to the net restoring BU’s lead. UConn responded seven minutes later. With under two minutes left in the period Andi Calderone dropped a pass to Blinkhorn in the right circle and she wired a shot that proved to be the game-winner.

The Huskies outshot BU 11-3 in the final period, but sophomore Callie Shanahan stopped all 11. Blinkhorn added an insurance goal at 16:37, cleaning up a rebound. Then Julia Nearis popped in an empty-netter to close out the scoring.

Shanahan stopped 25 of 27 shots to gain her second consecutive win.

The Terriers next head to, Nevada to play in the Henderson Collegiate Hockey Showcase, facing Yale in the first round next Friday.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Post-game comments: Coach Brian Durocher

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