Sunday, March 15, 2026

UPDATED Terriers fall to UConn in Hockey East quarterfinals

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The hockey adage "Win the third, win the game" pulled BU through in Wednesday's Hockey East opening round, but not in Saturday's quarterfinal.  UConn broke a 2-2 tie with a pair of goals 68 seconds apart early in the final period, then held on for a 5-3 win at the Toscano Forum in Storrs.

BU closed the lead to 4-3 with ten minutes remaining on a Ben Merrill snipe, but couldn't produce an equalizer. The Huskies added a empty-netter to close out the scoring.

Scroll down for extended highlights. 

The 104th season of Terrier hockey concludes with no trip to TD Garden, no NCAA bid and a clearly disappointing 17-17-2 record.  BU lost in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2022--also to the Huskies, 3-1.

The other BU goals were scored by freshmen Ty Lawrence and Jack Murtagh in the second period.

“I thought our effort was there," Coach Jay Pandolfo said afterward. "We just made too many costly mistakes that came back to bite us.”

“Listen, it’s been a tough season all year long," he added. "We have to learn from this. We had a young team. Everyone that’s coming back will be a year older..We've got to make sure that, next year, we have a better understanding of what winning hockey looks like.”

In an evenly played first period, UConn scored the only goal. An offensive zone turnover became a 2-on-1 rush with Jake Percival beating Mikhail Yegorov from the high slot. 

Minutes later, Jack Harvey set up Sacha Boisvert just outside the crease with the UConn goalie out of position, but defenseman Brendan Dunphy made a lunging block inside the blue paint to keep BU off the scoreboard. 

BU failed to convert on either of two first-period power-play chances and was limited to just one shot on goal. However the Terriers knotted the score at 1-1 just a minute into the second period.

After Yegorov robbed Percival on an attempt in close, Lawrence forced a neutral zone turnover, skated past a pair of defenders and roofed a backhand over Tyler Muszelik for his second goal of the season.    

UConn needed just over two minutes to regain the lead, converting a power-play opportunity with Jake Richard one-timing a shot from the left circle. 

Terriers drew even at 12:35, scoring on the rush. Charlie Trethewey blocked a shot and sent Ryder Ritchie racing up the right side. The former WHLer dished to Lawrence for a shot that Muszelik defended, but Murtagh was at the doorstep to bang home the rebound for his sixth goal. 

BU nearly took the lead late in the period when they crashed the UConn cage with a rebound loose in the blue paint. With bodies falling, the puck was inches from the goal line before being cleared. Just a minute later, the Huskies had a flurry of shots, forcing two sharp saves by Yegorov. 

The Huskies took charge of the game early in the third period with goals at 2:39 by Ethan Whitcom and 2:47 by Anthony Allain-Samake. The second score was initially whistled off for goalie interference, but following a review, the call was reversed and UConn had a 4-2 lead.  

Both of those goals followed puck retrievals by UConn after Yegorov saves and blocks by the BU defense. 

Midway through the period, BU cut the margin to one on a strong individual effort by Merrill. Taking control of a loose puck just outside the Terrier blue line, he sped up ice, creating a 2-on-1 with Owen McLaughlin, drove to the net and beat Muszelik low to the glove side. It was his seventh goal of the season. 

The Terriers would get no closer as the tight-checking Huskies limited BU time in the offensive zone. A cross-checking penalty to Murtagh put BU on the penalty kill for two minutes. 

With Yegorov pulled for an extra attacker, Joey Muldowney put a final dagger in the Terriers' season scoring into the empty net for the 5-3 final.

Following the game Pandolfo revealed that Lawrence has been named to Team Canada’s squad for the upcoming World U18 Championships in Slovakia beginning April 22.

  

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● GoTerriers.com recap and box score

● Pandolfo postgame

● Boston Hockey Blog The 90 seconds that ended BU’s season

● Boston Hockey Blog BU’s season comes to an end in 5-3 loss to UConn: Takeaways 

● BU Hockey Stats recap: Dog ate Dog

Looking ahead

2027 recruit James Scantlebury scored his 14th goal in the Chicago Steel's 3-2 loss to Muskegon. With 32 points, the 5-⭐️ Montreal native is fourth among USHL rookies. 

Looking back: Two-goal-night Edition

Macklin Celebrini scored his 34th goal to open the scoring for the Sharks and later closed it with #35 on an empty-netter as San Jose doubled up Montreal, 4-2.  With 94 points, he's fifth in NHL scoring. He's tied with Jack Eichel for the third most points by a Terrier in an NHL season. They trail John Cullen (110) and Keith Tkachuk (98).

Charlie McAvoy scored twice, including the game-winner as the Bruins edged Washington 3-2. The tallies were his eighth and ninth of the season. 

 

 

 

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