Shootout in Providence goes to Friars, 6-5

In Saturday’s BU-Providence rematch, David Farrance continued pumping home goals, but his first career hat trick (and an assist) wasn’t enough to produce a Terrier win as Providence outscored BU, 6-5, at Schneider Arena. The junior defenseman scored twice in the first period and once in the second for a two-game total of five. Two came on power plays matching the two man-advantage tallies on Friday. Freshmen Trevor Zegras and Ethan Phillips provided the other BU markers.

The Friars initiated the scoring midway through the first period. Michael Callahan scored the first of what would be five power play goals scored in the game. Just 26 seconds later, Farrance took a pass from Jake Witkowsky and wristed a shot past Michael Lackey, with Markus Boguslavsky also assisting for his first collegiate point.

Three minutes later with BU on a power play, Farrance completed a give-and-go with Zegras to give BU the lead with Robert Mastrosimone getting the second assist. This time it was PC that answered quickly as Jamie Engelbert beat a BU defender to a “fortuitous” rebound off the end boards and shoveled the puck past Sam Tucker, evening the score at two apiece.

Early in the second, BU appeared to re-take lead on another power play when Patrick Harper, set up by Zegras, rifled home a shot from the right circle, but a review disallowed it due to an offside call. The tide immediately turned the hosts’ way. Back-to-back Terrier penalties resulted in Friar goals with Max Crozier connecting at 4:10 and Parker Ford doubling the lead at 7:30.

Here's how Farrance notched his first hat trick as a Terrier! pic.twitter.com/c5I3C28xJS

— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) November 10, 2019

After BU Coach Albie O’Connell pulled Tucker in favor Vinnie Purpura, Zegras scored on a rush led Farrance and  Harper at 8:25. Four minutes later, Farrance completed his hat trick, again on a power play, assisted by Zegras and Domenick Fensore, pulling BU even at 4-4. Once again, the score didn’t stay that way very long, with Tyce Thompson roofing a rebound a minute later for a 5-4 PC advantage after two.

Providence regained its two-goal lead early in the third on Crozier’s blueline shot that hit Purpura and trickled into the net, prompting O’Connell to return Tucker to the BU cage. At the 13-minute mark,  Phillips followed his own rebound to score his first collegiate goal from the right post. Terriers pressed for an equalizer, pulling the goalie with two minutes left, but were unable to send the game to overtime.

ETHAN GETS HIS FIRST AS A TERRIER!

Back to a one-goal game. #GoBu pic.twitter.com/gJraIVdrtd

— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) November 10, 2019

O’Connell called the outcome “a tough pill to swallow,” adding, “Coming down here and scoring 5? And losing? It’s brutal. Our power play is dangerous, so that’s a positive to take from the weekend. He noted that “we scored some really nice goals and made good hockey plays. I think that bodes well.”

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video highlights

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

● HockeyEastOnline recap

Looking ahead

2020 recruit Drew Commesso stopped 18 of 20 shots in the NTDP U18s’ 3-2 shootout win against Finland in the Five Nations tournament in Sundsvall, Sweden. He also turned aside four shots in the shootout. Luke Tuch had an assist for Team USA.

2020 recruit Jay O’Brien sniped his 14th goal of the season on the power play with less than five minutes remaining for the game winner Pentictone to a 5-3 win over Wenatchee. He added an assist and has a team-leading 35 points, third best in the BCHL.

● PentictonVees.ca recap

On Friday, O'Brien scored a pair of goals and assisted on another to lead the Vees to a 4-1 win against the Wild and earn the game’s top star. (Video)

2020 recruit Brian Carrabes scored his fourth goal in Sioux Falls’ 4-3 overtime loss to Lincoln.

● 2020 recruit Wilmer Skoog scored his 10^th goal in Maryland’s 4-1 win against Northeast.

Looking back

Alex Chiasson scored his first goal in Edmonton’s 4-0 blanking of New Jersey.

● NHL.com recap and video

Women’s Team

Freshman Julia Nearis provided all of BU’s scoring—including the third-period game-winner—in a 2-1 win against Providence at Schneider Arena. Terriers improved their record to 6-3-1.

After a scoreless first period, freshman Nadia Mattvi sent a pass from the top of the left circle to Nearis who buried a shot from the right circle midway through the second period. Sammy Davis also assisted.

BU carried the 1-0 lead into the final period but Providence tied the score with a power play at 4:28. Less than a minute later, BU had its own man-advantage. Davis and Nara Elia traded passes and then Elia found Nearis between the hashmarks for a one-timer and a 2-1 BU lead.

Corinne Schroeder stopped 26 shots, including 13 in the first period, to gain the win. After ten games, Nearis is the Terriers' goal-scoring leader with six

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

In a Team USA vs. Team Canada training camp exhibition, Victoria Bach scored twice and Marie-Philip Poulin connected once—and assisted on Bach’s first score—in a 4-1 win for Canada.

● USA Hockey recap and video highlights