#9/10 Terriers face a familiar foe, UMass Lowell, in Sunday’s Hockey East quarterfinal round. Last week, the teams played to a 3-3 tie with BU winning the shootout at the Tsongas Center. This week, the venue is Walter Brown Arena with puck drop set for 1 p.m. The game will air on NESN+.
Two seasons ago, BU defeated the River Hawks, two games to one, on the road in a best of three quarterfinal series. The teams were set to meet again in last year’s quarterfinals before the tournament was cancelled.
While BU, at 10-3-1, is expected to secure an NCAA tournament bid, Lowell (7-8-1) is likely playing to keep its season alive.
The River Hawks defeated Vermont, 5-3, on Wednesday in a first-round game and are 3-0-1 in their last four games. All the wins came against the Catamounts. Sophomore Matt Brown scored twice in Wednesday’s win while senior captain Charlie Levesque had a pair in the tie with the Terriers, including the game-tying goal. Junior transfer Owen Savory has been in goal for Lowell through the four-game unbeaten streak.
BU's attack is led by Jay O'Brien and David Farrance, each with 15 points, along with Luke Tuch (10) and captain Logan Cockerill (9). Drew Commesso, who joined Tuch on Hockey East's All-Rookie team, has a 6-1-1 record, a 2.75 GAA and a .923 save percentage.
● GoTerriers.com preview, Game Notes, Live Stats, Terrier Sports Radio Network, BU Hockey Twitter
● Live stream LiveSports
● Coach O’Connell’s weekly press conference (video)
● WTBU Sports preview
● Boston Hockey Blog preview
● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape
’70-’71 Flashback March 13, 1971— BU 6 Cornell 5
One day after Harvard dashed BU’s hopes for an ECAC title, the Terriers defeated Cornell, 6-5, in an epic consolation-game battle. That win, against the only other team to beat BU that season, opened the door for BU to receive an NCAA bid.
Unlike in the Harvard game, BU was able to put its vaunted power play to work, connecting three times.
Cornell drew first blood on a Larry Fullan goal, matched by Jake Danby two minutes later. Cornell scored twice more in the period, sandwiched around Bob Brown’s 40-footer from Ric Jordan and Wayne Gowing, for a 3-2 lead.
The Terriers dominated the middle period scoring four times. Steve Dolloff’s tip-in of a Ron Anderson shot that tied the score was followed by power-play goals by Jordan, from Gowing and Captain Steve Stirling, and by Danby (his second of the game) for a 5-3 lead.
Cornell cut the deficit in half at 17:01, but Stirling replied half a minute later, assisted by Paul Giandomenico and Mike LaGarde. After Cornell’s Craig Brush scored in the final minute of the period, BU goalie Dan Brady suffered an eye injury with 14 seconds. BU Head Coach Jack Kelley suggested adding those final seconds onto the third period, but Cornell’s coach, Dick Bertrand refused.
Tim Regan, who had seen only a few minutes of back-up action since the team’s loss to Cornell in Ithaca two months earlier, entered the game and was quickly warmed-up by teammates, followed by the final 14 seconds of the period.
In the final period, the Big Red pressed for an equalizer and poured 16 shots on the BU goal—all turned aside by Regan as the Terriers hung on for the 6-5 win. It was the first Terrier win over Cornell since a pair of BU victories in 1925 and 1926, played outdoors on Lake Beebe in Ithaca. And it was the first win against Cornell for Kelley after nine unsuccessful tries—including the famous double overtime tie in the 1966 Arena Christmas Tournament and a loss in the 1967 NCAA Championship game in Syracuse. (See Red Hot Hockey Since 1925).
Normally, the ECAC would send the tournament runner-up, which was Clarkson, along with the champion, Harvard, to the four-team NCAAs. But the selection committee determined that BU, owner of the nation’s best record (26-2-1) provided the best chance for an Eastern team to win a national championship. So, the Terriers were headed back to Syracuse for the program’s seventh appearance in the NCAAs with a chance for its first title.
Looking ahead
On Friday, 2022 recruit Jack Harvey scored the game-winner in Chicago’s 3-0 win against Green Bay. The tally extended his goal-scoring streak to five games. On Saturday, he kept his point streak going with an assist in a 3-2 loss to Green Bay.
2021 recruit Braden Doyle assisted on the game-winner as Dubuque defeated Youngstown, 6-5. The defenseman from Lynnfield has 13 assists.
Looking back
tw-align-centerBELL😍WS pic.twitter.com/8Rh54UHa3O
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 14, 2021
Kieffer Bellows scored the tying and game-winning goals in the Islanders’ come-from-behind 3-2 win against the Devils. The two third-period tallies were Bellows first NHL goals this season.
● NHL.com recap and highlights
On Friday, Doyle Somerby scored his first goal for AHL Tucson and added an assist in the Roadrunners' 5-3 loss to Ontario. On Saturday, Connor Lacouvee stopped 16 of 17 shots in Tucson's 4-1 win against San Diego. A third Terrier, Cam Crotty, also plays for the Roadrunners.
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