Sunday, November 17, 2024

Terriers rally to tie, win in shootout; Women gain split with BC.

 BU players celebrate with Shane Lachance after his tying goal at Maine   

               Photo credit Kevin Edelson

Co-captain Shane Lachance’s extra-attacker goal with 20 seconds left in regulation, enabled the #11/13 Terriers to snatch a 2-2 tie from the jaws of defeat and then go on to beat #7 Maine in the shootout at Alfond Arena. Ryan Greene, the other half of the co-captain tandem, delivered the only goal in the shootout.

Mathieu Caron authored a strong game, stopping 30 of 32 shots in regulation and overtime plus all four shots in the shootout.

Calling the comeback and shootout win "very important" to his team, Coach Jay Pandolfo said, "This is a tough place to play. This [outcome] can give the group confidence, sticking with it. Being down 2-1 for quite a stretch and [we] keep coming, keep pushing and find a way. Our leadership was great tonight.”

“Caron,” he said, “was excellent. He had a little bit of a reset, didn’t play the last two games. For him to come in and play the way he did was excellent.”

BU was assertive and physical from the opening puck drop. Lachance and freshman Nick Roukounakis had early opportunities that were turned away, while Caron had to defend a few challenging attempts.

The Terriers were first on the board at the exact midpoint of the period. Cole Eiserman rimmed the puck around the end boards to Tom Willander at the right point. He quickly found Kamil Bednarik in the high slot for a hard wrister that goalie Albin Boija stopped, but could not control. Eiserman collected the rebound and fired it home for his team-leading seventh goal and a 1-0 BU lead.

Eiserman had an opportunity to double the BU lead at 13:30 when he went in alone on Boija but his shot was defended. 

Maine matched BU's tally with a power-play goal at 16:35. After Caron made the initial stop on Lynden Breen’s shot, he found himself sprawled and surrounded by three Terriers and a Black Bear. The puck squirted out above the crease and Nolan Renwick chipped it just under the crossbar.

BU challenged for goalie interference claiming a Black Bear had hooked Caron’s goal pad, but it was denied. Shots in the evenly-played period were 6-5 Maine.

The second period was another story. The home team mounted a strong forecheck that kept the puck in the BU end for long periods, while the Terriers struggled to sustain an attack at the other end of the ice. In a penalty-filled period where each team had two power plays, Maine outshot the Terriers 17-5, including eight power-play shots. Caron stopped all but one.

Midway through the period."Chewy" defended a long shot by Sully Scholle, but Oskar Komarov outdueled Aiden Celebrini for the rebound and slid it to an unmarked Anthony Calfiore who gave Maine a 2-1 lead.

Looking to close out the game in the third period, Maine pressured to pad the lead, but Caron made a few big saves and Brehdan Engum had a pair of blocks--five for the game--to hold the deficit to one. Meanwhile, the Black Bear defense kept BU from mounting any serious scoring chances.

Caron was pulled for an extra skater with just over a minute left in regulation. With time running down, Greene won an O-zone draw cleanly back to Willander who slid the puck across to Cole Hutson for a shot through a sea of red and blue. Boija made the initial save but lost sight of the puck and Lachance, planted on the doorstep, banged it home for his fifth goal, tying the score at two apiece.

A scoreless overtime meant one point for each team and that a shootout would decide the third point. Neither team converted in the first three rounds. In fourth, Caron turned aside Breen's attempt, setting the stage for Greene's shootout-winner.

The Terrier penalty kill, which had struggled in recent games, was three for four and "much better," according to Pandolfo who noted the lucky bounce that led to Maine's first goal.

BU had 18 blocks to support its goalie.

● GoTerriers.com recap and box score

● Boston Hockey Blog recap and takeaways 

● Pandolfo post-game 


Looking ahead 

2025 recruit Mikhail Yegorov stopped 34 of 36 shots to lead Omaha to a 3-2 overtime win over Sioux Falls. 

2025 recruit Callum Hughes scored his ninth goal in West Kelowna's 5-0 win against Okotoks. 

2025 recruit Jack Pridham recorded a primary assist on a power play in his first game with OHL Kitchener, a 4-1 win over Peterborough.

Looking back

Evan Rodrigues scored his fifth goal (video) in Florida's 5-0 win against Winnipeg. AJ Greer had an assist for the Panthers.

Dante Fabbro's first goal--and first since joining Columbus last week--was the Blue Jacket's only tally in a 5-1 loss to Montreal. Lane Hutson recorded his 11th assist for the Habs.

 

Women's Team

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#14/13 Terriers defeated crosstown rival #11/12 BC, 3-1, at Conte Forum to gain a split in their home-and-home series. With the win, BU maintains its hold on first place in the Hockey East standings, four points ahead of Northeastern and seven points ahead of UConn. 

BU spotted the Eagles a 1-0 lead before scoring three unanswered tallies.  A smothering BU defense limited BC to just nine shots on goal for the game.

BU tied the score three minutes into the second period on Ani Fitzgerald's goal from Kaileigh Quigg and Riley Walsh.

Moments later BU took the lead when Lindsay Bochna converted the rebound of Julia Shaunessy's shot from the point with Clara Yuhn also assisting. 

Sydney Healey's breakaway goal in the third period, assisted by Shaunessy and Lilli Welcke, produced the final 3-1 margin. Healey's goal was her seventh, tying her with Yuhn and Lola Reid for the team lead. 

It was a quiet game for goalie Callie Shanahan who improved her record to 7-3-1 and her GAA to 1.49.

● GoTerriers.com recap and box score

● Coach Watchorn and Bochna post-game

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

 

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