Saturday, December 07, 2024

UPDATED Terriers host UMass; Women bounce Maine

  

 Game Day graphic featuring posed photo of Gavin McCarthy. #11 BU vs. UMass, Dec. 7, 6 PM at Agganis Arena on ESPN+

-#11 Terriers host conference rival UMass in the front end of a home-and-home that concludes next Wednesday. Tonight’s game has a 6 p.m. puck drop and will be live-streamed on ESPN+.

BU is currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in Hockey East with BC and UConn. Terriers have a game in hand over the Eagles and four games over the Huskies.

The Terriers are 8-0-2 over the last 10 games against UMass, including a five-point weekend against the Minutemen in last year’s home-and-home series.

BU enters the contest with a three-game winning streak and a four-game unbeaten streak that improved its record from 5-5-0 a few weeks ago to 8-5-1. With 18 goals in those four games, BU now is tied for sixth in D1 in scoring offense at 3.7 goals per game. The team's shooting percentage of 12.7% is third nationally. 

Coach Jay Pandolfo has emphasized that the team's make-up calls for scoring to be done "by committee," and in the four-game streak, eight different forwards found the net. The three goals scored by defensemen in the Friendship Four nearly doubled the four tallies by blueliners in the previous 12 games. 

“There’s no question we need scoring from up and down our lineup, and we need it from the back end as well,” Pandolfo said in Thursday's media call.

After giving up five goals in four of its first five games in November, the Terriers have tightened up defensively. Te past four games have yielded three victories and a tie/shootout win, while averaging 2.5 goals against.  

Commenting on the improved penalty kill that foiled nine out of ten man-advantages in Belfast and 15 of the last 17, Pandolfo explained, “It’s definitely been better. We haven’t changed a lot with the structure. Its more the mindset that we’re going to be aggressive and we’re blocking more shots, getting our clears…It’s a confidence thing for us more than anything.”

BU has scored a short-handed goal in each of the last three games: Copponi vs Merrimack; Gavin McCarthy vs. Merrimack/FF; and Kamil Bednarik vs. Notre Dame.

Hockey East Player of the Week Shane Lachance leads BU in scoring with 17 points, followed by four forwards—Cole Eiserman, Ryan Greene, Quinn Hutson and Matt Copponi—with 13 points apiece. 

Pandolfo addressed Lachance's success, pointing out, “He understands what his identity is as a player. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not. He knows he’s going to be physical around the net. He’s going to get to the net. He’s a year older, he’s more comfortable. He understands what college hockey is all about. You saw that in the second half last year, and I think he’s building off that.” 

USCHO’s This Week in Hockey East column examined the Minutemen’s season:

It’s been an up-and-down season for Massachusetts, as its record shows — the Minutemen are 7-6-2 overall with just one win (1-4-2 record) in Hockey East play.

Coach Greg Carvel said the team was feeling really good about itself following a 5-1 win at Providence on Nov. 16, rebounding from a 2-1 loss to the Friars at home two nights earlier. A disheartening home loss to Vermont — the 3-2 final left UMass winless in three tries vs. the Catamounts this season — was sandwiched between a 5-3 win vs. Harvard (ECAC Hockey) and Army West Point (Atlantic Hockey America).

“We should be on a four- or five-game winning streak,” Carvel said. “It would be great to carry that. I don’t like our record, but I like this team. When we put it all together, we’re an NCAA-level hockey team. Just too many games this year, goaltending wasn’t there, the defense wasn’t there, or the offense wasn’t there. When we get them all together, we’re a good hockey team.”

Powering the UMass offense are junior Cole O’Hara (7-14-21), sophomores Aydar Suniev (9-8-17) and Dans Locmelis (3-12-15) and junior Kenny Connors (0-12-12). Freshman D Francesco Dell’Elce has eight points and junior Lucas Olvestad has six.

6’7” Czech goalie Michael Hrabel has made 14 starts and has a 2.55 GAA and a .913 save percentage. He has yielded just seven goals in his last four games, winning three.

TONIGHT’S BU LINEUP

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● GoTerriers.com preview, Game Notes, Live Stats, BU All-Access (audio), BU Men's Hockey Twitter

● Live Stream ESPN+

● Coach Pandolfo Media Call

● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape

● Boston Hockey Blog preview BU riding Friendship Four Momentum into home-and-home with UMass

● Boston Hockey Blog Analysis: The vision gets clearer for BU men’s hockey at Friendship Four

● BU Hockey Stats: Preview: Closing out the first half (men’s and women’s games)

● Hockey East Game Day links

 

This week’s episode of Inside BU Hockey features Bernie Corbett’s interviews with Coach Jay Pandolfo and senior Tristan Amonte, who scored twice in the Friendship Four win against Merrimack. Allison DeWitt interviews senior Christina Vote.

►Co-captain Greene's game-tying goal against Notre Dame, set up by co-captain Lachance, was Hockey East’s #1 Play of the Week.

 

Looking ahead

2025 recruit Mikhail Yegorov stopped 44 of 48 shots, but his Omaha Lancers were edged by Sioux Falls, 4-3 in overtime.

2025 recruit Charlie Trethewey assisted on the game-winner in the final minute of regulation in the NTDP U18s’ 2-0 win over Cedar Rapids. The right-shot defenseman has a 4-5-9 scoring line in 25 games.

2026 recruit Jay Feldberg recorded his ninth assist in the Toronto Jr. Canadians' 2-1 loss to Niagara Falls. The right-shot center has 16 points in 23 games. 

Looking back

Jack Eichel scored his ninth goal in Vegas' 3-2 win against Dallas. He has 39 points in 28 games and is +12.  Jake Oettinger had 25 saves for the Stars.

Women’s Team

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#13 BU broke a 1-1 tie in the third period on a redirection and went on to defeat Maine, 3-1, at Alfond Arena. With a win in their final first semester game, the Terriers improve to 11-5-1 overall. Their 9-2-1 (30 points) Hockey East record keeps BU in first place in the conference standings. 

After an evenly played first period, Terriers opened the scoring at 11:38 of the second with Tamara Giaquinto's power play goal, her fourth goal of the season, assisted by Maggie Hanzel and Keira Healy. 

Four minutes later, the Black Bears matched that goal with a power-play tally of their own.

The game remained tied until 7:38 of the third when Riley Walsh redirected Maeve Carey's shot from the point past Maine's Kiia Lahtinen.

Lindsay Bochna's short-handed empty net goal closed out the scoring.

BU outshot Maine in the final period, 15-7, and finished with 38 shots. Callie Shanahan stopped 25 of 26 shots to pick up her ninth win.

● GoTerriers.com recap and box score

● Post-game Coach Myers

● Boston Hockey Blog Three takeaways from BU’s 3-1 road win over Maine

 

 

 

 

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