#18 Men's Hockey vs. #8 University of New Hampshire
by Sopan Deb
Boston, MA - The #8 University of New Hampshire Wildcats kicked off their season with a convincing 4-1 win over the #18 Boston University Terriers at Agganis Arena on Friday night.
The Wildcats used their potent fast break and stick handling skills to score three third period goals to put the game away, after the first two periods remained close with momentum shifting both ways. UNH was powered by senior goalie Kevin Regan’s dominating performance, making 30 saves and allowing only the one goal.
"He’s a senior. He’s been through an awful lot of games, some big games," UNH head coach Dick Umile said. "He’s got great composure and he’s a confident kid."
The first period was marred by penalties, with both teams trying to imprint their style of play on the rink. From the outset, the Terriers attempted to counter UNH’s quickness with physical body checks to disrupt their offensive flow. Senior captain and center Brian McGuirk was penalized 1:25 into the game for an interference call. On the first power play of the game, a botched cross pass by the Wildcats led to an effective clear, the first of many by the Terriers penalty kill. The first period featured ten penalties between the two teams, six of them committed by BU.
Senior goalie Karson Gillespie played very well in the first and second periods. He snuffed out many early one-on-one opportunities and was able to maintain his poise even after the UNH offense would send multiple rebound attempts at him.
Midway through the first period, the Wildcats offense started to stagnate as the Terriers forced them out of their fast break and into a slower and more deliberate offense.
BU struck first on junior right-defenseman Matt Gilroy’s power play goal with 7:34 remaining in the first period. The goal came on a 5-on-3 opportunity after UNH junior right-defenseman Kevin Kapstad and junior left-winger Greg Collins got called for tripping. Freshman center Colin Wilson forced a pass to junior right-winger Brandon Yip, who then sent it back out to the right point for a slapshot by Gilroy. It was Gilroy’s second goal of the season.
The second period was of a slower pace with neither team being able to maintain momentum. Neither squad got many scoring opportunities. The Terriers were able to put pressure on Regan, but he would not relent. The same remained true on the other side of the rink as Karson Gillespie made numerous flashy saves of his own, to bail out an occasionally spotty Terriers defense.
The Terriers penalty kill was very efficient, taking key seconds off the clock with effective clears. However, after the Terriers killed seven straight power plays, the Wildcats were finally able to take advantage of BU’s penalties, tying the game at 1 with 45 seconds left in the second period on a power play goal by senior right-winger Matt Fornataro on assists from senior center Mike Radja and junior left-winger Jerry Pollastrone. Fornataro’s goal was a slap shot from the left point.
By this point, the Agganis crowd was taken out of the game and the momentum had shifted in the Wildcats’ favor. In the third period, the puck just would not go BU’s way. With the score tied at 1 early in the third, Matt Gilroy had a golden scoring opportunity when he used a nifty between the legs move to cut through UNH’s defense. He dumped a backdoor pass to Yip, but Yip could not put the puck past Regan.
"I was disappointed because I didn’t think we shot the puck enough," said BU head coach Jack Parker. "We had the puck in their zone quite a bit. We didn’t find ways to pass it to the (people) that were wide open."
Gillespie and the Terriers came unglued in the third. The Terriers gave up three goals in a span of 9 minutes. The first blow to put UNH up 2-1 was junior left-defenseman Jamie Fritsch, who hit a deep slap shot from the left point by the Terriers’ blue line with 13:44 remaining in the game. The Wildcats would tack on two more goals, one from Radja and one from freshman left-winger James vanRiemsdyk. The last goals were indicative of UNH’s speed and agility, as both were on breakaways that the BU defense could not keep up with.
"We’re all frustrated," Gilroy said. "We want to win every game. We want to win as much as we can. It’s disappointing starting this way and it’s disappointing starting from last weekend."
Boston, MA - The #8 University of New Hampshire Wildcats kicked off their season with a convincing 4-1 win over the #18 Boston University Terriers at Agganis Arena on Friday night.
The Wildcats used their potent fast break and stick handling skills to score three third period goals to put the game away, after the first two periods remained close with momentum shifting both ways. UNH was powered by senior goalie Kevin Regan’s dominating performance, making 30 saves and allowing only the one goal.
"He’s a senior. He’s been through an awful lot of games, some big games," UNH head coach Dick Umile said. "He’s got great composure and he’s a confident kid."
The first period was marred by penalties, with both teams trying to imprint their style of play on the rink. From the outset, the Terriers attempted to counter UNH’s quickness with physical body checks to disrupt their offensive flow. Senior captain and center Brian McGuirk was penalized 1:25 into the game for an interference call. On the first power play of the game, a botched cross pass by the Wildcats led to an effective clear, the first of many by the Terriers penalty kill. The first period featured ten penalties between the two teams, six of them committed by BU.
Senior goalie Karson Gillespie played very well in the first and second periods. He snuffed out many early one-on-one opportunities and was able to maintain his poise even after the UNH offense would send multiple rebound attempts at him.
Midway through the first period, the Wildcats offense started to stagnate as the Terriers forced them out of their fast break and into a slower and more deliberate offense.
BU struck first on junior right-defenseman Matt Gilroy’s power play goal with 7:34 remaining in the first period. The goal came on a 5-on-3 opportunity after UNH junior right-defenseman Kevin Kapstad and junior left-winger Greg Collins got called for tripping. Freshman center Colin Wilson forced a pass to junior right-winger Brandon Yip, who then sent it back out to the right point for a slapshot by Gilroy. It was Gilroy’s second goal of the season.
The second period was of a slower pace with neither team being able to maintain momentum. Neither squad got many scoring opportunities. The Terriers were able to put pressure on Regan, but he would not relent. The same remained true on the other side of the rink as Karson Gillespie made numerous flashy saves of his own, to bail out an occasionally spotty Terriers defense.
The Terriers penalty kill was very efficient, taking key seconds off the clock with effective clears. However, after the Terriers killed seven straight power plays, the Wildcats were finally able to take advantage of BU’s penalties, tying the game at 1 with 45 seconds left in the second period on a power play goal by senior right-winger Matt Fornataro on assists from senior center Mike Radja and junior left-winger Jerry Pollastrone. Fornataro’s goal was a slap shot from the left point.
By this point, the Agganis crowd was taken out of the game and the momentum had shifted in the Wildcats’ favor. In the third period, the puck just would not go BU’s way. With the score tied at 1 early in the third, Matt Gilroy had a golden scoring opportunity when he used a nifty between the legs move to cut through UNH’s defense. He dumped a backdoor pass to Yip, but Yip could not put the puck past Regan.
"I was disappointed because I didn’t think we shot the puck enough," said BU head coach Jack Parker. "We had the puck in their zone quite a bit. We didn’t find ways to pass it to the (people) that were wide open."
Gillespie and the Terriers came unglued in the third. The Terriers gave up three goals in a span of 9 minutes. The first blow to put UNH up 2-1 was junior left-defenseman Jamie Fritsch, who hit a deep slap shot from the left point by the Terriers’ blue line with 13:44 remaining in the game. The Wildcats would tack on two more goals, one from Radja and one from freshman left-winger James vanRiemsdyk. The last goals were indicative of UNH’s speed and agility, as both were on breakaways that the BU defense could not keep up with.
"We’re all frustrated," Gilroy said. "We want to win every game. We want to win as much as we can. It’s disappointing starting this way and it’s disappointing starting from last weekend."
posted by Chris Aliano at
3:31 PM
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