Men's Hockey vs. UMass Lowell (11/3/07)

by Sopan Deb

Boston, MA - The Boston University Terriers (2-4-1, 2-1-0 Hockey East) used five third period goals to stun the UMass Lowell River Hawks (2-1-1, 0-2-1 HE) 7-4, which capped a rousing come from behind rally after being down 4-1 in the second period.

Sophomore forward Luke Popko netted his first two goals of the season and freshman forward Colin Wilson scored the first collegiate goal of his career. Sophomore Brett Bennett got his second win in a row, after replacing senior goaltender Karson Gillespie with 16:39 remaining in the second period.

UML set the tone early by scoring a quick goal less then three minutes into the game on a goal by freshman defenseman Maury Edwards. He capitalized off a bad pass by BU, which deflected right in front of a cutting Edwards, just out of the penalty box, leaving him one on one with Gillespie for an easy top shelf goal from seven feet to Gillespie’s left.

Defensively, UML was able to neutralize BU’s offense by sending double teams to the point and forcing the puck to the boards which kept it out of the middle. However, that is not to say the Terriers did not have their opportunities. BU had a fantastic scoring chance with 13:20 left in the first period when senior forward Pete MacArthur zipped a quick cross between two UML defenders from behind the net to a wide open senior forward Bryan Ewing in front of the net but he could not handle the pass. The Terriers had nine first period shots but could not convert on any of them.

The River Hawks struck again 1:12 in to the second period on a strike by junior right winger Mark Roebothan, his second of the year, to make it 2-0.

However, the Terriers answered right back 26 seconds later on a goal that was credited to senior forward Brian McGuirk, but actually was knocked in by a UML defenseman. Junior forward John McCarthy took a slapshot from the right point which was saved and then deflected to senior forward Ryan Weston who could not stuff the puck in the net either. The puck then darted to McGuirk whose rebound attempt deflected off UML sophomore defenseman Barry Goers and in to the net. It was McGuirk’s second of the year with assists credited to McCarthy and Weston.

Not to be outdone, UML made it 3-1 a mere 17 seconds later on freshman Jason DeLuca’s slapshot from the right side. Edwards was credited with the assist.

BU head coach Jack Parker pulled Gillespie in favor of Bennett soon after. Gillespie allowed three goals on six shots.

“I thought Giles was off his game,” said Parker. “I think we needed something to stir us up a little bit. Benny got in there and stirred us up, and even though he let up a goal, he played very well.”

“The first thing I thought was, ‘Where is my helmet?’” Bennett said of his first thoughts replacing Gillespie. “I looked down at the bench and it was gone. I told Giles to not to worry about it. He told me to get us a win.”

An interference penalty to BU junior forward Jason Lawrence and a high sticking call on sophomore defenseman Eric Gryba led to a short five-on-three advantage for the River Hawks. They tacked on one more goal to make the game 4-1 on the power play, on Edwards’ second goal of the game, a top shelf slap shot from two feet in front of the blue line with 11:04 remaining in the second.

Coach Parker called a time out after UML’s fourth goal to calm his team down. It seemed to help as the Terriers would dominate the rest of the contest.

“I tried to tell them to keep going and going. I thought we were playing well.” Parker said. “I told them, that we don’t have to get the next goal right now but we have to stop the bleeding right here.”

BU’s fourth line kick-started the rally led by Luke Popko. He brought the Terriers to 4-2 with 8:19 left in the second by stuffing in a rebound. Freshman forward Victor Saponari, in just his second career game, was credited with his first collegiate assist.

With the crowd behind the team again, the Terriers sped up their offense in an attempt to wear down the UML defense and sophomore goalie Nevin Hamilton.

The fast pace favored the Terriers as the third period began. Two minutes in to the final frame, Ewing found a cutting Wilson to Hamilton’s left. Wilson spun around a UML defender to find himself one-on-one with Hamilton and scored easily to make it 4-3. The momentum was on BU’s side.

The Terriers did however dodge a bullet when UML freshman forward Patrick Cey rocketed a slapshot in transition that hit the crossbar a couple minutes later.

Popko’s second goal tied the game with 11:41 left. Freshman forward Zach Cohen swung a pass to Gryba who took a shot from the right side which was then deflected in by Popko.

Freshman forward Nick Bonino put the Terriers up one by deflecting in a freshman defenseman Colby Cohen shot with 6:43 left. The River Hawks looked worn out and could not counter the fast paced Terriers offense.

“It was fun to finally win one at home,” Bonino said. “(There’s) nothing better than that. It felt good to finally get one for the fans back home.”

Zach Cohen tacked on one more to make it 6-4 with 5:20 left on a breakaway goal. Brett Bennett made a key save off his pads with 2:08 left to rob UML of one of their only scoring opportunities of the third. Bennett ended the game with 12 saves in thirty-seven minutes of play.

“Obviously, it shows a lot of character in our locker room to be able to come back like that,” Bennett said. “Every guy played for each other on this team and we stuck together. We really wanted to pull this one out.”

UML pulled Hamilton with 1:33 left in the game and Ryan Weston iced the game with an empty netter to complete the onslaught at 7-4. The Terriers scored six unanswered goals for their second straight come from behind victory.

Terriers Notes:

- Brandon Yip did not play due to a pulled groin suffered in the Terrier victory at Providence. Parker said he is day-to-day and should be back Friday at home against the University of Massachusetts Minutemen.

- This was the first time BU scored 7 goals in a game since a 9-2 win over Nebraska Omaha in the 2006 NCAA tournament. It was also the first time ever the Terriers scored 7 goals at Agganis Arena. The last time the Terriers scored 7 goals at home was November, 30^th, 2003, a 7-2 win over Yale at Walter Brown Arena.