If Hockey East was looking to open the season with a bang by matching up perennial heavyweights Boston University and New Hampshire, it didn’t get the desired result.<\/p>\n
Although the game played out considerably closer than the final 5-0 score, the Terriers still took a 2-0 second-period lead and pretty much ended all suspense with an early third-period goal.<\/p>\n
Kieran Millan recorded 35 saves while tying the school record for career wins (62). With his next one, he’ll move ahead of Sean Fields (2000-2004).<\/p>\n
“He’s one of the best goalies ever to play here in a long line of really good goalies,” said BU coach Jack Parker.<\/p>\n
Although UNH goaltender Matt DiGirolamo gave up four goals, most were of the slim-to-no chance variety.<\/p>\n
“I thought both goaltenders played great,” said Parker. “It could have been a 4-3 game at the end of the second period. The goal at the beginning of the third was the biggest goal. That took care of business.”<\/p>\n
Five different Terriers scored, and Chris Connolly, Sahir Gill, and Charlie Coyle all recorded two assists. Alex Chiasson scored one goal and assisted on another.<\/p>\n
“All our players played extremely well,” said Parker. “Our seniors… all three freshmen. We only gave up six shots in the third period.”<\/p>\n
For UNH, the result couldn’t be anything other than disappointing. Despite a considerable number of grade ‘A’ opportunities, none of the Wildcats could solve Millan, and the breakdowns in the defensive zone doomed them.<\/p>\n
“It’s called team defense,” said UNH coach Dick Umile. “We just didn’t do a very good job in our own end. We let the game get away from us the way we played in our own end.<\/p>\n
“Give them credit, they outplayed us. They moved the puck pretty well in their offensive zone. We didn’t do a great job covering them. But we’ll get better at it.”<\/p>\n
The first period ended scoreless, but not for wont of good scoring chances by both sides. Millan stopped all 11 UNH shots; DiGirolamo stopped 10.<\/p>\n
Midway through the period, Millan kicked off a flurry of top-notch saves in both ends, making his first after a bad pinch by Patrick MacGregor led to a UNH two-on-one. Nick Sorkin fed Austin Block on the weak-side post, but Millan quickly moved to foil the opportunity.<\/p>\n
Little more than a minute later, DiGirolamo countered off a Cason Hohmann pass to Wade Megan in the slot.<\/p>\n
Then back at the other end, Mike Borisenok took a pass near the inner left hashmarks, but couldn’t get the puck past Millan.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the best save for the Terriers, however, came in the closing minute. While on a power play, they dodged a penalty shot bullet. Kevin Goumas took off on a partial breakaway, forcing Adam Clendening to take him down. The call of a penalty shot would have been within reason, but the borderline call went BU’s way, and the Wildcats failed to capitalize on the resulting man advantage.<\/p>\n
BU finally broke the scoring drought while on a power play at 3:16 of the second. A Gill shot from the point caromed behind the net, where Connolly collected it and passed it in front. Megan one-timed it past DiGirolamo.<\/p>\n
Two and a half minutes later, Connolly took a Gill pass on the outside edge of the right faceoff circle and set up Cory Trivino on the weak-side post. Trivino tapped it in past a defenseless DiGirolamo for a 2-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Millan had to come up with a big save on Kevin McCarthy seconds later however, to maintain the two-goal margin going into intermission.<\/p>\n
The Terriers got their huge insurance goal early in the third when Matt Nieto converted the rebound of a Chiasson shot.<\/p>\n
Umile pulled DiGirolamo for an extra attacker with more than four and a half minutes left, gambling that the Wildcats could get on the scoreboard, but Chiasson took a center-ice pass from Coyle and scored the open-netter.<\/p>\n
With three minutes left, Kevin Gilroy completed the rout, capitalizing on a turnover to swing out in front and make it 5-0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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