The goal siren at Agganis Arena may need a battery change after Friday night.
Between the Massachusetts hockey team and Boston University, 12 goals were scored throughout the 60-minute contest with the Minutemen registering a majority of the tallies in a 7-5 win on the road.
The Terriers (10-11-3, 8-6-2 Hockey East Association) evened the score on three separate occasions, trailing from behind all game. But UMass (20-5-0, 12-3-0 HEA) managed to continue the offensive rhythm that played all night, tying its season-high seven goals, which was last achieved against UConn on Nov. 30.
“We lost in Maine 4-3 last Saturday night, and you could tell [that] our guys were refocused,” coach Greg Carvel said. “Losing last weekend was unacceptable and I thought we came out tonight and played the brand of hockey we’ve been able to play most nights this year.”
John Leonard led the Minutemen with three points (one goal, two assists), while Ty Farmer registered a team-high two goals – both in the third period. Five goals counted as the most UMass allowed all season, four of which came in the last two periods of the game.
It was UMass’ first win in Agganis Arena since 2012, as well as the first victory over the Terriers since 2013.
“You don’t like to give up five goals, I think that’s probably a season-high for us, but we found a way to win on the road in a building we haven’t won in in a long time,” Carvel said. “[I’m] very proud of my team. I liked our energy level, we competed tonight, we executed a lot of the stuff we wanted to do in our game plan but BU’s a gifted team.
“They’re going to score goals if you give them chances and we gave them a little too much tonight,” he added.
Leonard got things started just 46 seconds after the puck dropped with a cross-zone pass to Jacob Pritchard stationed at the left post for a one-timer past Terrier netminder Jake Oettinger. Roughly five minutes later, Ryan Cloonan sniped Matt Murray glove-side to knot the game at one.
At the 8:30 mark, Cale Makar sent a rocket-shot on net and Bobby Trivigno managed to get his stick on it to regain the lead. The assist counted as Makar’s 30th point of the season. Toward the end of the first, a lengthy possession by the Minutemen was rewarded after Marc Del Gaizo sent a wrister through traffic that Jack Suter redirected home for the 3-1 lead.
But the Terriers woke up in the middle frame, finessing back-to-back goals almost five minutes apart. With Anthony Del Gaizo and Jake McLaughlin in the penalty box, a patient BU power play unit made it a one-goal game off a Joel Farabee tally.
Farabee continued to go to work shortly after his ninth goal of the season as he battled outside the left faceoff circle and whipped a no-look turnaround pass that landed right on the stick of Patrick Curry. Murray was caught on the complete other side of the net and suddenly it was a tie game again.
A little over a minute later, Leonard took the puck around the net but was blocked by Oettinger before Lagunov cleaned up the garbage and swept it over the goal line to regain the lead before heading into the final period.
“I think we take a lot of pride in that, I don’t think anyone can ever count us out of the game,” Leonard said of UMass’ ability to bounce back. “BU does a great job of how relentless they are and they have a lot of gifted players, they’re going to be able to score goals when we give them man-advantages like that.
“I think that’s something we have to focus on the next time we play them is staying out of the box, can’t give them power plays,” he added.
Curry tied the game for the second time of the night after putting away a rebound to make it a 4-4 contest just over three minutes into the third. But the Minutemen responded at the 8:49 mark off an aggressive transition up ice that saw Trivigno put it on net for Farmer to bat home.
With 4:02 left in regulation, the Terriers thought they got a goal but the referee waved it off immediately. The play went under review but was confirmed as a ‘no goal.’
Farmer registered his second of the evening on a coast-to-coast breakaway that saw him go glove-side on Oettinger for the 6-4 lead. It was back to a one-goal game less than a minute later after Murray made the original save on Farabee before Logan Cockerill buried the loose rebound.
UMass was forced to defend over a minute of 6-on-5 play before Leonard drew a penalty on a breakaway that awarded him the seventh and final Minutemen goal of the night.
With a week until the Terriers travels to Amherst for the backend of the home-and-home series, the Terriers will compete in the Beanpot Tournament starting with Northeastern on Feb. 4 while the Minutemen will only practice.
UMass welcomes BU at 7 p.m. next Friday night to the Mullins Center.
Mollie Walker can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MWalker2019.
