BOSTON — The Massachusetts hockey team fell 3-2 to Boston University in the quarterfinals of the Hockey East Tournament in overtime on Saturday.
The Minutemen (20-13-5) trailed the Terriers (21-12-2) 2-1 going into the third period, but Aydar Suniev wasn’t backing down. After creating offensive chances for UMass all night, it was the sophomore who tied the game. Ryan Lautenbach threw the puck in front of net near Dans Locmelis who tapped the puck to Suniev. Suniev got the puck to the left corner of the net and past goaltender Mikhail Yegorov.
With big offensive chances on both sides and both goaltenders standing tall in net, the game was forced to overtime.
“I really liked our game [on Saturday],” head coach Greg Carvel said. “I thought our team played outstanding.”
UMass had a number of chances in extra time, but it was BU that called game. Cole Eiserman skated through the neutral zone against Linden Alger. Eiserman from the faceoff dot shot a wrister past goaltender Michael Hrabal to send the Terriers to TD Garden.
The Terriers opened up the scoring on a tough angle shot by Shane Lachance on the power play. Eiserman shot the puck through defender Owen Murray, but it bounced off Lachance in front of the crease. Lachance found the puck and shot it but fell to his knees as goaltender Michael Hrabal made the save. The sophomore captain retrieved the puck again and shot it from his knees and on the red line by Hrabal’s helmet.
As the second period started, the Minutemen looked to bounce back, down by one goal. Cole O’Hara skated through the zone and around the goal. The Hobey Baker nominee shot the puck, but it was Jack Musa who cleaned up the play in the crease and get puck in the net to tie up the game.
“One of [the Terrier’s] great attributes is being able to play fast and with a lot of skill, and [the Minutemen] have a lot of good skilled players over there too,” Eiserman said. “It’s a chess match out there with playing pretty similar styles and they’re a really good hockey team.”
The lead didn’t last for long, though, with the Terriers finding the back of the net eight minutes later. Suniev skated down the offensive zone with Dans Locmelis and attempted a pass to him, but Sascha Boumedienne blocked it. A few seconds later, Jack Hughes skated down the ice, crossing the puck to Boumedienne. With Hrabal not having time to react, the freshman quickly shot the puck in to bring BU up by a goal once again.
Despite UMass trailing in each period, the Minutemen played a solid 60 minutes. BU was outshot for a majority of the game but found its rhythm later in the second period, outshooting the Minutemen 18-17. In the third and in overtime, it was a different story with UMass ending its night outshooting BU 38-28.
“I thought we played an outstanding game in a tough place against a very good team on the road,” Carvel said. “Frustrated for our group, I thought they deserved better [on Saturday].”
The Terriers defense did put pressure on UMass, blocking passing lanes for the Minutemen, leaving them to have to dump the puck.
Joey Musa was given a strong chance in the second period after O’Hara passed the puck to him with no defenders on him. Joey lifted the puck by Yegorov’s head, but it bounced off the cross bar and away from the net.
With 53 seconds left in the period, Quinn Hutson got the puck past Hrabal and was determined to be a good goal on the ice. After UMass challenged the puck for offsides, the refs determined it wasn’t a good goal, putting the Minutemen behind by just a goal in the third period.
“That was huge,” Carvel said about the overturned goal. “That gave us a lot of energy, that put the win back in our sails. We outshot them in the first and the third, they outshot us in the second, so that callback was huge. Once we got that you could feel the energy on the bench and rolled into the locker room.”
UMass now has a 100 percent chance of making the NCAA Tournament and will await its opponent and regional on Sunday, March 23 during the selection show. The regionals are set to start on Thursday, March 27.
Kayla Gregoire can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Kaygregoire.
