By Torrance Latham
BU News Service
Coming off of an abysmal loss Friday night and trailing by one goal in the third period of Saturday’s game, the BU men’s hockey team desperately needed a spark.
The No. 11 Terriers men’s hockey team responded by scoring three goals in the final four minutes, including Brandon Hickey’s go-ahead power-play goal, to complete a come-from-behind victory over Vermont 5-3 on Saturday evening in Agganis Arena.
At the 16:29 mark of the third period, senior Matt Lane tied the game with an outstanding left circle wrist shot. Sophomore Brandon Fortunato, who assisted on both the game-tying and game-winning goals, scored as time expired on an empty net.
The Terriers are now 3-0 this season when hitting the five goal mark.
Like most games this season, BU (8-5-3 overall, 4-3-2 HEA) relied on the late-game play of their seniors to fend off pesky Vermont (4-10-2 overall, 3-5-2).
Lane had two assists to go along with his three points on the night. Fellow seniors Danny O’Regan and Ahti Oksanen also scored goals and contributed an assist.
“I thought Ahti (Oksanen) and (Matt) Lane played really well, (Danny) O’Regan stepped up,” said BU Head Coach David Quinn. “To bounce back the way we did, I really have to give it up to our leaders. It’s a great sign for us moving forward when your seniors take control of a situation. I have to give them a lot of credit, they really stirred the ship right today.”
Just eight minutes into the 1st period, UVM freshman Conor O’Neil opened the scoring eight minutes with a one-timer from the left circle to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead.
Less than three minutes later, forward Brendan Bradley scored his second goal of the weekend when his shot fell past BU goaltender Connor LaCouvee to extend UVM’s lead to two.
Oksanen responded by scoring less than four minutes later off of a deflection by BU freshmen Jordan Greenway to bring the Terriers to within one.
With just over 30 seconds into the second period, BU carried their first period momentum when Danny O’Regan evened the match at two on his fifth goal of the year. O’Regan used a second effort to nail a shot from the slot. His goal was assisted by freshman Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and sophomore A.J. Greer.
Taking advantage of a BU turnover in the defensive zone, Forward Anthony Petruzzelli’s second goal of the week put the Catamounts back ahead a 3-2. Lane’s shot tied the game up with less than four minutes left in regulation. Vermont goalie Mike Santaguida was injured on the play and replaced by junior Pat Feeley.
As if losing their starting goalie wasn’t enough, forward Brady Shaw was dealt a charging penalty, resulting in him being ejected. The penalty also gave BU a five-minute power play. With just under 2:30 to play, the Terriers would operate on the power-play for the remainder of the game.
Hickey quickly capitalized 14 seconds later, with a right circle wrister off of a pass from Fortunato to give BU with its first lead of the match.
“We definitely would rather score the first goal of the game, obviously,” said Lane. “But I thought tonight, more than some other nights, we came out a little harder. We felt a little more ready and you can feel it in the locker room. We have to start winning the first periods. That will help us in the long run because of the parody in this league (Hockey East) and the difference in one goal games is so small.”
