By Aidan Wohl
Boston University News Service
Just a week following back-to-back heartbreaking home losses to No. 3 Michigan State, the Boston University men’s hockey team aimed to defend its ice to get back into the win column.
The Terriers opened their league play against another ranked team, UConn. Up two goals, the Terriers were on pace early in the game to win in front of a home crowd, but ultimately collapsed.
UConn’s Carlin Dezainde’s two goals, which came in the first and second period, led the No. 11 Huskies to rally back and run away for a 8-4 win over No. 4 BU Friday night at Agganis Arena.
“We were just getting satisfied [with the lead],’’ Jay Pandolfo, Boston University’s head coach, said following the loss to UConn. “We started turning pucks over, we started taking penalties we didn’t need to take. I’m a little lost right now. I can handle losing a hockey game, when you play well, you do things the right way, you just say the other team is better that night.
“But I can’t handle just playing losing hockey. And that’s what that was, it was losing hockey. … it’s actually embarrassing.’’
This marks the first time the Terriers (2-3-1, 0-1-0) lost to UConn (3-2-0,1-0-0) at home since Oct. 21, 2022. It’s also the first time BU has lost three straight games at home since Nov. 8, 2024 when it fell to UMass Lowell 5-3 after dropping back-to-back games to Michigan.
BU shot out of the gates to start the game, with senior Owen McLaughlin and leading scorer sophomore Cole Eiserman each scoring a goal in the first 7:49 minutes of the contest to take a commanding 2-0 lead. However, this lead was short lived with the Huskies tying the game two apiece as UConn junior Jake Richard scored on a power play with just 58 seconds remaining in the first period.
After both teams exchanged goals within the first five minutes of the second period, freshman Jack Murtaugh flew down the ice on a breakaway and scored on a wrist shot. A little over three minutes later, Murtaugh had an opportunity to replicate that same goal, but was blocked by UConn goalie Tyler Muszelik. This defensive effort helped the Huskies transition efficiently, ultimately setting up a tic-tac-toe goal to tie the contest back up.
The Huskies were able to build on the momentum from this goal, as with 8:31 minutes remaining, Dezainde scored his second goal of the game to take a 5-4 lead heading into the final period. BU had no answers for the Huskies’ attack in the final period, allowing three more goals to seal the game.
The Terriers got back on track when they travelled to take on UConn Saturday evening in Storrs, CT. Two goals from Jack Harvey and one from Owen McLaughlin propelled the Terriers past the Huskies 3-1, improving the team’s record to (3-3-1, 1-1).
