No. 2 BC completes big sweep of No. 1 BU
Boston College completed a home-and-home sweep of rival Boston University and moved to the top of the college hockey food chain with a 4-3 victory on Saturday night at Agganis Arena.
BC won the opener of the home and home series, 4-1, on Friday night at Conte Forum, but the final score included two empty net goals in the last two minutes. The difference maker in both games was BC freshman goalie Jacob Fowler. The Montreal Canadians third-round pick had 32 saves in the game and 58 on the weekend.
“He was a beast in there and they put so much pressure on the crease,” said BC second-year coach Greg Brown. “They were looking for back door passes all the time and throwing pucks to that back post and he held strong several times. He was on top of his game tonight.”
BU went into the series No. 1 in the USCHO rankings with BC at No. 2, an historic first in the 293game history of the rivalry. BC (18-4-1, 11-3-1) moved into a first-place tie with BU (16-6-1, 11-3-1) in the Hockey East standings and will likely assume the No. 1 ranking when the USCHO poll is released on Monday.
BC and BU will meet for a third time in the nightcap (8) of the 71st annual Beanpot twinbill on Monday, Feb. 5, at the TD Garden.
“Any times you are in games like that against a very good opponent you gain little confidence knowing you can have success in those situations,” said Brown. “It only gets more tight and harder here on out the rest of the season, so when you have success in situations like that, you know it can be done. Instead of going in fragile, you go in with some confidence and that is important for a young team when you have that.”
The BU fans created an electrified environment complete with scarlet glow-sticks and unabashed verbal disdain for the lads from up the street. There was no love lost on the ice either as skirmishes broke out in the BC end following a BU onslaught at 3:10 of the first. A player from each team was sent to the penalty box.
“I thought the fans tonight and last night were outstanding and the guys feel that energy,” said Brown. “It gives us practice for the Beanpot and understanding the emotions of the game and the electricity on the crowd but letting it distract form what you have to do.”
BU defenseman Cade Webber and Dylan Peterson drew minor penalties 15 seconds apart to give the Eagles an extended 5-on-3 situation they used to go up 1-0 at 10:08. Freshman center Will Smith of Lexington set up freshman left wing Gabe Perreault for a tip in at the right post that BU goalie Mathieu Caron (21 saves) had no chance of stopping. The tally was Perreault’s second of the series and ninth of the season.
BC went up 2-0 just seconds after Peterson completed his sentence. Sophomore defenseman Lukas Gustafsson poked home a Jacob Bengtsson rebound at 11:21 for his second of the season.
BU salvaged the period with 14 seconds to play when freshman left wing Shane Lachance took a feed from Ryan Greene and scored for the bottom of the left circle for his eighth of the season.
“I thought overall we played pretty well tonight but we still have to fix shooting ourselves in the foot with discipline,” said BU coach Jay Pandolfo. “As you can see, they don’t need a lot of chances to score.
“You think you are in a good spot. You are dominating play and then all of sudden they come back at you and it is in your net.”
BU tied the game 2-2 on a nifty collaboration between senior left-wing Luke Tuch and graduate center Sam Stevens at 3:39. Tuch won a puck battle along the end boards and fed a backhand pass that Stevens one-timed by Fowler for his sixth of the season.
BC took a 3-2 lead when first line center Cutter Gauthier beat Caron far post for his second of the series and team-high 19th on the season. BC appeared to have put the game away when Smith finished a give-and-go with Bengtsson to make it 4-2 at 13:45.
BU made things interesting when Macklin Celebrini scored his first of the series and 17th overall to make it 4-2 at 17:49. Pandolfo pulled Caron for an extra skater but BU failed to get the equalizer