O'Connor, BU Knock Off #1 UNH

Matt O'Connor made 31 save in the
3-2 win. Here he makes a save against
UNH from earlier this year.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

UNH came out quick and took the play to the Terriers before BU was able to get their feet under them. Matt O'Connor held his ground, as it was BU who grabbed the game's first goal.  

The puck came back to the point, where Matt Grzelcyk unloaded a slapslot. The drive pin-balled around the crease before Wade Megan put home the rebound for the lone goal of the first period. Sahir Gill also picked up an assist on the goal.

The latter stages of the frame saw a ton of penalties. Both sides had numerous man advantages, but the goaltenders were stout. BU's best opportunity to extend their lead in the first came on the power play. Following a nice set up, Evan Rodrigues had the puck all alone at the top of the crease. UNH goalie Casey DeSmith held his ground and made an impressive save. 

Seconds into the second period, BU nearly doubled their lead. Cason Hohmann missed a wide open net on a power play that carried over from the first. Minutes later, BU did in fact extend their lead. Hohmann pick up a loose puck at the UNH blue line and took the lone Wildcat defender wide and created a two on one with Sahir Gill. Hohmann made a nifty saucer pass over the UNH defender's stick, landing directly onto Gill's tape. Gill made a shifty deke, before sliding the puck between DeSmith's legs five hole while on his backhand.

BU upped their lead to 3-0 with just under 12:00 to play in the frame. Ahti Oksanen's drive from the point drilled the glass over the UNH net. The rebound came right back in front of the net. Sam Kurker took a whack at it and the bouncing puck somehow found its way through the legs of DeSmith.

Following a slew of BU penalties, UNH finally got on the board late in the stanza. Kevin Goumas beat Matt O'Connor from the far side at the bottom of the circle on the power play to make it 3-1. After the goal, UNH gained a ton of momentum and really dominated the Terriers for the ensuing few minutes.

In the final seconds of the second, Matt Nieto rang the post, just missing. The shot cleanly beat DeSmith. BU got out of the period and took their 3-1 lead into the third period.     

UNH controlled the pace of play in the third and cut the BU lead to 3-2 at the 11:54 marker. Jon Henrion controlled a large rebound and picked the top left corner on O'Connor to make it a one goal game. 

With 2:07 left, Wade Megan was called for interference. Soon after, DeSmith was pulled and BU faced a six on four. O'Connor stood tall making a clutch glove save with about 13 seconds remaining. BU killed off the remaining power play time and the remaining game time to defeat the Wildcats for the first time this year. 

BU will take on Maine Saturday night at home.