Second Period Breakout Puts BU Past UMass

For the first time in 41 years, someone other than Jack Parker was credited with a coaching victory for Boston University. Tonight, David Quinn became that "someone" as BU topped UMass 3-1 at Agganis.

Evan Rodrigues scores BU's third goal of the second period.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

The first period was scoreless, but that doesn't mean there were not chances. BU had a five minute power play that was soon wiped out by a Sam Kurker penalty. UMass had some solid chances as well on the man advantage, but Sean Maguire was up to the task.

It didn't take long into the second for the Terriers to find the back of the net. Ahti Oksanen and Evan Rodrigues helped set up Garrett Noonan from the high slot. From there the Captain took two steps and fired a low wrister that found it's way through traffic and inside the left post past Steve Mastalerz. This marks the second straight year a defenseman has scored the first goal of the year. Ryan Ruikka did it last year vs Providence.

A little over five minutes later, BU doubled their lead off a perfectly set up power play. Oksanen found Cason Hohmann in the far low circle. Hohmann from there made a quick pass through the UMass box to Tommy Kelley right in the middle of the slot. Kelley wasted little time getting the shot off, beating Mastalerz top shelf for his first collegiate goal.

Two and half minutes later, Evan Rodrigues pulled off a highlight real move to essentially put the game away. He carried the puck through center ice before getting to the top of the right faceoff circle. At the point, he undressed UMass's Ben Gallacher with a sweet toe-drag move. In the same motion, he ripped a shot off that picked top left on Mastalerz. The goal was very similar to the one he scored against BC in the Hockey Semi's last spring.

UMass out-played BU for large portions of the third period, specifically after they killed off a lengthy 5 on 3 early in the frame. Sean Maguire really came up big a some crucial situations, making some key saves.

The Minutemen finally broke up Maguire's shutout bid with 9:36 to play. Freshman Setven Iacobellis scored on a low shot after a power play set up by Adam Phillips and Colin Shea. It was his first collegiate goal.

BU nearly scored on the empty net twice and had to kill off two late penalties to preserve the W, but all in all, it was a good start to the season. Tonight, BU will take on Holy Cross at Agganis. I wont be there, as I will be down the Green Line a few stops at Fenway to catch the Red Sox playoff game.