For 27 games, the University of New Hampshire Wildcats were undefeated against all opponents at the Whittemore Center in Durham…until tonight. The Boston University Terriers came to UNH hungry for a win and hoping to bounce back from their loss against Boston College on Friday night. Conversely, UNH was hoping to repeat their successful effort and play, which allowed them a gritty win against Providence College in Overtime on Friday night as well.
What happened was something that many expected to happen: a low scoring, fast paced and well played hockey game. It was scoreless through the first period, but the second period saw UNH sophomore forward Greg Burke’s first goal of the season on an assist by Mike Borisenok. The Terriers would even the score just minutes later after BU defenseman Adam Clendening fired a shot off the post that was quickly corralled and shot into the open net by Charlie Coyle.
Ross Gaudet rounded out the scoring for BU in the final minutes of the second period, netting his goal, unassisted, through UNH goaltender Matt DiGirolamo’s five hole. UNH seemed to score a goal of their own when the puck seemed to have clearly crossed the BU goal line after a swarm of players from both teams crowded the net, but after a long conference between the referees, and the audible frustration of some disgruntled waiting fans, the goal was waved off.
The score would remain 2-1 through the end of the game.
Despite a valiant effort from both teams, the difference maker in this one was appropriately awarded the first star. BU goaltender Kieran Millan allowed just one goal on 39 shots and effectively managed UNH’s offensive onslaught throughout the final minutes of the third period. BU also did a very effective job at keeping UNH’s top line of Paul Thompson, Phil DeSimone and Mike Sislo at bay, stopping every scoring chance and quieting UNH’s usually loud offensive players.
UNH head coach Dick Umile made a general comment after the game about the effort of his team. “It’s disappointing losing that game because I thought it was the best we’ve played since we’ve been back [during the] second half. It was a back and forth game and we had our chances.” Unfortunately for the Wildcats, those chances weren’t quite enough.
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