Men’s Hockey Earns Home Ice; Women’s B-Ball Stays Perfect at Case

The men’s’ hockey team earned home ice for the Hockey East playoffs and scored the second seed in the tournament in two wins over Providence College on Thursday and Friday. Women’s basketball also had a strong weekend, defeating Albany on Saturday to secure the third seed in the America East playoffs, and remain undefeated at the Case Center this season. Women’s hockey lost to the University of New Hampshire in the Terriers’ first-ever playoff appearance on Saturday, and the men’s basketball team lost against Hartford in the America East semifinals on Sunday, 59-52. Full reports are below.

Men’s Hockey: Gillespie Backstops Terriers to 2-0 Victory over Providence
BU secures No. 2 seed for Hockey East playoffs

BOSTON – Senior Karson Gillespie turned in a 33-save shutout and freshmen Joe Pereira and Nick Bonino each scored a goal, leading the No. 16 Boston University men’s ice hockey team to a 2-0 victory over No. 17/15 Providence on Friday evening at Agganis Arena. The win allows the Terriers to clinch the No. 2 seed for the Hockey East playoffs.

BU, which is 9-1 in its last 10 games, closes out the regular season with a record of 17-15-4 with a 15-9-3 conference mark. Providence falls to 14-15-5 overall and an even 11-11-5 in league play.

The victory extended the Terriers’ home winning streak to six games, their longest since moving into Agganis Arena in January 2005, as the team last won six consecutive home games in 2000. 

The Terriers held the Friars scoreless for the second consecutive night, but it was not easy, as Gillespie made 15 of his saves in the third period alone to preserve his third career shutout. Providence held a 33-17 advantage in shots.

Pereira opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the year on a nifty backhand at 6:26 of the first off a pass from junior Jason Lawrence. Lawrence intercepted a puck that was wrapped along the back boards of the zone by a Friar defender and found Pereira, whose shot eluded Providence netminder Tyler Sims before getting a piece of the right pipe and finding the back of the net.

Bonino made it a two-goal game on a power-play tally at 1:33 of the middle period. The freshman potted his 15th goal of the season when he skated through the inner edge of the right circle after receiving a pass from junior Matt Gilroy and beat Sims. Freshman Colin Wilson also assisted on the play.

The Terriers’ penalty kill was a perfect 0-for-7 on the night, while the team’s power play was 1-of-6.

Two saves in Gillespie’s performance were on 2-on-1 breakaways by the Friars, including a shorthanded offer in the first and an incredible glove save in the third.

The Terriers will face either Northeastern or UMass Lowell in next weekend’s best-of-three quarterfinal round.

Women’s Hockey: Terriers Fall to UNH, 8-0, in Opening Round of Hockey East
Boston University shutout in first playoff appearance

Storrs, Conn. – The Boston University women’s ice hockey team suffered an 8-0 defeat at the hands of No. 2 New Hampshire Saturday at Freitas Ice Forum, knocking the Terriers out of the Hockey East playoffs in the first round.

Boston University (15-16-3, 11-9-1 HE) fell behind early in its first playoff appearance since becoming a varsity program in 2005. After surrendering a first period goal, five UNH scores in the second period put the Terriers in a deep hole.

The Wildcats scored the games first goal at 9:55 of the first period while both teams had four skaters on the ice. Junior Maggie Joyce found sophomore Micaela Long around the middle of the left circle for an open opportunity on goal. Long faked junior Allyse Wilcox to the netminder’s right and then shot left on the open goal, just beyond Wilcox’s out-stretched glove.

Wilcox mad a fantastic save at 6:43 of the first period off a one-timer from senior Sadie Wright-Ward about five feet outside the crease. The goaltender ate up the shot for one of her 10 saves in the first period.

Freshman Courtney Birchard put UNH up 2-0 at 1:17 of the second period, scoring with the power-play advantage. The forward sent a slapshot on goal from the top of the left circle through traffic, finding a niche between Wilcox’s glove and the right post.

The Wildcats struck just a few seconds later, at 1:53 of the second, as freshman Jenn Wakefield made her mark, slapping home a one-timer from the left goalpost.

Junior Erin Seman had a great shot on goal at 3:49 of the second period, pushing a shot towards the far post after the Terriers won a faceoff in the right circle in Wildcat territory. However, freshman Kayley Herman, this season’s Hockey East ITECH Goaltending Champion, extended her leg in a split to barely deflect the shot.

Senior Leah Craig flicked a shot into goal from the bottom of the right circle at 8:32 to build a four goal lead for UNH.

The Terriers were unable to take advantage of back-to-back New Hampshire penalties, committed within 16 seconds of each other. With almost two minutes on the power play, BU placed only 2 shots on goal as the Wildcats dodged the most serious Terrier threat of the game.

Shortly after returning their skaters, junior Sam Faber upped UNH’s lead at 17:38 of the second period and Long added her second goal of the game at 18:13.

Sophomore Sarah Appleton almost put one in goal at 4:07 of the third period, bouncing a shot off the right post after evading the UNH defenders through the zone.

Faber’s second goal of the game came directly off the face-off at center ice, blazing past the Terrier defense and slotting a shot past sophomore goaltender Melissa Haber at 7:56 of the third period.

The eight goals allowed were the most the team has ever surrendered, eclipsing a 7-0 loss against Maine on Jan. 28, 2006. The five goals allowed in the second period set a new record for the Terriers. Six of the scores were credited to junior goaltender Allyse Wilcox, tying her career high.

Men’s Basketball: Terriers Drop 59-52 Decision to Hartford in AE Semis
Lowe led BU with 16 points and three steals

Vestal, N.Y. – The Boston University basketball team made a late run, but it fell short as the Terriers (14-17) dropped a 59-52 decision to Hartford (18-15) on Sunday in the semifinals of the 2008 America East tournament held on the campus of Binghamton University.

The teams traded leads early in the first half before Hartford moved in front and stayed one step ahead of the Terriers through to the half. The Hawks went on a 15-4 run midway through the second half that allowed them to put some distance between themselves and BU. Sophomore guard Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine) scored eight points in the final two minutes, but the Terriers comeback bid failed.

Sophomore Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass.) led the Terriers with 16 points and three steals. Red-shirt junior Matt Wolff (Walpole, Mass.) added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Strong posted 11 points. Hartford’s Joe Zeglinski put up 16 points to lead the Hawks.

Lowe scored six of BU’s first eight points in the second half as the Terriers climbed to within two, 31-29, at 15:39. However, Zeglinski’s two straight jumpers keyed the long run that put the Hawks up 46-33 with 9:47 remaining. UH extended that advantage to 14, 51-37, on Warren McClendon’s 3-pointer at 5:19. The Terriers put together a little flurry in the final four minutes to cut the Hawks’ lead to single digits, 52-45, on a Lowe reverse layup at 2:32. Hartford got back out to an 11-point lead with one minute remaining, but Strong hit a free throw, a jumper at the top of the key and a 3-pointer for the final margin.

The Terriers held an 18-12 rebounding advantage in the first half, but Hartford evened it up at 36 apiece for the game. BU struggled from behind the 3-point line, going just 3-for-22 (15.0 percent) and shooting 19-for-56 (33.9 percent) from the field.

BU opened the game with a 9-5 lead on a three-point play by Wolff at 16:53, but Hartford came right back with two threes from Brian Glowiak and Zeglinski to grab the lead back, 11-9, at 15:26. Hartford stretched its advantage to 17-13, but sophomore Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont.) converted a three-point play to cut it to 17-16 with 8:25 remaining in the first half. UH moved out to a 21-16 edge at 6:16 on two consecutive mid-range jumpers by Zeglinski.

Holland drained a three with 2:40 to go before the half to inch BU to within two, 23-21, but Michael Turner answered with his triple at 58 seconds to keep the Hawks ahead and send them in the half up, 26-21.

Women’s Basketball: Terriers Beat Albany, Secure Third Seed in AE
Terriers remain undefeated at Case Center this season

BOSTON – The Boston University women’s basketball team held Albany scoreless in overtime as it defeated the Great Danes, 76-67, on Saturday at Case Gym to clinch the third seed in the America East tournament. Senior Kasey Devine and junior Amarachi Umez-Eronini posted double-doubles, while senior Cheri Raffo recorded a team-high 15 points. Five Terriers reached double figures, as they improve to 18-11 overall and 11-5 in the America East conference. Albany falls to 12-17 overall, 10-6 in the league and enters the tourney as the fourth-seeded team.

Devine earned America East’s Player of the Game honors after posting 11 points and 10 rebounds with five blocks and three steals, while Umez-Eronini contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds. Raffo was 5-for-14 and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line as she led with 15 points. Junior Christine Kinneary added 11 points to go along with a game-high seven assists, while sophomore Aly Hinton was the fifth Terrier in double figures with 12 points to go along with eight rebounds. The win marked head coach Kelly Greenberg’s 150th victory as a head coach.

BU out-rebounded UA, 43-38, and held a commanding 21-6 advantage on second-chance points. The Terriers also forced 20 Great Danes’ miscues and converted on 18 points off turnovers. The game saw nine lead changes and 14 ties. BU finishes the regular season with a perfect 11-0 record at Case Gym, with its lone home loss coming at Agganis Arena on Nov. 17 to then-No. 16 Ohio State.

For much of the first half, the Terriers and Great Danes traded baskets remaining within three points of each other until Albany took the largest lead of the game at 1:18, after going on a 12-2 to move the score to 36-26. BU closed out the stanza with four consecutive free throws to cut the deficit to six at the break. In the first period, Albany was able to penetrate the Terriers’ defense, scoring 16 in the paint. BU was led by Raffo with eight points, while Charity Iromuanya posted a team high of 11 points.

In the second half, BU quickly cut the lead to one by 17:38 and reclaimed it at 15:54 on a Kinneary jumper. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Great Danes nailed a jumper in the paint to move the score to 42-41. Over the next five minutes, BU steadily built a five-point lead with five rebounds and two steals to bring the score to 54-49 at 10:06.

BU maintained that edge until UA game roaring back to go ahead by seven with 2:13 remaining in regulation, in what proved to be its final field goal of the game. Kinneary turned the tide with a jumper at 1:55, the Terriers hit two free throws, and a clutch 3-pointer from Raffo knotted the score at 67. Hinton brought down a crucial defensive rebound with four seconds on the clock to send the game into overtime.
BU took over in the overtime period with a field goal and seven made free throws to secure the victory. In addition, it brought down 10 rebounds in the extra stanza.

The full tournament brackets will be available following the final regular-season conference game between UMBC and Hartford tonight at 7:00 p.m. in Baltimore, Md. The America East championship begins on Thursday, March 13 and will culminate with the championship game on Sunday, March 16 at 5 p.m.