BOSTON – The top-seeded Boston University Terriers scored three goals in the opening 8:49 of the first period on their way to a 7-3 win over the Catamounts Saturday evening in the Hockey East Quarterfinals from Agganis Arena. The Hockey East regular season champions will face Providence next Friday at TD Garden in the semifinals.
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COACH'S QUOTE
"First and foremost, we'd like to thank all our seniors and departing players," Head Coach
Todd Woodcroft said. "Jacques Bouqout,
William Lemay,
Carter Long,
Joe Leahy,
Robbie Stucker,
Eric Gotz,
Finn Evans and
Oskar Autio literally bled for UVM hockey and we will forever be indebted to them. The coaching staff wishes them all the best in the next chapters of their lives.
Tonight, seemed like we spent all our energy getting to this point with the recent playoff victory over Maine. However, we are proud of the collective resilience of this team demonstrated so often over the course of the past seven months. Many times, this season we came back from being down on the mat and even tonight we showed flashes of excellence, we just didn't have any gas left in the tank. BU is the best team in Hockey East for a reason and they are a formidable opponent. we expect them to find success in the tournament and we wish them well.
Lastly, thank you to all our supporters who have been with us through the thick and thin of this season. This was a hard season with much adversity - we lost 120 man games to injury and almost 40 to concussions. The "no excuse - never quit" attitude from these players is something the staff will always remember. We will be back to work Monday morning preparing for September."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Nick Zabaneh scored twice and Jamie Armstrong added another as Boston University jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three goals in three minutes of action.
- Vermont answered back on the power play at the 11:42 mark of the first period. Covered in the slot Jacques Bouquot was able to get a stick on a shot from the top of the circle by Robbie Stucker and deflect it past Drew Commesso for his sixth goal of the season. His fifth power play goal of the year was also assisted by Eric Gotz.
- With 1:31 to play in the opening frame Wilmer Skoog reestablished the Terriers three-goal advantage with his own power play tally. Skoog one-touched home a pass Jeremy Wilmer for his 13th goal of the year.
- After a scoreless second Massimo Lombardi cut the Terriers lead to two with his third goal of the season. Playing four-on-four Gotz found the first year forward alone down low. Commesso made an initial save on Lombardi. But down on the play Lombardi kicked the puck back to his stick and snuck it home. Andrei Buyalsky also earned an assist on the play. For Gotz and Buyalsky, it was their team-leading 13th assists of the campaign.
- Just 13 seconds later, still at four-on-four, Zabaneh completed his first hat trick as Terrier with a well-placed wrist shot in transition.
- Unfazed the Catamounts clapped right back. With two defenders on him behind the BU net Ralfs Bergmanis fed a pass to William Lemay in the slot. Lemay corralled the feed and fired a quick wrist shot past Commesso for his third goal of the campaign.
- It was as close as Vermont would come tonight, Hockey East's top-scoring team added two more third period tallies to close out the Catamounts.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- BU first year Lane Hutson and UVM first year Massimo Lombardi were tied for the lead in shots Saturday night with seven.
- Gabe Carriere made a season-high 43 saves for the Catamounts between the pipes. It is the second most saves he's ever made in his career.
- With tonight's 7-3 decision, Community Bank N.A. will donate $225 to Special Olympics Vermont. Community Bank, N.A. donates $75 per goal to Special Olympics Vermont for every goal the men's and women's team scores this season.
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2022-23 men's hockey season
