Ninth Ranked Terriers Run Roughshod Over No. 5 Sioux

A hockey team never likes to give up a goal in the first minute of a period.

After tonight, though, Boston University might be tempted to try it more often.

After giving up the tying goal just 21 seconds into the second period, the Terriers bounced back with goals on the next two shifts, scoring 17 seconds after North Dakota’s first goal and then lighting the lamp again 21 seconds after that. That was the turning point in the No. 9 Terriers’ 5-1 win over the No. 5 Sioux in the nightcap of the Icebreaker Invitational at Agganis Arena.

Sophomore Nick Bonino led the scoring with two goals and an assist for the Terriers, while the top line of Colin Wilson, Jason Lawrence, and Chris Higgins dominated that second period, amassing a total of two goals and four assists along with several near misses. Freshman Kieran Millan was very solid in the BU net, looking poised while making 22 saves.

“I thought we played a real good tempo in the game,” said Terrier coach Jack Parker. “We wanted to keep pressure on their defensemen, and I thought we did a good job of that. And I thought we did a real good job through center ice on their power plays. They had a lot of power plays, and we didn’t give up any jumps on those.

“There were a few instances during the course of the game where they came at us pretty hard, and we weathered the storm. Even though they were buzzing us, we kept them on the outside.”

“We played against a good hockey team tonight,” Sioux coach Dave Hakstol said. “They did a very good job. Quite simply for me, you can break the game down in a lot of ways, but normally the team that plays good, strong, tough team defense and wins the majority of the one-on-one battles is going to come out on the good side of the score in this game.”

The theme of the game’s opening minutes was bend-but-don’t-break for BU. With the exception of a good chance for Chris Higgins at 3:30, North Dakota had the better of the opportunities early on. The Terriers got a little lucky with a quick whistle at 9:10 when the third line of Evan Trapp, Andrew Kozek, and Jason Gregoire were swarming around the net with the puck loose.

“I thought we played a good first eight to ten minutes,” Sioux senior Brad Miller said. “We didn’t play very well after that. I can’t remember any real positives after that…. Collectively, we weren’t executing.”

Gradually, the Terriers took control. Colin Wilson had a quasi-breakaway shorthanded, and freshman d-man David Warsofsky had a great rush punctuated by a slick move for a chance at 13:20. Ultimately, BU took the lead during four-on-four play at 18:29. Bonino got the puck off a Colby Cohen dump-in on the left-wing boards, and he raced toward the net before dishing to Kevin Shattenkirk trailing the play for a wrister and a goal.

That set the stage for the offensive fireworks in period two. Just after a power play expired, North Dakota tied the game when Miller buried the rebound of a Joe Finley shot at the 21-second mark. BU countered almost immediately, as Wilson raced in on the left wing before hitting Lawrence at the far post for the easy tap-in. With announcer Jim Prior still trying to catch up on the goal announcements, Bonino received a pass from behind the net and buried a wrister at the 59-second mark.

“I don’t think there’s anything really harder in a game to do than to come back and score on the next shift after giving up a goal like they did — and they scored two goals,” Miller said. “You’ve got to tip your hat to them. They acted like their goalie saved that one, and it was just a faceoff and they went back at it. Obviously it didn’t faze them.”

“Very honestly, we made a couple of mistakes,” said Hakstol. “Why we made those, you can venture a lot of different guesses. The second goal against we got beat to the back door on a two-on-two. The third goal we vacated the front of the net and ended up with two defensemen in the corners. Those are mental errors. They’re battle-level type of plays. BU made good plays on them, but when you’re playing good team defense you don’t give those type of goals up.”

“That was the turning point,” Parker said. “They didn’t have a chance to enjoy that goal and get back and put pressure on us. Before they knew it, it was 3-1, 38 seconds later.”

BU didn’t let up at that point. Wilson looked fantastic, setting up Higgins and Brian Strait for near goals. Then Bonino set up Brandon Yip for yet another chance. Almost inevitably, the Terriers capitalized at 8:10. Once again, Wilson came in on the left wing, pushing it to Higgins, who slipped a fancy between-the-skates pass to Lawrence in the slot. Lawrence went down but nudged it back to Wilson, who wheeled and fired it in the net to make it 4-1.

BU had some nice highlight-reel moments in the third. After Higgins was thwarted on a breakaway, freshman goalie Kieran Millan had a fantastic glove save to rob Matt Watkins on a shot ticketed for the net at 9:20.

Bonino rounded out the scoring at 10:16 when Bonino notched a soft goal off of freshman goalie Brad Eidsness. The sophomore had the puck right on the goal line and flipped it toward the crease, where it appeared to bounce off the goalie and find its way through an opening on the short side.

After BU’s woeful play last fall ultimately cost them a spot in the national tournament last season, the team appears to have the right focus in the early going now. “The best thing about this team is that a lot of the returning guys are focusing on those areas that hurt us last year,” Shattenkirk said. “That’s definitely one of the areas that we’ve tried to improve on — keeping the foot on the pedal, so to speak.”

“I know the history of BU lately,” Bonino said. “We haven’t been getting off to good starts lately, and it’s not enough to turn it on late in the year. I think everyone knew that coming in, and it was just good to get a win, especially against a team that’s No. 5. It was a good win, but now we just have to refocus –it’s just as big a game tomorrow night.”

After UMass plays North Dakota late tomorrow afternoon, BU will look to win the Icebreaker against Michigan State tomorrow evening. Terrier freshman Grant Rollheiser is expected to get a turn between the pipes.