The #9 Maine Black Bears had several opportunities to tie the game on Saturday night after trailing 5-2 with 11 minutes left in the third period, but their comeback attempt would fall just short in a 5-4 loss to #8 Boston University at Agannis Arena in Boston. The Terriers take the weekend men’s Hockey East sweep.
Maine would score first, as the Nadeau brothers were at it again. Josh Nadeau skating down the middle of the slot, dropped one over to Bradly Nadeau for the one-timer from the left faceoff circle at 10:12 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. Quinn Hutson would tie it on the powerplay for Boston University at 14:02. The Terriers continued their good play with the extra man, as they scored all three of their goals on the powerplay in the 3-2 win Friday night (3 for 5). Luke Tuch scored the only goal of the second to give BU the lead for good at 4:52. The Black Bears had several good chances in that middle stanza, including a breakaway by Bradly Nadeau at the 8:40 mark and a point blank look from the bottom of the faceoff circle by Brandon Holt two minutes later that were both turned away by Terriers goaltender Mathieu Caron. Josh Nadeau hit one off the post after a scramble in front of Caron with two minutes left. Shane Lachance extended the lead for the hosts with a goal 4:23 into the third period, before Lynden Breen fired one in on the powerplay from the left point past a screened Caron at 6:43 to make it a one goal game again. It took BU though a blink of an eye to answer the Breen tally, as Hutson received a pass from Macklin Celebrini from the left wing and broke in down the slot to beat Victor Ostman 12 seconds later. Devin Kaplan knocked another one in for his team at 8:53 to make it 5-2, ending the night in goal for Ostman. The Black Bears made a valiant effort to comeback, as Josh Nadeau scored on the powerplay at 13:25 and Nicholas Niemo made it quite interesting by finding the net at 17:12. With the goalie pulled late for an extra attacker, Bradly Nadeau had a pair of one-timers over the final minute off good setups. The first one was sticked out of play by Caron, and the second one was another great save by the netminder sliding across to deny the game tying goal as Boston University escaped with the win.
Ostman made 15 saves in the loss for Maine, with freshman Albin Boija playing the final 9:20 and stopping all four shots he faced. Josh Nadeau and Breen both had a goal and an assist, while Thomas Freel who had a pair of goals in Fridays loss would add two assists. The Black Bears fall to 6-3-1 overall and 3-2-1 in Hockey East. Hutson had two goals and an assist in the win for Boston University, while Celebrini had three helpers for three points. Caron made 39 saves, as the Terriers were outshot 43-24. BU is now 8-3-1 and 5-1-1 in the conference. Maine is off next week before returning to action on Friday, December 1 when they host another nationally ranked opponent in the University of New Hampshire at 7 p.m. The Wildcats are currently #13.
Recap by Chris Lessner
