BOSTON, Mass. - Paced by a three-point effort from freshman Colin Wilson, the Boston University men's ice hockey team rallied for a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over No. 15 Northeastern in the Beanpot consolation game on Monday evening at TD Banknorth Garden. The Terriers improve to 10-14-4 on the year, while the Huskies fall to 13-10-3.
Wilson broke a 4-4 tie with 3 minutes, 19 seconds left in regulation by potting his second goal of the night. The tally capped a string of three straight goals by the Terriers, who trailed, 4-2, midway through the game.
Freshman Colby Cohen notched a goal and an assist and junior Matt Gilroy notched the game-tying goal at 9:18 of the third. Sophomore Luke Popko earned a pair of assists.
Freshman goaltender Adam Kraus made 25 saves - stopping the last 13 shots he faced - for the Terriers to earn his first collegiate win. Sophomore Brad Thiessen recorded 40 saves in a losing effort for the Huskies.
Northeastern was paced by junior Ryan Ginand, who recorded two goals and an assist and put nine shots on goal.
Freshman Tyler McNeely helped the Huskies get on the board first at 5:50 of the first when he sent tipped in a shot by Ginand in a 4-on-4 situation. Sophomore Kyle Kraemer also assisted on the play.
Cohen made sure the Terriers did not head into the first intermission with a deficit, as the freshman was the beneficiary of a perfect set-up at the left post by Wilson on a 2-on-1 with just under three minutes left in the opening stanza.
Freshman Nick Bonino gave BU its first lead of the contest at 5:30 of the second when he knocked in a cross-ice pass from Steve Smolinsky for his 10th goal of the season. The lead would be short-lived, however, as Northeastern quickly netted consecutive goals just 26 seconds apart. Junior Joe Vitale made it a 2-2 game when he finished off a pass from freshman Wade MacLeod at 7:07. Kraus got a good portion of Vitale's effort, but the puck had enough momentum to slide past the goal line. Just moments later off a BU turnover, Ginand gave the Huskies the lead back with his first goal of the night.
Ginand was responsible for the only multi-goal lead of the night, as he capped his performance with a power-play tally at 11:00 of the second, just 3:27 after his initial strike.
Faced with a 4-2 deficit, the Terriers got a strong effort on both ends of the ice from Wilson to get them back into the game. Wilson broke up a drop-off pass on a 3-on-1 breakaway then raced back to the other end, where he took a pass off the boards from senior Craig Sanders and beat Thiessen for his 10th tally of the year at 13:51 of the second. Sanders' assist was the first point of his career.
BU put together a strong effort in the third and was rewarded with an equalizer on an impressive play by Gilroy at 9:18. Set-up by a chipped puck off the stick of senior Dan McGoff, Gilroy raced along the right boards before roofing a shot past Thiessen to make it a 4-4 affair.
The game winner came following a strong effort by the Terriers to keep the puck in the Northeastern zone. Popko collected a loose puck by the left boards before sliding a perfectly-placed pass across the slot to Wilson, who punched in the decisive goal.
BU has now won its last 13 Beanpot match-ups against Northeastern, dating back to the 1988 championship game - the Huskies' most recent title.