BURLINGTON, Vt. - Led by sophomore Jay O'Brien's first collegiate hat trick, the No. 13 Boston University men's ice hockey team completed a weekend sweep of Vermont with a 5-1 win over the Catamounts on Saturday evening at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
Vermont scored the game's first goal but the Terriers quickly gained the lead and never looked back to improve to 8-2-0 on the year, their second-best start through 10 games over the past 19 seasons.
O'Brien scored BU's first two goals before wrapping up the scoring in the third to complete the hat trick. Junior Matthew Quercia and sophomore Wilmer Skoog also scored for the Terriers, who got 16 saves from freshman Vinny Duplessis.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After getting blanked by BU on Friday, Vermont got off to a good start by getting a goal from Dovar Tinling just 2:28 into the contest.
- BU responded just over a minute later as senior captain Logan Cockerill slid a perfectly placed back-door pass to O'Brien at the left crease.
- O'Brien gave BU a lead it would not relinquish later in the first when he stole the puck and skated down the right side before flinging a shot that went off UVM netminder Tyler Harmon and in at the 15:18 mark.
- BU's neutral-zone play was terrific all game and was on display late in the first, leading to Quercia's first tally of the season and a 3-1 lead to take into the first intermission.
- Freshman Cade Webber forced a turnover and got the puck to sophomore Jamie Armstrong, who pushed it over to Quercia in the right circle.
- BU's second forward line teamed up for the lone goal of the second period as sophomore Robert Mastrosimone and freshman Luke Tuch wreaked havoc for the Catamounts as they tried to get out of their own zone and then found Skoog, who buried a chance from the inside of the left circle at 11:55 of the frame.
- O'Brien finished up his three-goal night when he followed up his own rebound and punched the puck in at the left post at 4:26 of the third.
GAME NOTES
- Senior Max Kaufman, who spent his first three seasons at Vermont, earned two assists on the night.
- Through three starts, Duplessis is now 3-0-0 with a 0.67 goals-against average and a .974 save percentage.
- BU has won eight of its past nine games and its only regulation loss was the season opener against Providence.
- The Terriers held a 37-17 shot advantage and each team went 0-for-3 on the power play.
UP NEXT
- The Terriers will learn their opponent for next weekend on Tuesday (Feb. 16).
