Another Night, Another Tie, Another Point

BU Stages Another Late Comback to Record Third Tie in Four Games

Watch The Highlights -- Read the Box Score

Let me begin by saying that it had been a while, so I completely forgot how much I despise Vermont and their fans. 

I hate this team.  I hate the players  I hate these fans.  I hate their cheers.  I hate their names.  I hate their perceived right to be arrogant douches.  I hate their mascot.  This may not be BU's biggest rival, but it is definitely up there in terms of the hatred factor.  It's one of those matchups where the intensity in the stands lets you know that the fans just flat out do not like each other.

No Cats NO

It certainly didn't seem like there was any love lost between the players either.  This one got chippy, and BU really showed some extra physicality that they had been hiding thus far this season.  Some of the freshman really stepped up in this category, specifically Max Nicastro and Sean Escobedo.

Marvelous Max Was A Force Tonight

This was another exciting game for a BU team that is making a habit of waiting until the last possible minute to even up a game.  Tonight they actually got even a bit earlier than we're getting used to seeing, putting home the game tying goal with about 5 minutes to play, when Corey Trivino knocked home a rebound from a Vinny Saponari post ringer.

This was a bitter sweet game to watch.  The Terriers were the better team tonight, bottom line.  They could have and should have won this game, and they would have done just that had they been able to bury one of their many, many chances early and late.

 They hit the post with under a minute to play in regulation, and smacked the crossbar in overtime, but those are just a few of the many times the Terriers were buzzing around the net and creating havoc for goaltender Rob Madore.  In all, they found iron four times on the night, and they were in Madore's face all night long.  So it's bitter in that this is a point that got away from BU.

But this game was sweet because it shows us that BU is finally starting to put it together as a team.  Their passing was more crisp, everyone was throwing their weight around on the forecheck and backcheck, and the forwards were going hard to the net.  They scored a couple of goals because they were willing to get their hands dirty in the crease, and they created even more chances with the same mindset.

Parker has clearly done a good job breaking the mindset that this team is going to be able to win based on skill alone.  That idea seemed to carry over from an ultra talented team last season to a decent team this season. 

The reality is that if this team is going to make any noise into the spring, they're going to have to work.  They're going to have to get a stick in the goalie's face, make that perfect pass, and maybe even knock a few people out along the way.

When a team plays like BU did tonight, you start to see the kind of results they got.  Ross Gaudet scored another goal, and Eric Gryba banged home his first goal of the season.  Vinny Saponari and Zach Cohen each had plenty of chances, and Colby Cohen ripped a bundle of haymakers toward the goal all ngith long.  Everyone was getting into the act.

Gryba Took a Break From Breaking Heads to Score a Goal

More importantly, BU is showing that they don't have a glass jaw.  For the second game in a row they got punched in the face to the tune of a late two goal defecit, and for the second game in a row they shook it off and earned a tie.  Not to mention the game against Harvard when the team battled back from four separate one goal holes to eventually win in overtime.

The Terriers are beginning to look a lot like a team, not just a collection of hockey players. 

Now if only they can turn some of these ties into wins, we just may have a team capable of crawling back to relevance this year.