University of New Hampshire Athletics
Patrick Grasso scored two second period goals to lift the Wildcats on Saturday night against BC.
Photo by: Jess Speechley
1/13/2019 2:08:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey, UNH Insider
DURHAM, N.H. – It was an impressive comeback that made for a bounce-back of a night and set up an interesting month ahead.
Three times Boston College jumped ahead of the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team on Saturday night in front of crowd of 5,256 at the Whittemore Center. And three times in a wild second period alone the Wildcats battled their way back into the game.
When it was finally settled, sophomore forward Patrick Grasso had a pair of goals including one shorthanded, junior Liam Blackburn and freshman Angus Crookshank had extended their point scoring streaks and UNH had a 6-4 win.
It came six years to night from the team's last win over over Boston College, which had been tied for first place in Hockey East.
Nice result when you can get it.
The bounce-back part of the win was especially satisfying. On Friday night, the Wildcats fell behind 2-0 in the first period at Boston University, rallied to tie the game at 2-2 and then fell 5-2.
"It was big," said coach Mike Souza. "You know what? We thought to a man we got out-coached, we got outplayed, we got out-everythinged last night by BU. We showed up in spurts to get the game back to even, but they ultimately outplayed us and that was disappointing. Then you sit around with that sort of anxiety all day waiting to get going again and you think you're going pretty good and then you fall behind 2-0."
The Wildcats kept their composure.
"New Hampshire played very well," said BC coach Jerry York. "We had them down 2-0 in their own building and there was no sign of desperation. That's a credit to Mike."
Said Souza: "Same theme: Just stay with it, stay with it. And we did. I was happy. I was proud of our players tonight."
UNH has fallen behind 2-0, 2-0, 3-0 and 1-0 in the first period in its last three games and is 2-1-1 in those games. The Wildcats are 5-1-1 in their last seven.
"It's a huge win," said senior forward Ara Nazarian who scored the game-winner midway through the third period off a nifty bit of passing from freshman Jackson Pierson to sophomore Charlie Kelleher to Nazarian. "It's a big character win. Every guy contributed tonight, which was huge, too."
Twelve different players had at least a point for the Wildcats, who produced their first six-goal night since a 6-3 win at Rensselaer last season on Dec. 6.
Senior forward Chris Miller added an empty net goal on the power with 25 seconds left to seal it and the crowd loved it.
"It's awesome," Nazarian said. "Saturday night at the Whitt. There's nothing better. The crowd was unbelievable tonight. It's awesome that we got to send everyone home with a win."
The Wildcats hit the road for their next three games.
They are at Merrimack on Friday at 7:30, play at Maine at 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 21 - Martin Luther King Day – and then are at Connecticut on Friday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
Their next game back at the Whittemore Center is Saturday, Jan. 26 for Family Hockey Day presented by Geico.
Individual and group tickets for all Wildcat home games are available by CLICKING HERE or by calling 603-862-4000.
"We just can't get too high or too low," Nazarian said. "Last night we weren't feeling too good and obviously tonight we're feeling good. It's big momentum for us and we'll carry it into next weekend. . . . There's a ton of hockey left."
The Wildcats have 13 games remaining, all in Hockey East. For the first time this year, only eight of the 11 Hockey East teams will make the league tournament, leaving three teams out.
Saturday's win moved UNH, 7-8-6 overall and 3-5-3 in Hockey East, into seventh place in the standings. The Wildcats are two points behind UMass Lowell in sixth and four behind Providence in fifth.
They are also only one point ahead of Maine and Merrimack, who are tied for eighth and four ahead of 10th place UConn.
And here's the thing: UNH's next eight games are against teams that today are trailing them in the standings. The final five games of the season are against teams that today are in front of them in the standings.
Hold on to your seats.
HOME AGAIN
WILDCAT NOTES
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
Three times Boston College jumped ahead of the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team on Saturday night in front of crowd of 5,256 at the Whittemore Center. And three times in a wild second period alone the Wildcats battled their way back into the game.
When it was finally settled, sophomore forward Patrick Grasso had a pair of goals including one shorthanded, junior Liam Blackburn and freshman Angus Crookshank had extended their point scoring streaks and UNH had a 6-4 win.
It came six years to night from the team's last win over over Boston College, which had been tied for first place in Hockey East.
Nice result when you can get it.
The bounce-back part of the win was especially satisfying. On Friday night, the Wildcats fell behind 2-0 in the first period at Boston University, rallied to tie the game at 2-2 and then fell 5-2.
"It was big," said coach Mike Souza. "You know what? We thought to a man we got out-coached, we got outplayed, we got out-everythinged last night by BU. We showed up in spurts to get the game back to even, but they ultimately outplayed us and that was disappointing. Then you sit around with that sort of anxiety all day waiting to get going again and you think you're going pretty good and then you fall behind 2-0."
The Wildcats kept their composure.
"New Hampshire played very well," said BC coach Jerry York. "We had them down 2-0 in their own building and there was no sign of desperation. That's a credit to Mike."
Said Souza: "Same theme: Just stay with it, stay with it. And we did. I was happy. I was proud of our players tonight."
UNH has fallen behind 2-0, 2-0, 3-0 and 1-0 in the first period in its last three games and is 2-1-1 in those games. The Wildcats are 5-1-1 in their last seven.
"It's a huge win," said senior forward Ara Nazarian who scored the game-winner midway through the third period off a nifty bit of passing from freshman Jackson Pierson to sophomore Charlie Kelleher to Nazarian. "It's a big character win. Every guy contributed tonight, which was huge, too."
Twelve different players had at least a point for the Wildcats, who produced their first six-goal night since a 6-3 win at Rensselaer last season on Dec. 6.
Senior forward Chris Miller added an empty net goal on the power with 25 seconds left to seal it and the crowd loved it.
"It's awesome," Nazarian said. "Saturday night at the Whitt. There's nothing better. The crowd was unbelievable tonight. It's awesome that we got to send everyone home with a win."
The Wildcats hit the road for their next three games.
They are at Merrimack on Friday at 7:30, play at Maine at 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 21 - Martin Luther King Day – and then are at Connecticut on Friday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
Their next game back at the Whittemore Center is Saturday, Jan. 26 for Family Hockey Day presented by Geico.
Individual and group tickets for all Wildcat home games are available by CLICKING HERE or by calling 603-862-4000.
"We just can't get too high or too low," Nazarian said. "Last night we weren't feeling too good and obviously tonight we're feeling good. It's big momentum for us and we'll carry it into next weekend. . . . There's a ton of hockey left."
The Wildcats have 13 games remaining, all in Hockey East. For the first time this year, only eight of the 11 Hockey East teams will make the league tournament, leaving three teams out.
Saturday's win moved UNH, 7-8-6 overall and 3-5-3 in Hockey East, into seventh place in the standings. The Wildcats are two points behind UMass Lowell in sixth and four behind Providence in fifth.
They are also only one point ahead of Maine and Merrimack, who are tied for eighth and four ahead of 10th place UConn.
And here's the thing: UNH's next eight games are against teams that today are trailing them in the standings. The final five games of the season are against teams that today are in front of them in the standings.
Hold on to your seats.
HOME AGAIN
- After its next three games on the road, UNH plays six of eight games at the Whittemore Center.
- The Wildcats face UConn on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m.
- That's UNH Family Hockey Day presented by Geico.
- It will include the next giveaway in the series of UNH trading cards.
- A pair of Whiteout the Whitt games against Maine are set for Friday, Feb. 1 and Saturday, Feb. 2.
- The Friday game against Maine is presented by Unifirst and features the next in the trading card series giveaway.
- Saturday's game is presented by Kennebunk Savings and includes a white pom hat giveaway.
- Individual and group tickets for UNH home games are available by calling 603-862-4000 or at www.unhwildcats.com.
WILDCAT NOTES
- UNH is 5-1-1 in its seven games.
- Blackburn has at least one point in each of the last 11 games.
- He has six goals and nine assists for 15 points in that stretch.
- Crookshank has a point in each of the last eight games.
- He has five goals and seven assists for 12 points in that span.
- Grasso had two goals for the season going into Saturday.
- He had two in the second period, including his first career shorthanded goal.
- Senior forward Marcus Vela and junior defenseman Anthony Wyse had assists on the shorthanded goal.
- UNH has three shorthanded goals in its last two games.
- The Wildcats have four shorties for the season.
- It's the most shorthanded goals they've had since they scored seven in 2013-14.
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
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