New Hampshire scored six power-play goals, including four in a span of three and a half minutes, to come back from a 3-0 deficit and beat Boston University, 7-4. UNH improved to 8-0 (3-0 Hockey East), while BU fell to 5-3 (1-3 Hockey East). UNH came out very sluggish in the first period. The Wildcats did absolutely nothing on their first three powerplays, but started to come alive on their last powerplay of the period. Unfortunately, by that time the Terriers had taken a 2-0 lead. Mike Pomichter took a Nick Vachon pass on the left side and fired between Jeff Levy's legs to give BU a 1-0 lead. Soon after, Doug Friedman followed up with a tap in goal to make it 2-0. John Lilly barrelled down the left side as Friedman headed for the net with UNH's Scott Morrow trying to tie him up from behind. Morrow lost him just long enough for Friedman to get his stick on the goal-mouth pass that Levy missed. A phantom high-sticking call on Wildcat Scott Malone gave BU a two-man advantage early in the second period. UNH killed most of the two-man advantage, but finally Petteri Koskimaki converted a Tom Dion pass while standing unmolested at the right crease. By this time, the crowd at Snively was completely out of the game, having very little to cheer about. UNH finally got on the board at 12:32 while on the powerplay. Joe Flanagan skated out of the left corner all alone, headed into the left face-off circle, turned and fired a blast that beat Scott Cashman. After that, referee Scott Leavitt started calling everything in sight, including some really bad calls on both teams. Both Morrow's and O'Sullivan's hooking calls were marginal at best, and the crowd at Snively started to get on Leavitt. It only got worse at 16:22 when Joe Flanagan was somehow called for slashing when he attempted to jar the puck loose from Cashman just as the whistle blew. All he hit was Cashman's stick, but several BU players converged on Flanagan, and four players ended up off the ice, with Flanagan getting the extra two minutes. Leavitt made up for it by calling Koskimaki for holding soon after. UNH scored again on the ensuing powerplay, when Savo Mitrovic took a pass from Domenic Amodeo at the point and shoved it by Cashman. As the puck dribbled by Cashman into the net, UNH's Scott Morrow entered the crease to help it along. After the goal, Terrier John Lilley blatantly and brutally cross-checked Morrow in the back and slammed him into the crossbar. Lilley picked up a five-minute major penalty that would eventually cost BU the game. UNH started the third period with 3:37 left on the major. Flanagan started the scoring fest with a *hard* blast from the left circle that beat Cashman short side. Less than a minute later, Kevin Thomson won a right-circle faceoff to Glenn Stewart who wristed it home. Fifty seconds later Domenic Amodeo put a slapshot from the left point in to give New Hampshire a 5-3 lead. Still on the powerplay, Morrow finished off the explosion by driving down the left side and cutting across the slot to backhand it by a sprawled Cashman. This effectively iced the game for UNH. The "It's all your fault" cheer never seemed more appropriate than when Lilley skated back to the BU bench in front of the UNH student section after serving his penalty. UNH freshman Gregg Blow committed a serious freshman mistake soon after. BU's O'Sullivan hit Blow a good 2-3 seconds after the whistle. Of all the things Blow could have done to retaliate, possibly the worst was the one he picked, slashing/high-sticking O'Sullivan to the head. He received a major for his trouble, but New Hampshire killed off the three minute powerplay fairly uneventfully. After the penalty expired, UNH had a bit of a letdown, letting BU control play until Friedman got his second of the night. That seemed to get UNH going again, and they defended well for the remainder of the game. Stewart picked up an empty-net goal to complete the scoring. I'm still a little worried about UNH's defense, but there's not much to say about the offense. The big four of Mitrovic, Flanagan, Amodeo, and Morrow are carrying the team. Levy has yet to have a really great game, and the defense is still a bit weak, but this team will definitely be dangerous. I would suggest that giving UNH a five-minute powerplay is not an intelligent thing to do :-) UNH hosts the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves on Wednesday night, Thanksgiving eve. Clarkson comes to town next Saturday for another big matchup. ---------------- at Snively Arena, Durham, NH Saturday, November 23 New Hampshire (8-0).........0 2 5 - 7 Boston University (5-3).....2 1 1 - 4 First period: Penalty: BU, Rich Brennan (interference), 4:11. Penalty: UNH, Thomson (roughing), 6:37. BU 1, UNH 0: Mike Pomichter (Nick Vachon, Scott Cashman), 9:48. BU 2, UNH 0: Doug Friedman (John Lilley, Jon Jenkins), 11:09. Penalty: UNH, Glenn Stewart (elbowing), 12:15. Penalty: BU, Brennan (high-sticking), 13:37. Penalty: BU, Kaj Linna (hooking), 16:49. Penalty: BU, Mark Bavis (cross-checking), 18:58. Second period: Penalty: UNH, Scott Morrow (interference), 4:09. Penalty: UNH, Scott Malone (high-sticking), 4:35. BU 3, UNH 0: Petteri Koskimaki (Tom Dion, Mike Bavis), 5:56 (PPG). Penalty: BU, Mike Prendergast (holding), 11:23. Penalty: BU, Adrian Aucion (hitting after whistle), 11:23. Penalty: UNH, Stewart (hitting after whistle), 11:23. BU 3, UNH 1: Joe Flanagan (Savo Mitrovic), 12:32 (PPG). Penalty: BU, Aucoin (cross-checking), 13:43. Penalty: UNH, Morrow (hooking), 14:22. Penalty: BU, Kevin O'Sullivan (hooking), 14:38. Penalty: BU, Linna (hitting after whistle), 16:22. Penalty: BU, Brennan (hitting after whistle), 16:22. Penalty: UNH, Flanagan (slashing, hitting after whistle), 16:22. Penalty: UNH, Mitrovic (hitting after whistle), 16:22. Penalty: BU, Koskimaki (holding), 18:05. BU 3, UNH 2: Mitrovic (Domenic Amodeo, Morrow), 18:37 (PPG). Major Penalty: BU, Lilley (cross-checking), 18:37. Third period: UNH 3, BU 3: Flanagan (Mitrovic, Amodeo), 0:58 (PPG). UNH 4, BU 3: Stewart (Thomson), 1:45 (PPG). UNH 5, BU 3: Amodeo (Frank Messina), 2:35 (PPG). UNH 6, BU 3: Morrow (Mitrovic), 3:33 (PPG). Penalty: BU, O'Sullivan (roughing), 4:05. Major Penalty: UNH, Gregg Blow (slashing), 4:05. UNH 6, BU 4: Friedman (Mark Bavis, Lilley), 11:19. UNH 7, BU 4: Stewart (Jim McGrath), 19:03 (EN). Saves: UNH, Jeff Levy 25; BU, Scott Cashman 35. Officials: Scott Leavitt (ref), J. Jones, and Wynters.