BOSTON UNIVERSITY RALLIES TO TIE CORNELL, 3-3
Chris Connolly nets power-play goal in final minute to tie game for Terriers

Chris Connolly tied the game for the Terriers

NEW YORK - Playing in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden, the Boston University men's ice hockey team erased a two-goal third-period deficit en route to a 3-3 draw with No. 7/8 Cornell on Saturday evening in the second Red Hot Hockey contest. Sophomore Chris Connolly provided the game-tying tally on a power play with 51 seconds left in regulation for the Terriers, who earned a 6-3 win over the Big Red in the inaugural Red Hot Hockey event in 2007.

With the result, BU is now undefeated in its last three contests (1-0-2) and moves to 4-7-2 on the year. The Big Red now stands at 6-2-1.

Junior Nick Bonino tallied the first of BU's two goals in the third period and assisted on the game-tying tally, while sophomore David Warsofsky provided the Terriers' first goal of the contest and finished the night with a game-best plus-2 rating.

Cornell never trailed, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead before taking a 3-1 advantage into the third period. BU, however, got within one just over four minutes into the third on an unassisted tally by Bonino and used late Big Red penalties to come up with an equalizer.

Back-to-back infractions on the Big Red at 16:40 and 18:02 of the third gave the Terriers 38 seconds with a two-man advantage. In addition, BU pulled sophomore goaltender Grant Rollheiser to make it a 6-on-3 situation.

Cornell got through the 6-on-3, but the Terriers capitalized on the ensuing 6-on-4 to send the game into overtime. A shot by Bonino was tipped in front of the net by sophomore Vinny Saponari and puck dropped underneath Cornell netminder Ben Scrivens' legs. Scrivens thought he had the puck covered, but Connolly got his stick on it and sent it to ignite the BU portion of the crowd.

Both teams had chances in the five-minute overtime period, but Scrivens and Rollheiser were up to the task, and the teams settled for the tie. Scrivens made 32 saves, including 11 in the third period alone, while Rollheiser recorded 14 saves for the Terriers, who more than doubled up the Big Red in shots (35-17).

Sophomore Sean Whitney, brother of former Terrier standout Ryan Whitney, opened the scoring for the Big Red just over three minutes into the contest when his shot beat BU netminder Grant Rollheiser on a power play with assists going to seniors Brendon Nash and Colin Greening.

The Big Red doubled its lead before the end of the period, as junior Patrick Kennedy set up sophomore Locke Jillison on a breakaway following a blocked BU shot in the Cornell zone. With only Rollheiser to beat, Jillison snuck the puck under the goaltender's right leg at 5:27, just over two minutes after Whitney's marker.

Junior Colby Cohen was sent to the penalty box for slashing at 8:31 of the second, and before he got back on the ice, both teams had scored a goal.

With the Big Red on the man advantage, Warsofsky potted his second shorthanded goal of the season, as the defenseman rifled in a shot from the left circle that beat Scrivens blocker side at 9:01 of the middle period. Junior Joe Pereira earned an assist on the play after breaking up a Cornell pass and finding Warsofsky.

Cornell, however, reestablished its two-goal lead, scoring with just one second left on Cohen's penalty. Whitney found senior Blake Gallagher all alone above the left post and the senior converted at the 10:30 mark. Nash also assisted on the man-up goal.

Bonino started the rally in the third when he picked off a Cornell pass off the boards near center ice and started a 2-on-1 rush up the left side with Connolly on his right. The Big Red defender shut down the passing lane and kept Bonino from having a good shooting angle, but as Bonino attempted to get the puck to Connolly, the defender swung his stick along the ice and inadvertenly knocked the puck past Scrivens at 4:03.

The Terriers will return to action on Friday (Dec. 4) when they kick off a four-game homestand with a Hockey East tilt against No. 18 Vermont. Game time at Agganis Arena is set for 7 p.m.