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Junior goaltender Drew Commesso made 40 saves for the Terriers
Boston University Tops Boston College, 3-1, to Sweep Weekend Set
Junior goaltender Drew Commesso made 40 saves for the Terriers

Box Score

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Junior goaltender Drew Commesso was outstanding, stopping 40 of the 41 shots he faced to backstop the No. 4/5 Boston University men's ice hockey team to a 3-1 win over Boston College on Saturday night at Conte Forum.

BU (19-6-0, 13-4-0 HE) scored twice in the second period to take a 2-0 lead and then added an insurance goal with 8:23 remaining in regulation to create the 3-1 final. Seniors Wilmer Skoog and Case McCarthy lit the lamp in the second while freshman Jeremy Wilmer redirected a shot from classmate Quinn Hutson late in the third to put the game out of reach.

Commesso was simply sensational on Saturday. He stopped all 22 shots he faced in the third period, including several grade-A chances, as the Eagles desperately pushed for a goal. Thirteen of his 14 saves came on the penalty kill as the Terriers held BC to a 1-for-5 mark on the power play.

Freshman Lane Hutson posted his fourth straight two-assist game and became the first defenseman in the country to reach the 30-point mark. The Hobey hopeful has totaled nine goals and 22 assists for 31 points. Another Hobey candidate, senior Matt Brown, recorded his league-leading 24th assist on Skoog's goal. Freshman Devin Kaplan and junior Dylan Peterson also recorded an assist.

The Terriers finished January on a six-game win streak en route to a 7-1-0 record for the month.


HOW IT HAPPENED

- Neither team broke through in the opening 20 minutes, marking the first period of play since the opening frame of the Terriers' win over Cornell on Jan. 14 that they failed to score.

- Skoog opened the scoring just 1:25 into the second stanza, however. The play began when junior Cade Webber retrieved a loose puck in the neutral zone and quickly played it off the wall for Brown, who beat two defenders to the middle of the ice and dished to Kaplan, who gained entry into the Eagles' end. From the right wing, Kaplan zipped a pass across the zone to Skoog, who finished the play for his 10th goal of the season.

- McCarthy extended the lead to 2-0 at the 9:22 mark of the period when he rocketed a shot from the point that Mitch Benson (22 saves) had no chance of stopping.

- The Eagles cut the deficit to 2-1 at 14:46 of the frame with a power-play goal and nearly got a second one late in the frame, but Commesso went post-to-post to stop a point-blank chance.

- Wilmer's insurance goal came with 8:23 to play. Lane Hutson began the sequence by winning back a puck from a BC player in the neutral zone and sending the puck forward to his brother Quinn. With Wilmer darting towards the net, Quinn sent a shot towards cage that Wilmer deftly redirected by Benson.

- Commesso stole the show in the third period, making all 22 saves required of him, including three in the final minute when the Eagles pulled their goalie for an extra attacker.

- Webber had two huge blocks in the final moments of the contest, including one he took off his face mask as he defended a wide-open net during a scramble.


GAME NOTES

- BU earned its first weekend sweep of BC since wins on Friday, Jan. 13 and Monday, Jan. 16, 2017.

- It's also the first time since 2016-17 that a team has won consecutive games against the other in the same season; BU won three straight over BC that year.

- Webber had seven of his team's 11 blocked shots on Saturday; he finished the weekend with 11 total blocked shots.

- Lane Hutson extended his point streak to nine games and has recorded nine points (1g, 8a) in the last four tilts.

- Wilmer's point streak is now at five games, including five points (4g, 1a) in the last three games.

- Peterson finished the weekend with four points (1g, 3a).

- Skoog has tallied four goals and one assist for five points in his last three games at Conte Forum.


UP NEXT

BU will open February with a trip to Maine on Friday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m.