NEW YORK - It is a rivalry that has spanned 82 seasons and has been one of the greatest in college hockey. It's not as if they play each other every year anymore, but each time Boston University faces Cornell, it's special. Such was the case last night, when the teams met for the first time at Madison Square Garden, their 41st overall meeting and first since 2002.
This time, BU was the better team, ending a three-game losing streak against the Big Red with a 6-3 victory.
Both teams came out with great energy, feeding off the sellout crowd of 18,200, but it was the Terriers who took command with three goals in a span of 2 minutes 16 seconds. Coach Jack Parker has been vocal about his team's lack of preparation at times this season. For example, against Harvard Tuesday, the Terriers lost in overtime and Parker said he was concerned that his team didn't know how to get up for a game.
There was no issue with that in this one, and the big stage certainly didn't hurt.
"I thought it was a fabulous venue to play in," said Parker. "It was a fabulous scene with all the red [from both sets of fans] in the building. It's the largest crowd a BU team has ever played in front of."
All three of the Terriers' early goals came at even strength.
After weathering some penalty trouble early, BU (4-7-2) got on the board at 8:50 on right wing Joe Pereira's first collegiate goal. Fellow freshman Nick Bonino dished a centering pass to Pereira, who rapped it past Cornell sophomore Ben Scrivens. Just 18 seconds later, Pereira picked up an assist when sophomore Luke Popko snapped a shot from deep in the right circle past Scrivens's glove for his third tally of the season.
BU took advantage of a sloppy line change on its third goal. Junior right wing Brandon Yip collected a loose puck, drove down the slot, and beat defenseman Jared Seminoff before lifting a shot over Scrivens's glove at 11:06.
The Big Red sent 11 first-period shots on BU sophomore goalie Brett Bennett, who was terrific. One of his best saves came at 16:57 during a Cornell power play when freshman center Riley Nash charged the net and tried to beat Bennett to the short side from just outside the crease. Bennett blocked it with his pads.
With 8:17 remaining in the middle period, Cornell (4-4) cut its deficit to a pair of goals when Nash finally solved Bennett during a power play. But the Terriers made the lead three again during a man advantage at 17:43. With sophomore defenseman Brendon Nash off for slashing Pereira on the shins, BU made the Big Red pay. Junior center Chris Higgins, skating down the far side of the right circle, sent the puck at the net and it was redirected in by senior left wing Peter MacArthur, who potted his seventh goal of the season and 50th of his college career.
BU added a fifth goal early in the third period, with Colin Wilson tipping in a Yip feed from the left circle at 1:17. But Cornell kept the pressure on with a goal by Seminoff, and added a third by Riley Nash during a two-man advantage with 3:06 left. BU closed out the scoring with an empty-netter by Bryan Ewing.
