Winning weekend for Wildcats

BU goalie Brett Bennett and UNH's Danny Dries end up in the net, but Terrier Brian Strait and the puck manage to stay out. (Justine Hunt/Globe Staff)

James VanRiemsdyk scored off a scramble in front at 4:49 of the third period to break a 3-3 tie and Jerry Pollastrone redirected a puck home at 14:31, lifting New Hampshire to a 5-3 victory over Boston University last night in front of 6,024 at Agganis Arena, and a sweep of the two-game weekend series.

BU, which lost to UNH, 4-2, Friday night at the Whittemore Center, dropped to 7-13-4 overall and 6-8-3 in Hockey East, extending its winless streak to three games (0-2-1), while the seventh-ranked Wildcats (15-7-1, 11-4-1) have won six of their last eight and remain atop the conference.

"I thought the guys played hard all weekend," said UNH coach Dick Umile. "I thought the power play did a much better job and the penalty killing was great. The team competed hard. It was a great weekend for our team. I thought we got a lot from a lot of people."

The Wildcats went up, 1-0, on their first power play. With BU defenseman Eric Gryba off for tripping, UNH captain Matt Fornataro dished a centering pass to Mike Radja, who buried a shot past goalie Brett Bennett from the left side of the crease at 1:52. It was Radja's 12th goal of the season.

The Terriers had an opportunity to pull even when UNH sophomore left wing Peter LeBlanc was assessed a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for punching BU's Ryan Weston, but the home team couldn't convert.

The Terriers tied it at 4:27 of the second, the result of a fortuitous bounce. Freshman defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who was positioned at the left point, fired the puck in the direction of the net but it missed to the left of the cage, bounced off the end boards, and ricocheted near the right post. Freshman left wing Nick Bonino rapped it past Kevin Regan and it was all square.

The Wildcats regained the lead two minutes later. Fornataro, on a give-and-go, raced up the right side of the ice with the puck, sending a pass from the top of the right circle to Radja in the slot. Radja beat Bennett at 6:35 for his second goal of the night.

Radja also was instrumental in UNH's third goal, taking advantage of another penalty on Gryba. Junior defenseman Kevin Kapstad sent a long lead pass from his own blue line to Radja. Radja drove into the right side of the BU zone, dropping a backhanded pass. The puck hit a Terrier defender before bouncing onto the stick of freshman left wing Danny Dries, who roofed it from deep in the right circle at 12:09 to make it 3-1.

The Terriers rallied for a pair of goals less than a minute apart to pull even again. At 15:42 during a power play, Shattenkirk found freshman center Colin Wilson with a lead pass and Wilson took a shot that was stopped in front. He got to the rebound, however, and beat Regan. At 16:22, freshman left wing Joe Pereira potted BU's third goal. Pereira took a pass from junior left wing Jason Lawrence and raced in alone on Regan. He switched from his forehand to his backhand and his shot nicked off the left post before finding the back of the net. Pereira crashed into the net and required stitches.

With the Terriers trailing, 5-3, BU coach Jack Parker pulled Bennett for an extra attacker with 2:39 left, but the Terriers were called for too many men on the ice at 18:36, at which time Parker was penalized for arguing the initial call.

"We acted like we were disinterested in the third period," said Parker, whose squad is a woeful 2-6-1 at home. "Before we went out for the third period, there was absolutely no emotion, you'd think we'd be all jacked up. It's almost as if they were waiting to lose. Sad display by my team tonight. Great display by UNH. Without question, the best team won because of effort."

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.

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