Oct. 19, 2008

With The BU Blog in full swing, the first in-game blog will take place on Sunday (Oct.19) when the fifth-ranked men's ice hockey team heads north to take on No. 6 New Hampshire in a big early-season showdown. The game will be broadcast live nationally on ESPNU.

Check back to this page throughout the game for live updates from Whittemore Center.

4:27 p.m. - The teams just hit the ice for the pre-game warm-ups. Here is BU's lineup:

Higgins - Wilson - Lawrence
Connolly - Bonino - Yip
McCarthy - Trivino - Vin. Saponari
Glass - Popko - Pereira

Strait - M. Gilroy
C. Cohen - Shattenkirk
Warsofsky - Gryba

Rollheiser in goal

4:32 p.m. - Today's game is the third of a season-opening four-game homestand for the Wildcats. A notable omission from the UNH lineup is sophomore forward Danny Dries, who has two assists so far this season after tallying 28 points (11g, 17a) as a rookie. No word on why he is not dressing. Here's the Wildcats' lineup:

Pollastrone - LeBlanc - Butler
Collins - Fortney - Moses
van Riemsdyk - DeSimone - Sislo
Manz - A. Thompson - P. Thompson

Fritsch - Charlebois
Kapstad - Kessel
Krates - Beck

Foster in goal

4:42 p.m. - The Terriers will be looking to continue an interesting trend, as the road team in the BU/UNH series is 9-1-4 in league play since the start the 2003-04 season. That record does not include UNH's 4-3 neutral-site victory at Verizon Wirless Arena on Nov. 5, 2004.

4:47 p.m. - As expected, the UNH student section is full and the rest of the stands are starting to fill in. With the Red Sox game not starting until 8 p.m. and the Patriots playing on Monday night, one would think that the Whitt will be pretty packed for the 5 p.m. start.

4:55 p.m. - This Hockey East tilt is the only Division I game being played today, and in regards to the national rankings, it's the marquee match-up of the week. No other contest this week featured two teams both ranked in the top 10.

5:03 p.m. - After opening the year with a perfect three-game homestand, this evening's game is the Terriers' first road contest of the season. BU is winless in its last six road openers.

5:05 p.m. - The puck has dropped and it only took 13 seconds for the first penalty to occur. BU is on the power play following a minor on UNH's Joe Charlebois for contact to the head - high-sticking.

5:08 p.m. - The Charlebois penalty has expired, but the Terriers have looked pretty good adjusting to the Olympic-sized ice sheet here at Towse Rink.

5:13 p.m. - The BU women's ice hockey team also played the sixth-ranked team in the country today. Despite jumping out to a 2-0 lead against St. Lawrence at Walter Brown Arena, the Terriers settled for a 2-2 tie. BU, however, won the shoot-out, 2-1.

5:17 p.m. - UNH is on its first power play of the game following an ill-advised hitting after the whistle call on BU's Joe Pereira.

5:21 p.m. - Just 38 seconds after getting out the penalty box, Pereira is back in after a hooking call. Eric Gryba joined him less than a minute later, resulting in a 1:09 5-on-3 advantage for the home team.

5:24 p.m. - Just as Pereira got out of the box, the Wildcats got on the board first as sophomore Phil DeSimone tucked a shot underneath Rollheiser's left pad on assists from James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Kapstad at 11:58.

5:30 p.m. - Another 5-on-3 chance for UNH. Penalties 15 seconds apart on seniors John McCarthy (hooking) and Brandon Yip (interference).

5:33 p.m. - The Terriers killed both penalties and quickly generated a chance for Colin Wilson in transition in the left circle, but his slapshot destined for the top right of the net was stopped with a nice glove save by Foster.

5:36 p.m. - BU is on its second power play of the night after Charlebois returned to the box on a hooking call at 18:36.

5:38 p.m. - The first period is in the books. UNH leads, 1-0, and has a 13-7 lead in shots. The Terriers will enter the second period with 37 seconds still left on their power play.

5:55 p.m. - Second period is underway. The Terriers' power play expired and the teams are back to full strength.

5:57 p.m. - UNH's goal was the first first-period goal BU has allowed this season. The second period has been a productive one for the Terriers so far, as half of their 12 goals have come in the middle stanza.

6:00 p.m. - Just when BU got things going with some good even-strength looks, Brian Strait got whistled for cross-checking at 3:45. Penalty-killing unit is back on the ice.

6:02 p.m. - UNH scored on the power play, doubling its lead following a bad line change for the Terriers. van Riemsdyk wristed a shot past Rollheiser at 5:32 on an assist from Kapstad.

6:04 p.m. - The Terriers have a great chance to cut into the 2-0 deficit with a 1:26 two-man advantage following UNH penalties to Paul Thompson (high-sticking) and Kapstad (contact to the head - high-sticking).

6:08 p.m. - The Wildcats killed off the 5-on-3, but Jerry Pollastrone was sent to the box at 9:39, resulting in another BU power play.

6:16 p.m. - The whistles just keep on coming. UNH was charged with three penalties in a span of over two minutes and BU finally cashed in. Senior Jason Lawrence tallied a 5-on-3 goal at 13:06 following some nice passing by Colin Wilson and Colby Cohen.

6:21 p.m. - We're finally back to full strength. Lawrence nearly tied it up, but was robbed by Foster right in front of the crease with just under four minutes left in the period. BU is outshooting UNH by a commanding 16-1 margin in the second.

6:25 p.m. - Second period is over. The final shot count in the stanza was 18-1 in BU's favor. UNH's lone shot, however, is the difference right now, as it was van Riemsdyk's goal.

6:41 p.m. - The third period is underway with the Terriers trailing, 2-1. Senior Matt Gilroy and assistant coach Mike Bavis were both interviewed by ESPNU during the second intermission.

6:49 p.m. - If you didn't think that the two-referee system would change the way the college game would be played this year, think again. There were a combined 16 penalties called in the first two periods and all three goals thus far have been scored on the power play. It's obvious in the early stages of the third that both teams are thinking twice about playing aggresively.

6:55 p.m. - BU is back on the power play after a cross-checking penalty on Charlebois. A great feed from sophomore Nick Bonino to freshman Chris Connolly resulted in another nice save by Foster.

7:00 p.m. - Nine minutes left in regulation with the Terriers still looking for an equalizer. After an odd-man rush resulted in a wide shot on a good look by Yip, Rollheiser made a tricky glove save on the other end to keep it a one-goal game.

7:02 p.m. - The Terriers' comeback chances took a hit following a hooking call on Chris Higgins with 7:51 left in the third. Things didn't get better when Yip joined him after a slashing call 66 seconds later.

7:07 p.m. - Rollheiser kept the Terriers alive with some nice saves during the penalty kill, and his save total now stands at 22 for the game. Four-and-a-half minutes left and we're at even-strength.

7:12 p.m. - The Terriers pulled Rollheiser with 1:24 left in regulation. One of the referees noticed that there were six men on the ice for BU and tried to call a penalty - only to watch the Terrier bench point to the open net.

7:14 p.m. - Game over. UNH holds on for the 2-1 victory. BU threatened in the final seconds, but the Wildcat defense was up to the task and the Terriers suffer their first loss of the season. Final shot totals: BU 32, UNH 24