NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - Sophomores Jake Wise and Jack DeBoer scored third-period goals and freshman netiminder Ashton Abel picked up the win in his first collegiate start to help the Boston University men's ice hockey earn a 3-2 comeback victory at Merrimack on Friday evening at Lawler Rink.

Down 2-0, the Terriers got on the board with a goal from freshman Domenick Fensore with 6:19 left in the second period. Wise tied it up with his first goal as a Terrier before DeBoer provided the game-winner 14 seconds later.
 
BU improves to 8-7-5 overall and 5-3-4 in Hockey East play while the Warriors fall to 5-15-2 with a 3-7-2 conference mark.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Merrimack scored the lone goal of the opening period when Ben Brar roofed a rebound at the crease at the 18:07 mark.
• The home team doubled its lead at 11:02 of the middle stanza when Regan Kimes got ahead of the defense and was able to get a shot past Abel.
• BU cut the deficit in half before the second intermission when Fensore ended the Terriers' 0-for-19 drought on the power play.
• While building up speed, Fensore took a pass from fellow rookie Ethan Phillips at center ice and sped past defenders before beating Merrimack netminder Troy Kobryn from the left dot for his third goal of the year.
• After winning a race to push the puck into the Merrimack zone, Wise headed to the net and was the beneficiary of a pass from senior Patrick Curry before beating Kobryn blocker side at 4:35 of the third.
• Eight seconds later, senior Patrick Harper put a shot off the crossbar that was deemed to have gone in, but was wiped off the board following video review.
• The reversal did not stymie the Terriers, however, as DeBoer provided the game winner six seconds after the ensuing faceoff when he knocked home a rebound at the goalmouth following a shot by freshman Case McCarthy.
• After BU took the lead, Merrimack ended up getting two power-play opportunities, but the Terriers' penalty kill was successful each time.
• The Terriers survived a late video review when Merrimack scored but had it waved off due to too many men on the ice.

GAME NOTES

• Wise had been snake-bitten for the first 31 games of his career before converting his game-tying tally.
• Abel recorded 27 saves to get the win in first NCAA start.
• Junior Kasper Kotkansalo had an assist and a career-high eight blocked shots, including seven in the third period alone.
• McCarthy had two assists for the first multi-point game of his career.
• Merrimack got a 24-save effort from Kobryn and held a slim 29-27 shot advantage.
• The Terriers went 1-for-3 on the power play and killed off all three of the Warriors' chances with the man advantage. 

UP NEXT

• The Terriers return to action on Saturday (Jan. 18) with a visit to archrival and fifth-ranked Boston College.
• Game time at Conte Forum is set for 7 p.m.
• The game will be televised on NESNplus.