Wildcats Claw Terriers

The University of New Hampshire defeated Boston University 4-2 in a Hockey East contest at the Whittemore center on Friday night.

Defensemen Craig Switzer and UNH captain Matt Fornataro had a goal and an assist for the Wildcats. Kevin Regan had 28 saves on the night, breaking the schools current win record with 59.

With the game tied at two in the third period, defensemen Kevin Kapstad took the puck from the blue line skated up and scored beating Boston University goaltender Brett Bennett. The goal by Kapstad was his third in as many games.

“Kevin is playing extremely well for us right now. He’s an offensive threat,” said coach Dick Umile of Kapstad’s recent play.

The Terriers had a good opportunity at the end of the first period when they found themselves having a 5-on-3 power play. After the two man advantage, they were once again on the power play when Jamie Fritsch was called for high sticking. Regan turned away all seven BU power play shots.

“Besides on the power play I liked my redline tonight. MacArthur, Ewing, and Wilson…I thought they gave us a real good effort,” BU coach Jack Parker said.

UNH’s Bobby Butler scored the first goal of the game. Butler received a pass from Switzer, who got the puck past Bennett for the goal. The Wildcats scored on the power play when Brandon Yip was in the box on an interference call. Switzer took a shot from the slot, and scored. Mike Radja and Fornataro had assists on the goal.

BU made it a 2-1 game when Bryan Ewing scored a power-play goal off a rebound from Kevin Shattenkirk’s original shot at 15:27.

Midway through the final period, BU co-Captain Pete MacArthur scored to tie the game. Ewing‘s shot bounced off of MacArthur into the net. Kapstad then had the unassisted goal to break the tie at 13:42. After the goal, the terriers had two power play opportunities, but were unable to convert. Boston University pulled Bennett in favor of an extra skater, but Fornataro cleared the puck from the zone and scored the empty net goal for the 4-2 final.

“Obviously I’m pleased with the outcome, the win. I just liked the way the guys competed. They played hard, they played tough and I think that’s something that we’ve been asking ourselves as of late and I thought the team came out and played a good game against a tough BU team. There was a lot of skill out on the ice and both teams played well, so the game was up for grabs in the third period, and a great play by Kevin Kapstad for the win,” Umile said.

“The teams are evenly matched and it’s a competition out on the ice and we got the edge tonight. We will go down tomorrow and get back at it again.”

New Hampshire improves to 14-7-1 overall and 10-5-1 in the conference while Boston University is now 7-12-4 and 6-7-3. The two teams finish the home and home series tomorrow night at Agganis Arena. The game will be televised on NESN.