Boston – Matt Jurusik played well enough to keep the Wisconsin men's hockey team right with No. 6 Boston University on Saturday night.
 
But after the Badgers (0-2-2) scored less than two minutes into the opening period, they couldn't find the back of the net again to support Jurusik's strong performance in a 4-1 loss to the Terriers (1-1-0) at Agganis Arena.
 
"I think his teammates looked at him tonight with a whole new appreciation because he stepped up to the plate," Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said of Jurusik's play. "And that's a good sign for us because one of the questions we need to answer is who's going to be our starting goalie."
 
A night after allowing a goal in the first minute to Boston College, Wisconsin was the team with the quick start in the finale of the Boston road trip. UW sophomore forward Adam Rockwood slipped a shot past BU's Connor LaCouvee just 1:22 into the opening period to start the scoring and give Wisconsin the 1-0 lead.
 
From there, the freshman goaltender Jurusik did all he could to keep the Badgers ahead. In the first period alone, Jurusik came up with 16 stops, which was just six shy of his three-period total last Saturday night against Northern Michigan.
 
The Terriers continued to pepper Jurusik in the second period, with most of their damage inflicted while UW was shorthanded for a bulk of the middle frame. Wisconsin took four penalties during the second period, leading to four power-play opportunities for BU and 13 shots on goal.
 
"It's a young group and they did a pretty good job with the penalty killing," Eaves said. "We had a lot of opportunities to kill penalties tonight, and for the most part we did a pretty good job."
 
With Wisconsin shorthanded numerous times throughout the first two periods, Jurusik and the Badgers' penalty kill did the best they could to bend without breaking. But after BU's Matt Lane beat Jurusik 1:36 into the second period to knot the score at one, the Terriers finally capitalized on the power play a few minutes later to take the lead for good.
 
It took until BU's fifth power play of the game, but Brandon Fortunato put one past Jurusik with 10:56 to play in the second to give his team the 2-1 advantage.
 
Wisconsin managed to kill off another two penalties in the remaining period and a half, but BU scored twice at even strength in the third period to put the game out of reach.
 
After allowing 35 shots between the first two periods, the Badgers did clamp down defensively in the third. Wisconsin allowed just seven shots on goal during that final frame. But on the other end of the ice, UW continued to have trouble creating scoring chances, finishing with just 18 shots on goal.  
 
"One of the things that you look at even before you look at goals is the fact, are you creating chances? Obviously, when you only have 18 shots that's not enough," Eaves said. "But we spent a lot of time on the other end killing penalties."
 
Despite the loss, Jurusik finished with the most saves by a freshman goaltender since Joel Rumpel had 39 on Oct. 29, 2011.
 
Wisconsin is back on the road next weekend, as the Badgers head to Grand Rapids, Michigan for the first time in program history to take on Ferris State in a two-game series.