Slow starts have been a consistent issue for the UMass hockey team.

That issue again plagued the Minutemen on Wednesday night, as host Boston University led 4-0 at the end of the first period and cruised to a 6-2 Hockey East victory at Agganis Arena in Boston.

No. 19 UMass fell to 9-9-3 on the season, and just 3-7-1 in Hockey East. No. 7 BU improved to 14-6, 9-4.

The Terriers scored their four goals in the first period in a span of 7 minutes, 38 seconds. Scoreless through the first half of the opening stanza, Wilmer Skoog broke the ice with a goal at 9:29 to give the hosts a 1-0 advantage.

Luke Tuch, Quinn Hutson and Nick Zabaneh followed with goals the rest of the period, as the Terriers took a commanding 4-0 lead into the dressing room.

Matt Koopman finally got UMass on the board 6:29 into the second period, when he tallied with assists from Eric Faith and Scott Morrow to make it a 4-1 game.

BU re-established the four-goal cushion about six minutes later however, when Devin Kaplan made it a 5-1 game with 7:48 to play in the period. That tally marked the end of the night for UMass starting goalie Luke Pavicich, who was lifted in place of Henry Graham after making 21 saves on 26 shots.

The Terriers tacked on a sixth goal with 8:55 to play off the stick of Kaplan. Minuteman Michael Cameron closed out the scoring with 5:15 to play, with Ryan Lautenbach and Scott Morrow picking up the assists. 

Graham stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced for UMass.

Next up for UMass is a showdown against UNH at the Mullins Center on Sunday, with puck drop set for 3 p.m. 

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