Get Friared Up

If last week was a test for the Terriers, than this weekend is going to an all out war. BU will face the third ranked Providence Friars in a home in home. Tomorrow night BU will serve as the host and PC will do the same on Saturday.

From The Vault
Former Terrier Wade Megan fights through a check during a
game at PC's newly renovated Schneider Rink back in
February of 2011.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

I unfortunately wont be able to make Friday's because I am covering the Medfield High Football game at Oliver Ames at the same time. I will be down at PC on Saturday.

Scouting the Friars
Ross Mauermann leads the Friars in scouring though five games played this year. The Janesville, Wisconsin native has four goals and four assists. Tied with him for the goal scoring lead is sophomore Mark Jankowski, who has 4 goals and an assists for five points in as many games.  Nick Saracino is another player to look out for. He has yet to score a goal, but does have four assists.

In goal, PC has one of the best. Jon Gillies, who was a member of  the 2012 USA WJC team has a 3-0-1 record. In four games the South Portland, Maine native has made 133 saves on 140 shots, good for a .950 save percentage and a 1.71 GAA. 

The Last Time They Met...

January 25/26... BU 3, PC 2... BU 3, PC 3

Tuesday Take--- Week 4

Player of the week: Matt O'Connor

 Well, that could have gone better.

Overall the Michigan trip will be remembered as the weekend we couldn't hold a lead. A while back, BU had a record when leading after two periods of something ridiculous like 55-0-1. That was back in 2008-10/11, maybe, I'm not really sure; all I know is it was an impressive stretch.

This weekend was the exact opposite of that streak. Carrying a 1-0 lead deep into the third period should get you at least one point. Well, in both games BU had that 1-0 lead in that situation and came away with a pair of frustrating defeats.

It's not to say they should have won these games, though. If not for the play of both Sean Maguire and Matt O'Connor, this weekend would have been a complete debacle. BU was thoroughly out-played in both games, as both State and Michigan dominated the time of possession, shots on goals and especially scoring chances.

At points in both games BU looked flat and rather un-aggressive. It was only towards the very end of both games when the team was trying to tie the game did they really crank up the offense. It was frustrating to see them not score more goals, but 44 shots in two games isn't going to get the job done. 

Next week not only doesn't get easier, it gets a lot tougher and a lot more important. A home and home with Providence, who is up to number three in the USCHO rankings, and the first weekend of Hockey East play will truly test the young Terriers. 

At The Polls

BU fell to 18th in the USCHO Poll after the tough weekend in Michigan. Minnesota was the unanimous number one, taking all 50 first place votes. Notre Dame remained at number two. Providence (as mentioned before) is third, moving all the way up from 8th. Michigan stayed at four, and North Dakota moved up one slot from six to round out the top five.

Around Hockey East

Friday: Providence got past Miami 3-2 in overtime at home... Northeastern doubled up St. Lawrence 6-3 in Canton, New York... Lowell upended Michigan State 4-1 at Munn Arena... Maine one upped UMass at Alfond 3-2 in overtime... Boston College and Minnesota skated to a 3-3 draw in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes... Notre Dame beat Minnesota Duluth 3-2 in Duluth... BU fell to Michigan 2-1 at Yost.

Saturday: Vermont slugged Penn State 5-2 in Philadelphia... Merrimack topped Army 4-2 at Lawler Arena... Miami and Providence tied 4-4... New Hampshire was downed by RPI in Troy... St. Lawrence handed Northeastern their first loss 6-4... Lowell snuck past Michigan 2-1 at Yost... Maine steamrolled UMass 8-4 at home... Minnesota Duluth won 4-1 over Notre Dame... Michigan State came back to beat BU 3-1 at home.

Sunday: BC was torched 6-1 at Minnesota.  

A Few Photos From Last Night

Same Story, Different Night

For the second night in a row BU carried a 1-0 lead deep into the third period, but were unable to hang-on, as Michigan State scored three goals in the last five minutes to top the Terrier 3-1.

Cason Hohmann and Matt Lane work a two on one in the
second period. Earlier in the game Hohmann set up Lane
for the Terriers' lone goal, here he was stopped.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Again, BU was outplayed for the majority of the first period and had to kill several penalties. Goalie Sean Maguire turned aside 11 shots in period one and BU only managed five, but one did go in.

Cason Hohmann took a long pass from Doyle Somerby along the MSU bench at the far side of the ice. Just inside the blue line Hohmann dumped off a pass to Matt Lane and from the mid slot he beat MSU goalie Jake Hildebrand low blocker side. It was Lane's second goal of the year and Somerby's first collegiate point.

BU seemed to cary the play in the second frame, but just could not get another goal, allowing Michigan State to hang around.

With 4:56 left, Michigan State final solved Maguire, who played a very strong game. Brent Darnell threw the puck at the net from the low circle. The puck puck hit BU defenseman Garrett Noonan's skate, changed directions, and slipped through the legs of Maguire into the back of the net. It was Darnell's first of the year from Brock Krygier and Jake Chelios at 15:04.

Less than a minute later, Joe Cox banged home a rebound goal at the side of the goal. Dean and Jake Chelios picked the assists. This put State up 2-1 with little over four minutes to play.

BU had a number of good looks with Maguire pulled. One that particularly stands out was a sprawling glove save by Hildebrand off a Noonan shot. Of course that all took place before Greg Wolfe notched the obligatory empty net goal with four seconds left.

BU was outplayed pretty much the whole nigh and really didn't deserve to win this game, but its not like they didn't have chances to put it away. Overall it was a really frustrating weekend. The team posted just 46 shots in two games. To put that in perspective, Michigan had 44 shots alone Friday night.

The schedule doesn't get any easier next week, as BU will play up-start Providence in a home and home series.

Road Trip within a Road Trip

Tonight BU will trek 70miles west to East Lancing from Ann Arbor and take on the win-less Michigan State Spartans. 

- Sparty has only played Mass State schools this year and have not picked up a single point. They were swept by UMass in Amherst and lost last night at home to Lowell. 

- BU has (for whatever reason) seemed to play better on Saturday nights rather than Friday's, this year. A more aggressive attack early will go a long way in continuing that trend. Last night, BU was outshot 44-19.

- Sean Maguire will be in net for the Terriers.

Scouting the Spartans

MSU is lead offensively by defenseman Rhett Holland, who through 3 games has 3 assists for 3 points. Senior forward Greg Wolfe is the team leader in goals scored with 2. Last year's two leading scorers, Matt Berry (15-16-31) and Tanner Sorenson (13-8-21) have yet to play a game this year.

In goal Jake Hildebrand and Will Yanakeff have split the goaltending duties through three games. Hildebrand has a 3.00 Goals Against, with a 9.10 Save Percentage in 120 minutes played. He has made 61 saves and allowed 6 goals. Yanakeff on the other-hand, has allowed 5 goals on 28 shots for a 5.00 GAA and .848 SV% in 60 minutes. 

History

The 1990 NCAA tournament, which at the time was best of three formate, saw the 8 seeded Terriers travel to Munn Arena and face the #1 Michigan State. MSU won Game1 6-3, only to see BU storm back and win the next two games, both by a score of 5-3. BU would lose in the first round of the Frozen Four 3-2 against Colgate, who lost the National Championship game 7-3 to Wisconsin. In 2007, Michigan State beat BU 5-0 in the first round of the NCAA Regionals in Grand Rapids. MSU went on to win the National Championship that year, beating BC 3-1 in the Title Game.  

The Last Time They Met

October 16th, 2008... Agganis Arena. It was the championship game of the Icebreaker Invitational and BU came away with a 2-1 win. 

Photos From Last Night

Lack of Offense Leaves Michigan Ahead in the End

For 45minutes, one goal and Matt O'Connor was enough for BU to to cling to the lead vs Michigan at Yost Arena. Then everything changed.

Alex Guptill scores on a penalty shot midway through the
third period to give Michigan the lead
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Garrett Noonan was called for an iffy tripping penalty with around 15 minutes to play. Noonan went down in the aircraft carrier position (as Jack Edwards would call it) to block a centering pass. He got the puck, but then took out the Michigan player. It was certainly a tough call for the play and Michigan finally was able to cash in on the power play to tie the game. Mac Bennett set up Tyler Motte who had the entire goal to shoot at. He one-timed the pass into the net for his fourth of the year.

Michigan took the lead on a penalty shot less than two minutes later. Mike Moran was called for hooking on Alex Guptill after he broke into the zone in the clear. From where I was, it looked like all Moran did was lift Gupuill's stick, but I did not get a clear look at the replay. Nevertheless, Guptill beat O'Connor five hole on the penalty shot to give the Wolverines the lead.

BU was out played the entire night and were extremely fortunate to ever have the lead, something they got late in the first period. Noonan made a heads up pinch deep into the Michigan zone. From down in the near corner, Noonan found Robbie Baillargeon in the mid-circle. From there the freshman, who played by far his best game of the year tonight, snuck one past Zach Nagelvoort high blocker side. The goal came at 18:25.

BU managed just 12 shots the first two periods and it was not until the final minutes, when they were really pushing to tie the game did the offense actually post some scoring chances. In all, BU had 19 shots on goal. Michigan had 44.

O'Connor played out of his skull tonight. If not for him, this game could have been 12-1. Michigan even had a goal taken away in the third before the real goals were scored. A big scrum lead to the puck crossing the line, but it went over the line off a Michigan hand not a stick and thus it was not a goal.

Tomorrow night, BU will head down the road to East Lancing and take on Michigan State, who lost to Lowell 4-1 tonight.

BU Bucks Wisconsin

Tough weekend to be a Badger hockey fan, eh? After giving up nine goals the night before at Boston College, Wisconsin lost 7-3 at BU.

Ahti Oksanen gave BU the lead on the power play 8:28 into the game. Garrett Noonan got him the puck at the left and from there the Finnish born defenseman ripped a slapper past Wisconsin goalie Landon Peterson, high blocker side.

Ten minutes later, Jake McCabe tied the game on the man advantage. Nic Kerdiles and Mark Zengerle set up McCabe at the the middle point, where he shoveled a shot on goal. It was a seeing eye shot that made its way through traffic and behind Matt O'Connor. It was McCabe's second goal of the year.

Play was pretty even though the middle of the second period before a scoring free-for-all started around halfway through the frame.

Garrett Noonan drilled a one-timer, set up by Oksanen, past Peterson at the 10:28 marker and 18 seconds later Robbie Baillargeon notched his first as a Terrier to make it 3-1 BU. The Baillargeon goal came off a tip from a low Matt Grzeclyk shot.

23 seconds after Baillageon's goal, Keegan Meuer and Eddie Wittchow came down on an odd man rush and banged one past O'Connor to make it 3-2. O'Connor looked to have made the initial save sprawled out with his glove, but had the puck hit in by Meuer for his first of the year.

BU regained the two goal lead on a power play late in the second. Nic Kerdiles picked up five and a game after he destroyed Tommy Kelley from behind away from the play. BU did not look sharp at the beginning of the marathon power play, but managed to pull it together. Matt Grzelcyk scored the eventual game winner from the top of the circle. It was Grzelcyk's first of the year from Baillargeon and Danny O'Regan at 18:28, a power play goal.

3:22 into the third, Mike Moran potted his first of the year on an odd man rush. Moran was on the far side and instead of sliding it over to a teammate who was covered in the slot, Moran got off a shot that trickled through Peterson's legs, over the goal line, and into the bottom of the goal. That made it 5-2 BU and essentially put the game out of reach.

A little over six minutes later, Michael Mersch cashed in on the power play to make it 5-3.

Less than a minute later, Matt Lane shut down any hope of a Wisco comeback as he scored on spin-around shot in the lower left circle. The shot beat Peterson low glove side for Lane's first of the year. Baillargeon and Cason Hohmann picked up the assists.

Just over three minutes later, Hohmann picked up a goal of his own to round out the scoring. It was his second from Noonan and Evan Rodrigues at 13:11.

BU will head off to Michigan next weekend to face the Wolverines and Michigan State on back to back nights.

BU Battles Bucky Badger

Tonight, BU will face number 2 Wisconsin at home. Last night, the Badgers were not just blown out, but they were massacred 9-2 a couple stops up the green line at BC. The Badgers came into this weekend with a perfect record, after sweeping Northern Michigan on opening weekend.

From The Vault
BU and Wisconsin kick off the 2011 season at the Icebreaker
Tournament in St. Louis
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Scouting the Badgers
Sophomore Nic Kerdiles and senior Michael Mersch both have a 2-2-4 line through three games played  and lead the team in scoring. Mersch and Kerdiles were one/two in scoring last year, too. Mersch had 23 goals, 13 assists for 36 points in 42 games. Kerdiles, as a freshman, posted 11 goals, 22 assists to make 33 points in just 32 games. Junior Jake McCabe is easily the team's best defenseman and last year he racked up 21 points on three goals and 18 assists. McCabe was a member of the 2012 USA WJC Team that won Gold in Ufa, Russia last winter.    

In goal, Joel Rumpel and Landon Peterson have both seen time this year. Both split time last year with Rumple getting the majority of the starts. Rumple had a .929 save percentage, a 1.96 goals against and a 16-9-4 record. This year he has a .952sv% with a 1.00 GAA.

The Last Time They Met...
October 8th, 2010 in the first round of the Icebreaker Innovational held that year in St. Louis. BU (luckily) won the game 4-3. Wisco actually scored a goal late in the third period to tie the game, but the replay system was broken and the play was never reviewed. A shot beat Keiran Millan and hit the inside cross bar and it was not until I got home and watched the highlights did I fully realize it was a goal. Some times its better to be lucky than good.

History 
BU and Wisconsin have met three times in the NCAA tournament, with BU winning all three tilts. First was the in 1972 National Semi Finals. BU won 4-1 leading to their second National Championship in as many years. Skip ahead to 1978 and again the two teams met in the first round of the Frozen Four. Again, BU won on its way to a National Championship, this time 5-2. The most recent meeting was in the '94 regional in Albany, NY. BU won 4-1, but history did not repeat itself, as the Terriers lost the National Title Game 9-1 to Lake State.

RPI Engineers a 3-1 Win Over BU

Matt Lane makes a rush up ice in
the third period.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

It was a slow start that killed the Terriers and from the get go, it looked like RPI had more jump.

Just 3:25 into the game, Matt Tinordi picked up a loose rebound in the crease off a Brock Higgs shot and beat Sean Maguire right through the legs.

Before BU could even get another shot on goal, T.J. Ryan took an interference penalty at his own blue line, committing the game's first infraction. Over all, it was a really stupid penalty and not one that needed to be taken. Man did BU pay for it. It couldn't have been more than ten seconds into the power play when Ryan Haggerty one-timed Jacob Laliberte's from the left point into the bottom of goal. It was Haggerty's first of two on the night and less than five minutes into the game, RPI had a 2-0 lead.

BU looked like they had cut the lead in half in the closing minutes of the first. Cason Hohmann took a shot from the right side that bounced up over RPI goalie Sean Diebold's shoulder and seemed to cross the goal line. The play was reviewed for about ten seconds and was determined to be no goal. From where I was, it sure looked like the puck crossed the line. If that goal had counted, it would have made for a completely different game.

BU seemed to control play in the second frame, as they outshot the Engineers 16-8. After a few good looks on the power power play that resulted in more frustration, the Terriers finally got on the board with exactly one minute left in period two.

Ahti Oksanen sprang Kevin Duane in on a break-a-way. Duane was all alone from the RPI blue line and in. The freshman beat Diebold high glove side for his first collegiate goal, cutting the RPI lead in half.

It took just 1:48 of actual game time for RPI to get the goal back. 48 seconds into the third period, Haggerty (again, assisted from Laliberte) scored off the faceoff from the point to regain the two goal lead.

RPI would hold that two goal lead all the way until the final buzzer. BU had a few decent chances with Maguire pulled late but it was not nearly enough.

Tonight BU is back at it, as they host #2Wisconsin.

RPI Preview

Tonight, BU will take on RPI at Agganis as the increased non conference schedule rolls on. Last weekend, the Engineers played a pair of road games. Saturday night, they blanked Sacred Heart 6-0 at Milford Ice Pavilion and Sunday they were blown out at BC, 7-2.

After losing to BC, the bad news continued for RPI, as word got out that starting goalie Jason Kasdorf is out for a number of weeks with an injury. Kasdorf was a USCHO preseason top 10 goalie.

Scouting the Engineers
Two games into the year, RPI is lead in scoring by sophomores Mike Zalewski and Milos Bubela, along with senior Matt Tinordi, who all have a goal and two assists. Rensselaer returns a trio of juniors who were all in the top five in scoring on the team last year. Matt Neal had 30 points (8g, 22a) in 34 games, while Jacob Laliberte  posted an 11-17-28 line and Ryan Haggerty notched 12 goals, 14 assists for 26 points in 36 games played.

The absence of Kasdorf will leave junior Scott Diebold in net. Diebold made 7 saves in 17 minutes against BC last weekend and a year ago he had a 2-4-1 record with 3.22 goals against average, an .873 save percentage in 354 minutes.

Switching It Up
Tommy Kelley will be on the top line with Evan Rodrigues and Danny O'Regan, while Robbie Baillargeon will move down to the second line with Matt Lane and Cason Hohmann.

It is still unknown who is in goal, but I have a have a feeling it will be Maguire, based on the rotation.

Quick Hits From The Weekend

I'd love to go into an in-depth look at this past weekend, but unfortunately I was not at Saturday's game vs. Holy Cross, so I can't really add much there. Anyway here are a few quick thoughts.

Both Ahti Oksanen and Sean Maguire were named "stars of
 the game" on Friday.
(Photo by Matt Dresens) 

Ahti way Kid
Sophomore Ahti Oksanen was a major standout out on Friday night. The Finnish born defenseman had a hand in all three goals Friday and added another assist Saturday. It's not the points, though, that really stood out. It was his confidence with the puck and where to go with it. Both of these looked to be missing last year. I wouldn't underestimate the fact that he moved from Finland and had to completely change his entire life. A little time to learn the "American way" in both life and hockey seems to be paying dividends for Oksanen.

Getting Their First
Three Terriers found the point column for the first time in their collegiate careers this weekend. Tommy Kelley and Nick Roberto both scored goals and Kevin Duane added an assist. Both Kelley and Roberto scored in the exhibition game vs. St. Francis last weekend, but of course those don't actually count as real goals. Duane registered an assist on Roberto's goal.

Staying Consistent
The 1st, 2nd ,4th, and 8th leading scorers from last year are picking up where they left off. Danny O'Regan, Cason Hohmann, Evan Rodrigues, and Garrett Noonan all had goals this weekend. The key to this year will be upper-classmen leadership and scoring and so far (yes, it's only been one weekend) they are getting it.

At the Poles
USCHO: Miami was this week's new number one after former number one Lowell lost to Sacred Heart on opening night. Wisconsin (who will be at Agganis on Saturday night) jumped up one place from third to second. Minnesota moved up two slots to three from five. Notre Dame leap-frogged from 8th to 4th and Michigan slid all the way up to 5th from 11th to round out the top five. Lowell is now 9th. BU moved up 4 slots from 19 to 15.

Around Hockey East
Thursday: Boston College lost at Michigan 3-1.

Friday: New Hampshire rolled past Clarkson in the opening round of the Icebreaker Invitational 4-1 in Minnesota... Northeastern pummeled Alabama Hunstville 9-1 at Matthews... Providence torched Minnesota Mankato 5-1 at home... Maine fell at St. Lawrence 3-1... Sacred Heart upset #1Lowell 2-1 at Tsongas Center... Notre Dame blanked Western Michigan 4-0 at Family Arena... Vermont allowed North Dakota to come back and win 5-3 at the Ralph... Merrimack was shutout 1-0 at Denver... BU got by UMass 3-1 at home.

Saturday: Northeastern finished the sweep of UAH at home with a 3-2 win... Providence completed the sweep of Mankato State after a 3-0 victory... Maine was swept by St. Lawrence after a 5-2 loss... Lowell cruised past UMass at home... Notre Dame again blanked Western, this time on the road 3-0... New Hampshire lost the Icebreaker Invitational Championship game at Minnesota 3-2... Vermont and North Dakota skated to a 2-2 tie... Denver again shutout Merrimack, this time 4-0... BU upended Holy Cross 3-2 at Agganis.

Sunday: Boston College steam-rolled Rensselaer 7-2 at Conte.

Second Period Breakout Puts BU Past UMass

For the first time in 41 years, someone other than Jack Parker was credited with a coaching victory for Boston University. Tonight, David Quinn became that "someone" as BU topped UMass 3-1 at Agganis.

Evan Rodrigues scores BU's third goal of the second period.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

The first period was scoreless, but that doesn't mean there were not chances. BU had a five minute power play that was soon wiped out by a Sam Kurker penalty. UMass had some solid chances as well on the man advantage, but Sean Maguire was up to the task.

It didn't take long into the second for the Terriers to find the back of the net. Ahti Oksanen and Evan Rodrigues helped set up Garrett Noonan from the high slot. From there the Captain took two steps and fired a low wrister that found it's way through traffic and inside the left post past Steve Mastalerz. This marks the second straight year a defenseman has scored the first goal of the year. Ryan Ruikka did it last year vs Providence.

A little over five minutes later, BU doubled their lead off a perfectly set up power play. Oksanen found Cason Hohmann in the far low circle. Hohmann from there made a quick pass through the UMass box to Tommy Kelley right in the middle of the slot. Kelley wasted little time getting the shot off, beating Mastalerz top shelf for his first collegiate goal.

Two and half minutes later, Evan Rodrigues pulled off a highlight real move to essentially put the game away. He carried the puck through center ice before getting to the top of the right faceoff circle. At the point, he undressed UMass's Ben Gallacher with a sweet toe-drag move. In the same motion, he ripped a shot off that picked top left on Mastalerz. The goal was very similar to the one he scored against BC in the Hockey Semi's last spring.

UMass out-played BU for large portions of the third period, specifically after they killed off a lengthy 5 on 3 early in the frame. Sean Maguire really came up big a some crucial situations, making some key saves.

The Minutemen finally broke up Maguire's shutout bid with 9:36 to play. Freshman Setven Iacobellis scored on a low shot after a power play set up by Adam Phillips and Colin Shea. It was his first collegiate goal.

BU nearly scored on the empty net twice and had to kill off two late penalties to preserve the W, but all in all, it was a good start to the season. Tonight, BU will take on Holy Cross at Agganis. I wont be there, as I will be down the Green Line a few stops at Fenway to catch the Red Sox playoff game.

UMass Preview

Tonight. It's Here. The season opener and the start of the David Quinn era.

BU will play host to UMass starting at 7:30 at Agganis Arena. It is still unknown who will be in net for BU tonight, but I have a feeling it will be Sean Maguire, simply because he was the starter in the exhibition game.

From The Vault
Matt Lane drives around the net in last February's match-up
at the Mullins Center.
(Photo by Matt Dresens) 

BU has just five seniors and two juniors on the roster, easily one of the youngest team in recent memory and if not program history. UMass on the other hand has nine seniors and five juniors.

Scouting UMass
The Minutemen return their top three scorers from last year. Senior Branden Garcel had team high 14 goals, 20 assists and 34 points a year ago. Connor Sheary posted 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points in 34 games played. Mike Pereira finished one point behind Sheary with a 13-13-26 line.

In goal we will most likely see Steve Mastalerz, a junior from North Andover. Last year in 15 appearances he racked up a 4-8-1 record with a 2.96 goals against average and an .898 save percentage.  

The Last Time They Met
February 1st, 2013... UMass 5, BU 1... Mullins Center... Ben Rosen scored the lone BU goal.

My Take Monday

Saturday was the first look we all got at the new look Terriers, as they defeated St. Francis Xavier 2-1 in an exhibition game. BU picked up goals from two freshman, Nick Roberto and Tommy Kelley, and was back-stopped by a strong goaltender performance by Sean Maguire, Anthony Moccia and Matt O'Connor.

Yes, it's nice to win these game, but there were still a lot of things that could have gone better. BU had three 5 on 3 power plays and failed to score on any of them. The power play as a whole went one for nine and really did not look good. It seemed at times the team was trying to make too many passes. I'm all for a good set up with a tic-tac-toe slam in goal, but after it doesn't work the first five times, change it.Take a few more shots and try and bang in a rebound goal (it seemed to work for Roberto, just saying).

In addition I thought there were a few opportunities for one-timers. I think it was Grzeclyk in the second period with the one instance I have in mind. If he hadn't set up for a wrister and instead took a one-timer, I think it would have gone in, or at least created a better scoring chance.  

Clearly the power play needs some work, but we all do need to remember there are nine freshmen on the team and a new coach. Things are going to take time to mesh.

Around Hockey East
Saturday: Lowell and McGill tied 3-3 at Tsongas Center... New Hampshire skated past Acadia 6-3 at home.. Northeastern blanked Dalhousie 5-0 at Matthew's... Vermont shut out Ottawa 7-0... BU got by St. Francis Xavier 2-1.

Sunday: Boston College torched St. Francis 8-2 at Conte... Vermont rolled past Ottawa 4-1 in Burlington... Maine topped Dalhousie 5-1 at Alfond... Merrimack and McGill tied 1-1 at Lawler Rink.. Notre Dame beat Guelph 5-2 at Family Arena.

Roberto, Kelley Put BU Past X-Men

Wow, what a strange game. How many times do you see two teams combined have 16 power plays yet, there are only three goals scored in the entire game. BU had three 5 on 3 power plays and capitalized on none of them. They did have a few good looks and St. Francis goalie Drew Owsley made a few decent saves, but other than that it was typical "October hockey" on the pp for both teams.

Anthony Moccia saw action in
for the first time in his BU career
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

BU went 1 for 9 on the man advantage, while the X-Men struggled their way to 1 for 7 on the power play.

Some of the calls (both ways) were ridiculously soft and some were just the flat out wrong call.

Oh, and then there was the Jake Moscatel incident. After completely upending an X-Men skater near the blue line, Moscatel got into it with StFX's Zack MacQueen. It escalated to the point where Jake took his helmet off (something your not even allowed to do in the NHL anymore) and dropped the gloves. MacQueen (who is allowed to wear a half shield) looked very confused at the whole situation and the refs stepped in before any real punches were thrown. Had this been a "real" game, Jake would have been tossed on the spot. Instead, tonight he got two minutes for roughing which canceled with MacQueen's roughing call, and only had to serve a two minute instigator call. 

I didn't even know there was an instigator penalty in college and really, what did he instigate if there was no fight?

Anyway, BU got on the board long before Moscatel goon-squaded the game. Freshman Nick Roberto pick up some loose change in front of the net on the power play and was able to beat a sprawling Owsley with a quick roof shot. Fellow freshman Robbie Baillargeon and Danny O'Reagn picked up the assists at 15:27 of the first period.

St. Francis was quick to respond, as Rob Slaney beat Sean Maguire to the right side on a rebound. It was a power play goal at 17:02.

The second period was chalk full of penalties and at points, it was hard to remember what five on five hockey looked like. The one bright spot out of that period was third string goalie Anthony Moccia. Moccia stopped all seven shots he faced in the first action in his BU career. 

The game looked like it was destined for overtime and a tie and how could you not think so. No team could score on their plentiful power play chances. 

It took a a really flukey goal, but nevertheless BU took the lead at 17:07 of the third period. Matt Grzeclyk dished the puck to the top of the zone, where Tommy Kelley took a spin around slapper. The puck was on edge and seemed to knuckle past Owsley and into the goal to give BU the W. 

BU killed off a late StFX PP behind a couple strong saves by Matt O'Connor who kicked aside seven shots in total.  

The real season begins next Friday when the Terriers host UMass in the season opener.

Hockey Is Back

Garrett Noonan was named
captain of the 2014 squad.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Yes, final there is a hockey game to go to! Tomorrow night BU takes on St. Francis Xavier in the lone exhibition game of the year. Expect goalie Sean Maguire and Matt O'Connor to split playing time in net In addition, the team will dress 13 forwards and 7 defenseman.

These two teams played two years ago in the fall of 2012 with SFX winning 6-4. Two years prior to that the two teams tied 2-2, both games were at Agganis. 

SFX has already played  a few game this year. Last night they defeated Aigles Bleus de Moncton 4-2 to improve to 3-1-0 on the year. Two goalies played for the X-men in that game: Drew Owsley and Morgan Clark, they combined to make 39 saves. I would expect them both to play tomorrow night. There were no stats on the players from SFX on their website.

-- Today, Garrett Noonan and Patrick MacGregor were named co Captains. Noonan wore the "A" last season, MacGergor was not a captain last year. Apparently he took some big steps over the off-seaosn and really became a leader. I guess we will see.

-- Forward Jake Moscatel will miss the game do to a sickness. 

In Other News
Former Terrier Alex Chiasson scored the first goal of the year for the Dallas Stars last night. Dating back to last year, Chiasson has scored 7 goals in 8 games in the NHL.