O'Connor Backstops BU Win

Cason Hohmann celebrates after scoring
on a two on one in the first period.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Matt O'Connor played one of his more impressive nights in the Terrier net, making 37 saves in BU's 3-1 win over North Dakota. ND's lone goal scorer on the night, Rocco Grimaldi said "[O'Connor] was hot. Give credit to that guy a lot. He definitely stole the game there."

After a very even first ten minutes, BU got on the board at 9:14 of the first. Garrett Noonan from the far corner rung the puck along the boards to Matt Lane along the half wall at the hash-marks. Lane tomahawked the puck out of the BU zone to Cason Hohmann in the neutral zone. The chip sprung Hohamnn and Danny O'Regan on a two on one into the zone. ND's Nick Matson took the O'Reagn pass option out of play, so Hohmann opted to shoot himself. He beat Clark Saunders (34 saves) blocker side with a quick wrister. It was Hohmann's third of the year.

BU would double their lead on the first of two power play goals with 2:45 left in the first. Garrett Noonan got the puck at the low circle from Ahti Oksanen who was at the point. Noonan cut to the front of the net and shoveled the puck towards the goal. It pin-balled around the crease before Danny O'Regan was able to tuck it home. There was a bit of confusion because no one could see that the puck was in the goal. It was lodged between the post and the inner net padding, essentially hiding the puck from the crowd. After a quick review, it was pretty obvious that it was a goal.

North Dakota's Rocco Grimaldi
cut to the net in the first period.
Matt O'Connor made one of his
37 saves on this play.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Hohmann went down after a weird looking collision in the middle of the period. He got up holding his wrist and went right down the tunnel and never returned. Turns out, he has a pretty serious shoulder injury, something that looked to be a problem in the UConn game.

"He's going to be out for a while unfortunately," Quinn said. "I liked how we responded, but it's obviously tough when you lose your top right wing. He gets an important goal on an initial rush. He finally shoots the puck. We lost him, and we had to patchwork our lines. For us to respond the way we did, I was pleased". (From College Hockey News)

BU looked to have made it 3-0 minutes into the second frame. Mike Moran tipped home Doyle Somerby's point shot, but after a lengthy review, it was determined that Moran hit it down with a high stick. Moran certainly tried to sell the goal with an all out celebration.

BU would actually make it 3-0 on the power play five minutes into the third stanza. Nick Roberto fed Matt Grzelcyk at the point from the near half wall. Grzelcyk's long range wister found Saunder's left leg  pad. The rebound went right onto the tape of Kevin Duane's stick. Duane backhanded home his third of the year to give the Terriers some much needed insurance.

Grimaldi cut the lead to 3-1 with less than three minutes on a pro-like wrist shot. He took a pass from Mike Parks and from the middle of the circle broke up O'Connor's shutout bid. In one motion, Grimaldi corralled the pass and with no stick handling, let the shot go. It's a very high skilled play that only a few guys can pull off.

With the goalie pulled, ND created a few good chances, but in the end BU came away with a much needed two points.

The two teams will go at it again tomorrow night. Game time: 7:00pm.