Millan Helps BU One Up UNH

Ross Gaudet scored his second goal of the
season in the second period.
(Photo By Matt Dresens)

For the second night in a row BU's netminder, Kieran Millan has returned to the form of his freshman year. Tonight he made 38 saves including 13 in the  third period. 

After a scoreless opening period, UNH jumped out to a 1-0 lead on their first power play of the night. There was a huge scrum in front of the BU with about everyone on the ice standing in the slot. The puck found it's way on to the stick of UNH's Greg Burke who put it past Millan for his first collegiate goal.

About three and half minutes later BU tied the game on a power play goal of their own. At the point with the puck was Adam Clendening. His slap shot hit the dead center of the post and bounced into Charlie Coyle's lap who tapped it past New Hampshire's goalie, Matt DiGirolamo

BU's second came just minutes later. A bad turnover by a UNH defender lead to a semi break-a-way for BU's Ross Gaudet. Gaudet's shot looked like it hit off the leg of a Wildcat player. The deflection found it's way past DiGirolamo, five hole,  giving the Terriers their first lead in three games.

There were three plays that went to review, all being dis-allowed goals. Sahir Gill's high stick goal in the first period was called off after video review along with Alex Chiasson's strike with the net off it's pegs. The third a final one was UNH's Paul Thompson's goal that never crossed the line.

In the third period UNH dominated the Terriers. All the play was down the BU end, but thanks to Millan, The Terrier came away with the win and more importantly gained two points in the Hockey east standings. They are now in third behind BC and UNH. 

Slow Start Kills BU

Garret Noonan scored his first collegiate goal
in the first period.
(Photo By Matt Dresens)  

For the second game in a row, BU fell behind three nothing. Boston College scored three first Period goals to put the Terriers in a deep hole from the start.

Steven Whitney put the Eagles up 1-0 less then five minutes into the game. Paul Carey fond Whitney skating into the slot and hit him with a perfect pass. Whitney wasted no time a riffled one post Millan, off the post and in.

BC's second goal came on the power play. BU was caught up ice on a short handed rush. BC turned it up ice and had a 3 on 1 into the BU zone. The Eagle's Brain Gibbons scored a tap in goal after a couple of nice passes.

The Eagle's third tally also came on the power play. Brian Dumoulin, a member of the US WJC team, seemed to take a harmless wrist shot from the point. Millan never saw it through a screen and the puck found it's way into the back of the net.

After a terrible first period, BU rebounded nicely in the second scoring two goals of their own. Both goals were a result of the power play.  Just after BC got its man back BU's Alex Chiasson won a battle in the corner, then slipped a pass to Garret Noonan, who put it pass BC goalie John Muse from the top of the crease.

BU's second goal came on the power play. Chis Connolly took a slap shot from the point. It was deflected up in the air and gloved down by Charlie Coyle. Coyle gave it back to Connolly who fed David Warsofsky with a perfect one timer pass. Dave's bomb found it's way past Muse to make it a one goal game.

The third period saw both teams have their fair share of chances, all being denied by great goaltending. Milllan made some big stops to keep it a one goal game while Muse did the same.

Bu travels to NewHampshire tonight to face the Wildcats.

BC and UNH, A Weekend Preview

BU enters this weekend third in the conference standings behind both of their opponents that they will see on the weekend. UNH and BC have both been on fire as of late, although the two teams did both fall once last weekend to Dartmouth and Maine, respectively. BU, on the other hand, has been playing just ok. After getting waxed by Brown 6-1 on the first day of the month, the Terriers rebounded and went on a three game unbeaten streak before losing to Merrimack 3-2 Wednesday night. 

Chis Connolly will be a key for the Terrier to have any
kind of success this weekend. He missed both games
BC earlier this season due to a broken figure suffered in the
first period of a 4-2 win over New Hampshire. 

These two games and the following weekend's pair with Maine will likely determine if or where the Terriers will be seeded in the NCAA tournament. They will also play a huge role in positioning for the Hockey East Tournament. Remember, the top four teams in the league are rewarded with home ice in the first round of the playoffs and the top eight make the tournament.

Players to Watch 

• Cam Atkinson Boston College Forward. Atkinson leads the team in total points (28) and total goals with 17. Earlier this year he destroyed BU. He scored at least a goal a game against the Terriers this season.

•  Chris Kreider Boston College Forward. Kreider is coming off an impressive showing at the World Junior Championships. He was on a line with BU's Charlie Coyle and they both dominated on the power play. At BC he has 7 goals and 7 assist for 14 points, good for 5th best on the Eagles.  

• Brian Gibbons Boston College Forward. Gibbons is one of only three seniors on the Eagles. He is second in scoring with 27 points (10g 17a). He, like Atkinson, can score from everywhere. He has good speed and a hard shot.

• John Muse, Boston College Goalie.  Muse has 17 wins including 2 shutouts. He has a 2.16 goals against average.

• Mike Sislo, UNH forward. Sislo is second on the team in goals (9) and over all points (28) . 

• Matt DiGirolamo, UNH goaltender. DiGirolamo has played in 20 games and holds a .922 save %. 

A Mid-Week Showdown

Max Nicastro has 2 goals and 2
assists on the year so far. His last goal
came last weekend against Vermont.  

Two years ago this would have been a "penciled in win" for BU against Merrimack. This season it will be anything but. Merrimack is just three points behind the Terriers in the Hockey East standings. Also, BU is one spot higher then the Warriors in the Pair Wise rankings, in tie for 12th with Union. MC is tied for 14th with Nebraska Omaha.

Getting a boost 
BU will welcome back Max Nicastro to the line up tonight. He served a one game suspension last Saturday missing the Harvard game. He was suspended by coach Parker for tossing the net into the ref after Vermont scored on BU back on Sunday the 9th.

Players to watch 

• Stephane De Costa, Merrimack forward. Leads the team in goals with 10 points, assists with 16 and total points with 26.  
• Joe Cucci, Merrimack forward. Is 4th on the team in points with 17 (5g, 12a). He is a senior with speed and strength. 
• Joe Cannata, Merrimack goalie. Holds an impressive .924 save% along with a 2.0047 goals against average. Cannata was the main reason why BU did not come away with a win or two earlier in the season against Merrimack. 

The Last Time They Met...

was a weekend series in November. Both games ended in a tie. In the second game B had to come back from three goals down. 

Photos & Video Highlights From The Harvard Game

All Photos by Matt Dresens 

Connolly Doubles up Harvard

In only his second game back in the line up from a broken finger, the Captain Chris Connolly certainly made his mark on tonight's win, a 5-2 victory over the Harvard Crimson. Connolly's first of two special teams goals came on a power play in period one. Positioned at the face off dot left of the Harvard goal, he one-timed Corey Trivino's pass into the bottom of the net. His second was a result of some crafty defensive work. While on the penalty kill, he pick-pocketed Harvard's point man, then skated in on a break-a-way and scored on a top shelf wrister.
 

Chris Connolly makes a play on Harvard's Connor Morrison
in the third period. Connolly missed the hat trick by the
slimiest of margins, as he hit the cross bar with less
then a minute to go in the game.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Other Terriers to find the back of the net were Wade Megan, Joe Pereira; and scoring his first collegiate goal was Justin Courtnall. Courtanall's was an odd goal. The puck bounced up high in the air and hit the goalie's shoulder  then rolling on in. Meagan's was a tap in rebound and Joey's came as a result of an extremely bad turn over right in the slot by a Harvard defenseman. Pereira wasted no time and burring the mistake just seconds into the third period.

Merrimack game moved

Due to the fast approaching snow storm that will hit tomorrow, the Merrimack game scheduled for Wednesday has been moved to Tuesday the 18th, according to both the Boston Hockey Blog and a Merrimack Hockey Blog.