Coming into this weekends match-ups with BC and UNH, I think any BU fan would have been happy to take any amount of points. Both teams are ranked in the top-10 in the country, they rank 1st and 2nd in Hockey East, and are generally considered to be favorites to make the NCAA tournament at this point in the season. Let's face it folks, points are hard to come by against these types of teams. And although BU couldn't get a win or tie against arch-rival BC on Friday, they were able to sneak out a victory at UNH on Saturday night.
The contest against BC at Agganis started out exactly the way any Terrier fan DIDN'T want it to - mistakes by BU, leading to easy chances for BC - which they turned into a 3-0 victory after the first period. You could almost hear the collective groan of BU fans following the 3rd goal, as if to say "Here we go again...". Yet the Terriers weren't about to let this game turn into another embarrassing blowout on their home ice. Garrett Noonan potted his first collegiate goal off a Chiasson feed, and Dave Warsofsky pumped in a bomb on the powerplay to put the Terriers only behind 3-2 going into the 3rd period. While the Terriers were buzzing around Muse for much of the final frame, they were unable to put in that final tally and dropped the close contest 3-2. Kieran Millan kept BU in the game with 24 saves, none more impressive than what can only be described as highway robbery on one of the Hayes during the 3rd period. Kieran slid from the right post to the left post and nabbed the short range chance with his glove at the last second to keep BC from extending their lead.
Although the Terriers didn't pull out the victory on Friday, their play in the final two periods inspired confidence in many BU fans, including yours truly. They headed up to Durham, New Hampshire on Saturday to try and take 2 points from the HE leading Wildcats - and they did. UNH got on the board first during a powerplay early in the 2nd period, as Kieran Millan sprawled out to make a save and left the BU net more or less open (besides Nicastro attempting to play goalie) for UNH to score. BU knotted the score up only a few minutes later on a powerplay of their own, as freshman Charlie Coyle fended off a UNH defender, corralled an Adam Clendening rebound and slid it past UNH netminder Matt DiGirolamo. BU wasn't done with their scoring in the second, however, as Ross Gaudet scored the eventual game winner with 7:17 left in the second. Linemate Wade Megan caused a turnover at the blue line, and Gaudet fended off two UNH defenders to poke it just past DiGirolamo for the goal. To be fair, I'm not 100% sure Gaudet actually hit it in. I thought then and still think now that one of the UNH defenders, in an attempt to knock the puck loose, actually scored on his own net. Regardless, the puck went in the net and led to a Terrier victory. Kieran Millan had another spectacular night in net, stopping 39 shots and doing a great job of grabbing loose pucks and handling some tricky bounces off of lively endboards.
With the win, the Terriers now sit alone in 3rd place in Hockey East, behind BC and UNH. They are next in action with the team directly behind them in the standings, as they play two up in Maine next weekend. For now, here's this weekend's press conferences and video highlights...
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