Sunday, October 20, 2013

Weekend Recap- BU splits pair with non-conference foes

The #15 BU Terriers split their pair of weekend home games with non-conference opponents this weekend. They dropped their Friday night affair to a physical, hungry RPI team who played a solid 60 minutes to withstand BU's surges. Saturday's game was much different as Wisconsin played very little defense allowing 7 BU goals as the Terriers gained a big non-conference victory at home in front of a raucous crowd at Agganis.

The Terriers struggled to have a sustained effort Friday night against the RPI Engineers as they put themselves in a quick 2-0 hole and never full recovered as they suffered a 3-1 loss.. Defensive miscues cost the Terriers two early goals along with a few shots that goalie Sean Maguire clearly wanted back. BU picked up play in the second period but had trouble getting in the back of the net until Ahti Oksanen made a great pass to spring freshman Kevin Duane who potted his first collegiate goal. That gave the team a big jump heading into the second intermission. An early RPI goal and penalties derailed any BU comeback effort which resulted in the first loss of the David Quinn era.



Coach Quinn was less than thrilled with the effort as seen in the presser below. He certainly seemed to straighten out the offensive woes being tightening up the defensive end of the ice on Saturday night. RPI is a big physical team and those types of teams seem to present the biggest problems for this young BU team. They certainly need to improve against those types of teams as they will face a few throughout league play such as Merrimack, PC etc.




BU's offense took a turn for the better on Saturday night as the Terriers scored 7 goals on the #2 Wisconsin Badgers. Ahti Oksanen started the scoring with his first goal of the season in the first. He has been the Terriers' best player thus far this season posting a 1-6-7 line and a +5 rating through 4 games. BU potted 3 goals in both the second and the third periods to run away with a 7-3 win while making Wisconsin goalie Landon Peterson look silly in the process.

The Terriers took the lead for good early in the second on a Garrett Noonan goal early in the second. Noonan is leading by example so far this season. He is second on the team in points with 6 thus far along with a +3 rating. You couldn't ask more Noonan thus far. He won free chicken for the crowd last night too as he was a senior to score a goal. The crowd favorite Noonan is playing like a man possessed so far this year and I love it.

Robbie Baillargeon got his first career goal on a tip goal in the second period to extend the lead to 3-1. Wisconsin cut it to 3-2 after a goal by Keegan Meuer. The game changed after this point when Wisconsin sophomore Nic Kerdiles took a cheap shot at BU freshman Tommy Kelley from behind and got a game misconduct for his efforts. Kelley appaeared shaken and had a bloody nose. He returned to the game but he did not see regular ice time in the third and will be a question mark going into next weekend. Matt Grzelcyk got his first goal of the year on the ensuing powerplay which was good to see as he has struggled at times early in the season.

Mike Moran added to the scoring for the Terriers in the third picking up his first of the year on an odd man rush where he beat Peterson with a wrister. Wisconsin once again got the score to within 2 off a powerplay goal but BU quickly answered with a great goal from Matt Lane who made the Wisconsin defense his bitch, drawing a penalty and sniping on Peterson. Hohmann added the extra point for the Terriers as he scored a goal from behind the goal line. Hohmann threw the puck off Peterson's back to complete the scoring party.

Wisconsin forward took a run at Matt O'Connor(who made a number of huge saves) late in the third because he is an asshole who can't handle losing apparently. It was the right call to throw him out of the game and he should be suspended for the next game if the Big 10 had any integrity which they don't because it isn't a Big 10 game.

David Quinn. 2 D's, 2 N's, 2 non-leauge points!

Overall, Terrier fans should be real happy how the team looked Saturday night and the effort that was there both nights. This team is certainly going to be fun to watch all year long and I have no doubt in my mind that they can go to Michigan and get some wins this weekend against Michigan and Michigan State. They got solid goaltending both nights and I would expect for that to continue from both Matt O'Connor or Sean Maguire. I'll be making the trip out there so I should have a detailed recap up early next week once I get back.

3 stars of the Weekend
1. Cason Hohmann- Hohmann had a great weekend, especially with a 1-3-4 line against Wisconsin. He is also becoming a leader on this team who was one of the first guys to stick up for his teammates in a few scrums both nights. He may not be the biggest guy but he is certainly a leader on this squad.
2.  Kevin Duane- Duane recorded his first career goal Friday night on a nice move and had a real good weekend overall. The thing that stands out about Duane with me is his ability to use his stick effectively to win puck battle. For a big guy, he has a very active stick.
3. Mike Moran- Moran had a solid weekend on the 4th line bringing a physical presence and making the right plays in the neutral zone. He also added his first goal of the year on Saturday night.

-QQ

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