The Terriers started the Quinn era the ideal way this weekend, earning victories over UMass and Holy Cross at Agganis Arena. Friday night, the Terriers got out to a 3-0 lead during a 7 minute span in the second period thanks to goals from Garrett Noonan, Tommy Kelley(his first collegiate goal) , and Evan Rodrigues. The Terriers were badly outshot in the game and Coach Quinn was clearly not thrilled(presser below) with the team's play overall. He certainly seemed relived to get the victory. The older guys carried the team with the freshman chipping in such as Kelley's powerplay goal which was a great shot from the slot. Captain Garrett Noonan had gotten the scoring started on a nice pass from sophomore blue liner Ahti Oksanen(+3, 4 assists on the weekend). Noonan beat UMass goalie Steve Mastarlez high blocker which is where all three goals beat him on Friday night. Kelley's powerplay goal gave BU a two goal cushion that they would not give up. Evan Rodrigues added the third goal in a seven minute span with a sweet toe drag and top shelf snipe which reminded everyone how dangerous of a scorer he can be for this team. The third period was mostly uneventful as Maguire made save after save(39 in all). Maguire certainly made it easy on his freshmen defensemen(Somerby and MacAfee) on Friday night.
Saturday night saw changes to the lineup as Coach Quinn wanted to see all of his guys in real game action. Defenseman TJ Ryan came in for fellow freshman Doyle Somerby who was a late scratch after being real good Friday night against UMass. It appears to be a lower body injury for Somerby and hopefully he will be ready to go for this weekend against two ranked teams. Ryan was joined by forwards Mike Moran and Keith Duane in their first action of the season and both looked quite good for the Terriers. Duane had his first collegiate point with a second period assist on Nick Roberto's first collegiate goal for the Terriers in the second period. It will be huge if Roberto and Kelley can regularly contribute scoring from the third line for the Terriers.
The Terriers first goal of the night was on a great stretch pass from Noonan to sophomore Danny O'Regan who got in and made Holy Cross goalie Matt Ginn look silly as he crossed him up and easily scored. Cason Hohmann added the third goal on the powerplay which was good to see that those top 6 forwards are ready to contribute in a big way. Sam Kurker struggled Friday night but I thought he was much better Saturday night. He was at the top of the crease multiple times working hard and drew a penalty with his strong play. While he didn't register a point, he certainly improved from Friday to Saturday night. Matt Lane also played better Saturday night with an assist on Hohman's goal along with being one of your best if not the best penalty killing forward you have. Matt O'Connor was very good in net as well making 21 saves on 23 shots. It is great to see both goalie start their season strong as they will each have a stiff test in RPI and Wisconsin this weekend.
3 stars of the weekend
1. Garrett Noonan 1-2-3 , +2 - Noonan was the force defensively and offensively that this team needed
2. Ahti Oksanen 0-4-4, +3- Ahti was passing the puck well and has improved in his own zone as well which could make him one of the best two way dmen in the league by the year's end.
3. OC/Maguire- The goalies were all you could have asked for in the opening weekend for a young team. They are a comfort to have back there for sure.
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