Monday, January 27, 2014

Weekend Recap- BU/UVM Split Series at Agganis, land another 2014 dman commit

The BU Terriers and UVM Catamounts split their weekend series at Agganis Arena with the home team taking Friday night's contest while UVM fought back to win Saturday afternoon's game. Friday night the Terriers got out to a lead in the second period after a scoreless first. Danny O'Regan scored the first goal as he adjusted quite nicely to wing as Coach Quinn shuffled the lineup a bit. Centerman Robbie "Carrots" Baillargeon made a great pass to O'Regan who put the puck home. UVM would later tie it up on a powerplay goal as the Terriers continued to struggle taking penalties. The Terriers would take the lead for good when sophomore Matt Lane pressured UVM defenseman Nick Bruneteau who coughed the puck up allowing Lane to race by him and roof a shot past UVM's goalie Brody Hoffman. The Terriers would open up a two goal lead on a 5 on 3 powerplay goal by Ahti Oksanen after a few near misses earlier in the powerplay. UVM would add another powerplay goal in the third but never get closer than that as Nick Roberto sealed the game with an empty net goal with less than two seconds remaining for the 4-2 win. This one was certainly a good win for the Terriers while not perfect, it was good enough. They took advantage of their opportunities when available and they will need to continue to opportunistic going forward.



The Terriers dropped Saturday afternoon's contest 6-2 despite taking less penalties and killing all 5 Vermont powerplays.  The Terriers put themselves in an early 2-0 holes before trying to climb back on another Danny O'Regan goal(highlight reel quality) mid way through the second. O'Regan attempted to pass cross ice but when the defenseman batted the puck back to him he took it from backhand to forehand and flipped it over the pad of UVM goalie Mike Santaguida all in one motion(1:30 into the highlight below). UVM would take control of the game when Chris McCarthy added a shorthanded goal(and his second of the game) after a bad turnover by Ahti Oksanen. Oksanen didn't play the rest of the night and it appeared Quinn said "he's done. No more." to Buddy Powers right after the goal happened. Oksanen is a weapon out there on the powerplay for sure but he certainly likes to take his share of chances when he is the last guy standing which can lead to a good amount of shorthanded chances which it has at times this year. Kevin Duane added his 5th goal of the year in the third but it was not enough as UVM went on to win the game and split the series.



Overall, BU played pretty similar both night. They had their legs and took advantage of opportunities Friday night and failed to do so Saturday while also making some costly mistakes. They look to get back on track Friday at UMass-Amherst which is always a tough place to play and is a game that will have an impact on the HE standings as UMass currently sits one point ahead of BU.

BU also landed it's 9th commit for the 2014 season as they landed defenseman Ori Abramson from the New Jersey Hitmen. He was enrolled at PC for the 2012 fall semester so it appears he will only have 3 years of eligibility remaining when he arrives on Comm Ave next fall. Coach Quinn and assistant Steve Greeley continue to recruit skilled defensemen who can help move the puck. The most remarkable part is the amount of depth they have created for next season. It is going from a weakness this season to a great strength. At this point the roster will stand at 27 guys minimum. The current roster has 22 players on it.

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