Senior Week: Matt Ronan

This is the first in a series of posts about BU's 2014 Senior Class. Be on the lookout for a new post each day, culminating with captains Pat MacGregor and Garrett Noonan at the end of the week.

                                                                               Photo by Michelle Jay/DFP staff

From the first time he laced up the skates, Matt Ronan was always destined to be a Terrier.


Prior to the 2010-2011 hockey season, Ronan was considering his junior league options when he learned he could walk-on to the hockey team at Boston University. The decision was an as easy one for the lifelong Terrier. As he told us in our exclusive interview in 2012,  Ronan was part of the Terrier hockey family for "as long as he could remember."  His cousin Ed Ronan graduated from BU the year after he was born and his brother Dan later played for legendary BU coach Jack Parker as well. 

Ronan attended Belmont Hill High School and put up solid numbers in his senior season( 9-10-19). He then moved on to the Valley Jr. Warriors of the Eastern Junior Hockey League where he tallied 12 points (6 goals and 6 assists) in 39 games. Ronan was a freshman on the 2010-2011 BU hockey team and saw his first action in the IceBreaker Championship victory over Notre Dame. Ronan was an even +/- on the night as he played RW alongside classmate Sahir Gill and sophomore Justin Courtnall.

Season ends in South Bend

The BU Terriers dropped a hard fought 3-2 game to Notre Dame on Saturday in South Bend which meant the conclusion of their season. Notre Dame got out to a 1-0 lead off a Bryan Rust goal where he made a nice move to beat Matt O'Connor midway through the first. He got in on O'Connor after a blueline turnover by Ahti Oksanen. Notre Dame's captain and resident pest Jeff Costello beat Matt O'Connor 5 hole right at the conclusion of a ND powerplay to make it 2-0 in the second. It appeared O'Connor was screened on the shot. BU would get back in it on a great play by Evan Rodrigues who shoved his own rebound past ND goalie Steven Summerhayes to make it 2-1 going into the third. ND would extend the lead to 3-1 on a laser of a shot by Peter Schneider after he got a break up the right wing after a lofted puck bounced over Doyle Somerby's stick. BU would give themselves a chance when Robbie "Carrots" Baillargeon scored on the powerplay with a little over 5 left in the third. BU got the powerplay opportunity after ND goon Stephen Johns ran Garrett Noonan from behind. He was called for charging but should have been tossed in my opinion. He should have been called for charging, interference, hitting from behind, and boarding yet he was only given a two minute minor penalty. BU captalized on the ensuing powerplay but couldn't get the equalizer  and finished the season 10-21-4. The effort was there once again but a few costly mistakes ended up costing them a chance to move on to the QF round of the Hockey East Tournament.

It is certainly never fun when your season ends with anything less than a NCAA championship trophy but there were certainly plenty of positives to this season. The younger players gained invaluable experience due to the lack of depth on the roster and the team still beat some very good teams. The 2013-2014 BU Terriers had 70% of their wins come against teams in the top 15 of the pairwise rankings. This team battled night in and night out and certainly left fans nothing to complain about when it came to effort. This season will be a building stone for the future as the players and coaches seemed to only get better as the season progressed.

Weekend Preview- The Catholic School Knockout Tour Begins- Phase 1

The BU Terriers being their postseason play tomorrow night in South Bend, Indiana against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The Terriers return to Compton Family Ice Arena where they swept by identical 2-0 scores two weeks ago. Those games mean nothing now as the opening round of the Hockey East Tournament is single elimination. It only takes one good game or possibly one bounce to win and move on. The Terriers had opportunities two weeks ago that they failed to cash in on. That will need to change this weekend as every guy who touches his ice needs to elevate his game and build off the BU sweep of Northeastern last weekend.

David Quinn told the Boston Hockey Blog that Matt O'Connor would get the start in net as fellow sophomore goalie Sean Maguire was out of practice last week with an upper body injury. This is one of the situations where it is great to have two very good goalies. Maguire picked up the team when OC suffered a collapsed lung and missed the playoff run last year. We don't know the severity of the injury but O'Connor has the opportunity to backstop the team to victory with Maguire sidelined this weekend. O'Connor has been solid in his last two starts only allowing 2 goals in each start. With that said, there is probably 2 of those that we wants back. BU needs O'Connor to play up to the level he was playing at the end of the first half. His defensemen will need to help him out and make things easier on him. The RHH version of OC isn't the goalie we deserve but it's the goalie we need.

BSRS Weekly Awards 3/4

Greg Jennings Award- given to the Terrier who best exemplifies the qualities of Greg Jennings through doin' shit and putting the team on his back. (YOU CAN'T STOP HIM).

Winner- Garrett Noonan- Noonan was a force defensively this weekend as he was out there consistently against Northleastern's top forwards Kevin Roy and Braden Pimm. He limited their chances and opportunities to limit Northeastern to 3 goals over the two game BU sweep. He made life easier for Sean Maguire Friday and OC on Saturday. It is only fitting a senior captain earns the GJ on the week of senior night. Noonan has had a very underrated year for the Terriers as he continues to play 25-30 minutes a night against top line forward. He might play 40 Saturday with only game for the coaching staff to worry about this weekend.

Joe Pereira Trophy- Given to the Terrier who, through grit, hard work, and determination helps the team to victory on and off the scoresheet. Just like Joey did. (Interview can be read here)

Winner- Doyle Somerby- Somerby recorded his first collegiate goal on Saturday night while also picking up a powerplay assist. The best part of his weekend was how physical he was defensively. He kept Northeastern's forwards away from the front of the net and won battles along the boards.

Weekend Recap - Blind Squirrels are Still Blind

- Actual footage of Northeastern trying to play hockey this weekend. Wobbly would have been their most effective forward. If you don't get the reference, read our preview from Thursday

The BU Terriers swept the Northeastern Huskies in their home and home series this past weekend. BU did so rolling three lines each night as numerous forwards were benched for a night(4 Friday, 4 Saturday) for a violation of team rules. The players who did play, played well as BU found the scoring touch that they seriously lacked in South Bend last weekend. The Terriers also got solid performances from both Matt O'Connor and Sean Maguire once again as both continue to put up solid numbers and play better than their numbers indicate.

On Friday night, BU celebrated senior night before the game and continued the celebration into the first period as Kevin Duane scored off of Colton Saucerman's leg to give the Terriers a lead that they would never give up. Danny O'Regan would make it 2-0 less than 30 second later. Both goals were shots that NU goalie Clay Witt would want back as both beat him 5-hole and were not difficult saves by any means.  BU would stretch the lead to 3-0 on a Robbie"Carrots" Baillargeon breakaway goal midway through the second. NU would score once to make it a 3-1 game but never got any closer as Ahti Oksanen " finnished" the game with a 200 foot goal on an empty net. BU held on for the 4-1 win and their most convincing win since an October win vs Wisconsin.

Friday night was a big win for the team as they proved to everyone that they could beat a top 10 team with 9 forwards and 5 D(the 6th D TJ Ryan was injured in the game and did not return). It was also a big win in that it was Jack Parker's number retirement night as a ceremony took place during the first intermission(video included after the jump). It was a well done ceremony and Coach Parker certainly deserves it for all he did for BU hockey. He catches so much hate from opposing fans which makes you realize what a good coach he was. Opposing fans don't hate bad coaches. For example, we love Jim Madigan. Coach Parker's #6 is now the second retired number in BU hockey history along with Travis Roy's 24.Congrats to Coach Parker and all of BU hockey.