Terriers defeat Northeastern on Senior Night, retire Parker’s number

A pair of first period goals within 25 seconds by Kevin Duane and Danny O’Regan gave BU a lead it wouldn’t relinquish as the Terriers upended #9-ranked Northeastern, 4-1, on Senior Night at Agganis Arena. The victory ended both a scoring and winning drought for BU, which had last recorded a win on Jan. 24. In addition to honoring its seniors, BU retired former head coach Jack Parker’s #6 (video) from his playing days with a crowd of 5,577 looking on.

The victory, which  was BU’s ninth of the season and the sixth against teams currently in the top 15 of the Pairwise rankings, clinched ninth place in Hockey East for BU.

Duane put BU on the board midway through the first period when his centering pass deflected past NU goalie Clay Witt. Moments later, following Evan Rodrigues' forecheck, O’Regan intercepted a pass at center ice, skated into the Husky zone and wristed a shot home from the high slot for a 2-0 lead. The sophomore from Needham, Mass., became the first Terrier to hit double figures in goals this season with ten. 

In the second period, Robbie Baillargeon added to the lead cleaning up a loose puck following a rush by Rodrigues set up by Patrick MacGregor. Northeastern cut into the lead minutes later with a shorthanded goal by Braden Pimm.  Defenseman Ahti Oksanen closed the scoring with his seventh marker of the season after the Huskies pulled the goalie for an extra attacker, firing the puck from behind his own goal line.

Goalie Sean Maguire stopped 31 of 32 shots to earn first-star honors.

Cason Hohmann, who assisted on Duane’s goal, had a strong night in the face off circle winning 15 of 21 draws.

Before the game began, seniors MacGregor, Garrett Noonan and Matt Ronan. Jake Moscatel had been recognized last season and goalie Anthony Moccia, who has a year of eligibility remaining, will return to the team next season as graduate student.

Terrier’s conclude the regular season tonight, visiting Northeastern. Game time is 7 p.m.

Following the retirement of his number, Parker told the media:

Actually, it’s [retirement] a lot easier than I thought. I’ve turned the page pretty quickly, and I’m real close with David Quinn obviously, and I’m not around for him too much — I don’t want to be looking for his shoulder.

I’m really happy that the program’s in good hands with David, I’m really happy that they have a great recruiting class coming next year — the next two years actually — and I think that the program will jump back from this year very quickly.

Among the former Terrier players, coaches and managers on hand for the game and special ceremonies were: Ed Walsh, Chris Mays, Dan Ronan, Peter Marshall, Brian Durocher, Travis Roy, John Grady, Darryl MacLeod, Stan Mescon, Jay Pandolfo, Bob Murray, Mike Grier, Shawn Ferullo, John Coleman, Chris O'Sullivan, Dan Carnevale,Colby Cohen, Kevin Gilroy, Steve McBride, Jim Wood, Jack O'Callahan, Marc Hetnik, Tim Kimball, Bill Whelton, Scott Lachance, Liz Fierman, Whitney Delorey, Blaine Maus, Mike Pomichter, Tom O'Regan, and Mike Boyle.

● Go Terriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video highlights

● Post-game comments: Parker

● NESN: Number Retirement Ceremony video

● Boston Hockey Blog: recap, A Night to Remember and Slide Show

● USCHO recap

● College Hockey News

● Boston Globe coverage of number retirement and photos

● WEEI Blog: Retiring Parker’s number,  The Playoff Picture
● Boston Herald recap

Looking ahead

Back in Massachusetts from a weekend spent as a Sioux City Musketeer, 2015 recruit Bobo Carpenter will lead Austin Prep in the first round of the Eastern Massachusetts Super 8 High School Tournament. The right-shot center tops AP’s scoring with 23 goals and 11 assists.  #4 seed Austin Prep’s best-of-three series with #5 Central Catholic begins Sunday.

2014 recruit Brandon Hickey assisted on a power play goal in Spruce Grove’s 3-2 win against Sherwood Park and now has 22 points this season. The 6-2 left-shot defenseman from Leduc, Alberta, was ranked  #63 among North Americans in NHL Central Scouting’s midterms, the highest ranking of any AJHL player. Video.

 

Women’s Team

2013 Hockey East tournament champion BU begins defense of its title with one-game quarterfinal match-up with Providence. Terriers swept the Friars in mid-February, winning  by 4-2 and 3-2 scores. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m. at Walter Brown Arena.

● GoTerriers.com preview, GameTracker, Terrier TV Webcast

● Daily Free Press preview