Friday, March 27, 2015

Terriers nip Bulldogs in overtime on O’Regan goal, 3-2


Photo credit Josh Gibney

#2 BU, down a goal to Yale after two periods, scored twice in the third, but needed an overtime goal from junior Danny  O’Regan to escape the tight-checking Bulldogs, 3-2, in the first round of the NCAA Northeast Regional in Manchester, N.H.  The junior right wing, who nearly won the game for BU in the final seconds of regulation, rapped home the rebound of freshman Jack Eichel's slapper from the right point.


The Bulldogs took the game's first lead in the middle period when Nate Rapensky's power play slapshot deflected past junior Matt O'Connor. The 1-0 margin held until 8:21 of the third period when Ahti Oksanen snapped a rebound past Alex Lyon from about 12 feet out for his 24th goal. Cason Hohmann and AJ Greer assisted. Three minutes later, senior Evan Rodrigues took a pass from O'Regan and snapped a shot home from the left face-off circle for his 19th goal, giving BU a 2-1 lead. That lasted less than two minutes as a turnover gave Frankie DiChiara an open shot from the high slot, which he whipped past O'Connor. In the final seconds of the period, O'Regan's close-in shot hit Lyon's shoulder and then hit the crossbar before being covered by Lyon, who turned aside 39 BU shots.

Matt O'Connor stopped 19 of 21 shots to improve his record to 23-3-4.

The Terriers, top seed in the Northeast Regional, will play in the regional final tomorrow against second-seed Minnesota-Duluth, which defeated in-state rival Minnesota, 4-1.  

Check back for more coverage later tonight and tomorrow.

● GoTerriers.com recap , comprehenisive box score and photo gallery
● Post-game comments (transcripts) Coach David Quinn, O’Regan & Rodrigues
● Video highlights 
Post-game comments (video-BU & Yale)
● Boston Hockey Blog photos
● USCHO recap and analysis
SB Nation recap
College Hockey News: BU Gets Mentally Tough
● WEEI College Blog recap

The win was BU's frist NCAA tournament victory since winning the 2009 National Championship game in Washington, D.C.

►Each of the three skaters on BU's top line has recorded four game-winning goals this season.

►Terriers set a new program record for most overtime wins (6) and most overtime games (12) in a season. The 1976-77 squad had five OT wins.

► While O’Connor was focused on the Yale shooters, Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray was in Manchester to watch the free agent goalie…and Eichel, too.



No comments:

Site Meter