tw-align-centerLooking forward to one final game in front of our home crowd this season as playoff hockey returns to @AgganisArena tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/5c0taASmV6
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) March 10, 2023
“It’s that time of year, it’s an exciting time of year,” said head coach Jay Pandolfo during his weekly media call. “This is kind of what you play all year for. We've put ourselves in a pretty good spot, having the number one seed for the Hockey East championship. We’re looking forward to getting going.”
The Catamounts finished 11th in the regular-season standings but they upset #6 Maine in Wednesday's opening round game, rallying for three third-period goals for a 4-2 win.
BU swept Vermont in Burlington two weeks ago. The Friday night game was a hard-fought contest that BU won, 5-3, with two late goals after the Cats tied the score. The next night, junior Drew Commesso authored his first shutout of the season, 3-0.
Photo Credit Nich Hall
Pandolfo is not concerned that the recent sweep or UVM's record will lead to overconfidence. “I don’t think we’re gonna overlook anyone right now,” he explained. “I think that stretch of games where we really struggled we realized how important every game is.
"They're a big team. They close time and space very well. They're very structured," he added. "I expect their best, coming off a big win."
Pandolfo points out that BU's best weapon against a structured team is its transition and speed game. "When you play fast, when you transition really quick, they never really get into their structure."
The Terrier who claimed their 11th regular-season conference title, now will seek a 10th Hockey East Tournament championship and the first since 2018.
Averaging 3.91 goals per game, BU has the #5 offensive in Division 1 with 10 skaters with 20 or more points. They're lead by Lane Hutson and Matt Brown, the league's overall scoring co-leaders with 43 points, followed by Jay O'Brien with 29, and by Dom Fensore, Wilmer Skoog and Ryan Greene, all with 27.
Commesso will be making his 20th conference start and his 28th overall. He has a 2.51 GAA in Hockey East game and a .913 save percentage.
While offense has been a problem at times for Vermont, the Cats have scored they've scored three or more goals in four recent games, including the four goals they scored Wednesday against Maine. Sophomores Isak Walther and Andrei Bayalsky lead the way with 19 and 17 points respectively, followed by Will Zapernick with 16 and Jacques Bouquot with 15. Grad student Robbie Stucker anchors the defense and has 14 points.
The Cats are the biggest team in Division and play a tight-checking, structured style, helping goalie Gabe Carriere to fashion a 2.49 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
TODAY'S TERRIER LINE-UP
Brown-Skoog-O'Brien
Tuch-Greene-Q. Hutson
Wilmer -Zabaneh-Peterson
Armstrong-Stevens- Kaplan
Phillips
Fensore-Gallagher
L.Hutson-McCarthy
Webber-Copeland
Commesso
Duplessis
Schena
● GoTerriers.com preview, Game Notes, Live Stats, BU All-Access (audio), BU Men's Hockey Twitter
● Live Stream ESPN+, International Stream
● Pandolfo Media Call
● Boston Hockey Blog preview
● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape
● UVM preview
Looking ahead
Photo credit NH Sports Photography
Terriers have received a commitment from Dexter-Southfield senior defenseman Mick Frechette. A Weston, Mass., native, the 6'2, 205 lb., left shot was Dexter's second leading scorer with an 11-14-25 line in 32 games. His coach, Dan Donato, is a former Terrier defenseman who played for the 1993-94 national finalist squad. The Heisenberg list and Elite Prospects project he'll arrive for the 2024 season.
Frechette played his first two years of prep hockey at St. Paul's School, before switching to Dexter for his junior year, producing a 3-15-18 line. He had been a forward as a youth player but switched to the blue line as a freshman at SPP.
The 19-year old told New England Hockey Journal:
“The strengths of my game are my physicality and offensive instincts.” Playing forward kind of gave me that so it’s been helpful. I play really physical, I’m hard to play against and I move pucks up quick and follow them up the ice."
Last month, NEHJ's Jeff Cox, looking at the top uncommitted prep skaters, wrote:
"It’s impossible not to notice Frechette on the ice. A leader for Dexter, the puck is either always on his stick or he’s battling to regain control of it. His compete level is one of the highest I’ve seen in prep hockey this year. The stats have backed up Frechette’s terrific play this season, as he ranks second among defenders with eight goals." He finished the year with 11 goals and 14 assists in 32 games, second leading scorer on his team."
Donato attests to his captain's "super competitive attitude" and that he's been an "incredible mentor to all the younger players, adding "I can’t say enough good things about Mick Frechette and how happy I am to see him playing at Boston University."
2023 recruit Shane Lachance scored his 27th and 28th goals and 2024 recruit Brandon Svoboda scored his 13th goal in Youngstown's 5-4 shootout win over Green Bay.
No comments:
Post a Comment