Friday, November 03, 2023

UPDATED Game Day #9/8 Terriers vs. #3/4 Fighting Hawks; Belfast Bound!!; Women face Merrimack

 Game day graphic featuring posed photo of Ryan Greene on one knee pumping his fist in celebration. BU vs. North Dakota, Nov. 3, 7 PM on ESPN+

                           

Having rebounded from an early season, two-game skid, Jay Pandolfo’s Terriers face their stiffest challenge of the campaign to date as they host #3/4 North Dakota for a pair. Tonight’s contest begins at 7 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+.

North Dakota last visited Agganis Arena a decade ago this month when the Terriers claimed a 3-1 win and a 3-3 tie. Since then, the teams have only met in the NCAA tournament. In 2015, BU won, 5-3, in the Frozen Four semifinal. Three years later, the Terriers won the Fargo Regional with a dramatic 4-3 double-overtime win on a Charlie McAvoy goal. 

Note: For more about the BU-UND rivalry and series history, check out today's Game Notes.

Like BU, the Fighting Hawks have a roster heavy with new faces. Along with seven freshmen, there are seven transfers who are playing important roles.

UND’s stingy defense—11 goals allowed in six games—features four transfers, including leading scorer (0-7-7) Garrett Pyke (Alaska) and Bennett Zmolek (Minn. State). Freshman Ds regularly in the lineup include Jake Livanavage and Abram Wiebe.

In goal, Ludvig Persson, a transfer from Miami, has played all six games with a 1.65 GAA and a .933 save percentage, far better than his numbers with the Red Hawks.

North Dakota’s penalty kill, currently 90% successful, will present a challenge for the Terrier power play that has begun clicking of late.

On offense, sophomore Jackson Blake has six points and grad student Hunter Johannes has a team-high five goals. Linemates Riese Gaber and Cameron Berg each have five points. Freshman Jayden Perron has three goals.

There’s also a subplot to the series. A combined five skaters were teammates last season on the high-powered USHL Chicago Steel: Terriers Macklin Celebrini and Jack Harvey; and Fighting Hawks Michael Emerson, Livanavage and Perron.

The Terriers will look to play the direct, fast game with quick transitions, which has been their identity when they play their best. As always, avoiding being bottled up in the D-zone, while cycling the puck on offense will be critical for BU’s success.

“For us, it’s about competing in all three zones and being hard to play against,” Pandolfo said Wednesday during his Media Call. “We’re heading in the right direction. We’re one month in now, so now we’ve got to make sure we see signs of it being more consistent and that’s the main thing.”

“You kind of just play a direct game,” Nick Zabaneh told the Boston Hockey Blog after practice yesterday. “Play north, keep it simple, play behind their D and just work the O-zone. We’re really good on the rush, but I feel like sometimes when their D’s up, getting it in behind their D and just getting to work down low – that’s when good things come.” 

TONIGHT’S BU LINEUP

Tuch-Celebrini-Kaplan

Wilmer-Greene-Q. Hughes

Hughes-Zabaneh-Peterson

Lachance-Stevens-Grimes

L.Hutson-G. McCarthy

Webber-C. McCarthy

A.Celebrini-Willander

Gallagher

Caron

Graham

● 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 Terriers to host North Dakota in top-10 rivalry matchup

● College Hockey News: Tale of the Tape, This Week in College Hockey

● HockeyEastOnline Friday Game Day links

 

►Previewing this weekend’s top 10 showdown, BHB’s Belle Fraser is joined by longtime Voice of Terrier Hockey Bernie Corbett for a stroll through the history of the BU-UND rivalry.

● Boston Hockey Blog Boston University, North Dakota History with Bernie Corbett

                                                      Friendship Four - Friendship Four ameongeza picha mpya

►Next season, the Terriers will participate in the 2024 Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Joining BU in the field are local rivals Harvard and Merrimack as well as Notre Dame. The Terriers previously played in the “Belpot” in 2018, finishing second.

The tournament was begun 2014 through the leadership of then Belfast Giants’ GM/Coach Steve Thornton and Project Manager Shane Johnson and Hockey East with the goal of promoting education, social welfare, and community interaction, building on the sister cities agreement between Belfast and Boston. Thornton and Johnson were teammates on the Terriers’ 1995 national champions with Thornton being named team MVP that season. Thornton played in three Frozen Fours and Johnson in four before heading across the pond and playing for the Giants and other European teams.

● GoTerriers.com report

● HockeyEastOnline report

 

Looking ahead

2025 recruit Conrad Fondrk’s power-play goal late in the third period broke a 2-2 tie and the NTDP U17s went on to defeat Sweden, 5-2, to open the 2023 World U17 Challenge in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Jack Murtagh scored Team USA’s first goal, redirecting a blue line blast by Charlie Trethewey.  Fondrk leads the U17s in goals with six, while Trethewey is the points leader with nine.

● NTDP report

2024 recruit Owen Keefe has been traded by Muskegon to Sioux City for two 2024 draft picks. The 6’0” left-shot defenseman had 13 points in 59 games with the Lumberjacks last season and had four assists in 11 games in the current campaign. Keefe skated for the US Select U18s in the Hlinka-Gretzky Tournament this past summer. He is the son of Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe.

● Musketeershockey.com Musketeers add blue liner in trade

 

Looking back

Charlie Coyle scored one of the two shootout goals that helped the Bruins edge Toronto, 3-2. Playing in his 900th NHL game, Kevin Shattenkirk logged 21:23 of ice time.

Colby Cohen offered congratulations to his longtime teammate. The two defensemen played together at the NTDP and on youth teams prior to their Terrier years, capped by the 2009 national championship.

Former Terrier Ty Amonte has been named an assistant coach at UMass Boston.

 

Women’s Team

Image

Terriers (2-2-1) begin a home-and-home series with Merrimack (4-6-1) this afternoon in North Andover. Puck drop at Lawler Rink is set for 2 p.m. The contest will be live streamed on ESPN+. BU’s offense is led by Sydney Healey with six points and Clara Yuhn and Nadia Mattivi with five apiece.

● GoTerriers.com preview, Live Stats, BU Women's Hockey Twitter

● Live Stream ESPN+, International Stream

 

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