Sunday, October 11, 2026

Terriers skate past Brown; Terrier Takeaway; Women edge Holy Cross

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Sophomore Ben Merrill broke a 1-1 tie in the third period to send #14/13 BU to a 3-1 exhibition game win over Brown at Agganis Arena. It was another goals-hard-to-come-by game for the Terriers who fired 48 shots on goal out of 69 attempts but were frustrated throughout the evening by the Bruins' 6'6" goalie Fred Halyk. 

Senior Mick Frechette had given BU a first period lead that the visitors matched in the second period. Captain Jack Harvey's empty-net goal provided the final two-goal margin. Senior Max Lacroix was sharp in goal stopping 22 of 23 shots, including several testing attempts during an opening-period power play.

Despite the result on the scoreboard, Coach Jay Pandolfo was not entirely pleased, explaining:

"I thought we started off sloppy. We got better at points of the game. The third period was better. Some of the details of our game weren’t as good as last weekend. 

"I thought the process was there tonight. Not so much early on, but as the game went on, the process was there. We were hemming them in pretty good.

"The second [power play] was really good. We had some really good looks but just didn't finish. We moved the puck well.

"Clearly we’re having trouble scoring goals. [We had] forty-eight shots and some clean looks. We’re just having trouble finishing. Max Lacroix was excellent. We had some sloppy turnovers and he was there. I thought Frechette and Barone played really well. Roukounakis from the second period on was a terminator, finishing everything."

BU had the edge in O-zone time and opportunities for much of the first two periods and then turned the third into a shooting gallery with 18 shots to Brown's four. Only Halyk kept the score close. 

Early in the game Caleb Malhotra took the first of his ten shots on goal, which Halyk saved.  BU went on a power play at the five-minute mark but that was cut short when Lacroix played a puck outside of the trapezoid and was called for delay of game.

Midway through the period, Malhotra raced in on a breakaway but his shot hit Halyk in the shoulder. Moments later, the Brown goalie fended off shots from Ryder Ritchie and Carter Amico.

At 16:31, Nikolas Aaram-Olsen had an attempt blocked, but recovered the puck and slid it to Frechette at the left point. His hard wrister beat Halyk low to the glove side, aided by Merrill's screen. Kamil Bednarik also picked up an assist.  

BU nearly doubled the lead when Malhotra intercepted a clearing attempt between the circles but his shot was turned aside. Terriers had a 13-8 shot advantage in the period.

Five minutes into the middle period, a BU turnover gave Brown's Andrew King a point blank opportunity which Lacroix defended.  A dustup between Nick Roukounakis and Owen Dyer resulted in Brown getting the extra penalty and BU going on a power play. Terriers fired four shots on goal, including two more by Malhotra, without success.

As the man-advantage ended, Lacroix was forced to make a strong save on Trip Pendy who had come out of the penalty box to grab a loose puck.

Terriers continued to have success setting up the Bruins' zone but at 15:19 Archer Brown collected a puck in the right circle and closed toward the net. His shot went through Haoxi Wang and beat Lacroix to the blocker side to knot the score at 1-1.

Malhotra nearly restored the BU lead but was robbed at the left post by Halyk. Two more big saves by Lacroix kept things even after two periods.

If the ice was predominantly tilted BU's way in the first forty minutes, the third period was completely dominated by the Scarlet & White's fast breakouts, zone entries and stellar passing. Jack Murtagh had two grade A chances in the first minute of the period; the second was a "lacrosse" attempt that went off the goalie's blocker.

A Merrill redirect attempt glanced off Halyk's shoulder. He was more successful at 6:40 when he rerouted Adam Barone's shot from the point between Halyk's legs for the eventual game-winner. Bednarik recorded his second assist. (See highlights)

BU pressed the attack to add an insurance goal. Midway through the period, slick puck movement set up another Malhotra chance, but Halyk saved his one-timer from the right circle.

With the Brown goalie pulled for an extra skater, Ritchie's attempt from the BU end just missed the goal. Harvey raced down the ice to negate the icing and jammed the puck home to close the scoring.  Amico had the second assist.

BU Oldtimer's Terrier Takeaway 

1. BU carried the play through the first two periods. In the first period, BU had four or five excellent breakout passes leading to odd man rushes but no goals. Despite carrying the play, BU didn't consistently get to the front of the Brown net until the third period. Also, Brown had several extended possessions in the O-zone during the first two periods. 

2. BU dominated play throughout the third period, primarily due to strong forechecking, The Terriers consistently got inside the dots as the period wore on.

3. On first viewing, Caleb Malhotra appears to be a player who makes himself available to receive a pass while having room to get off a quick shot.

4. When tested, Max Lacriox was sharp.

5. If any Terrier is in midseason form, it's Nick Roukounakis.

6, Morello, Svoboda and Roukounakis will be a solid 4th line.

● GoTerriers recap and box score

● Video Highlights

● Post-game comments: Pandolfo, Frechette, Malhotra

● Boston Hockey Blog INSTANT TAKEAWAYS: BU edges out Brown 3-1, in exhibition 

Looking ahead

2027 recruit Braidy Wassilyn scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner, as Saginaw defeated Kitchener, 4-2. Wassilyn has scored in each of the seven games played this season and leads the OHL in both goals (9) and points (15). Teammate and fellow recruit Brady Knowling stopped 29 shots for the Spirit and improved his record to 3-0-1.

2027 recruit Liam Lefebrve scored his fifth goal for Cape Breton, but the Eagles were doubled up by Quebec, 4-2. James Scantlebury had a pair of assists for the Remparts. 

2027 recruit Rian Chudzinski's power-play goal was his sixth tally of the season, but Moncton fell to Rouyn-Noranda, 2-1. 

2027 recruit Jamie Glance assisted on a pair of goals in St. John's 4-3 win against Charlottetown. 

2027 recruit Will Prowse stopped all 12 shots he faced as Lincoln blanked Des Moines, 1-0. For Prowse, it was his second shutout in four appearances and lowered his GAA to 1.76 and improved his save percentage to .926.  

2028 recruit Deverin Warner scored his first NTDP goal as Team USA defeated TriCity, 8-5.


Women's Team 

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Senior Captain Neely Nicholson's power-play goal early in the third period proved the difference as BU defeated Holy Cross in Worcester, 2-1.

The game was scoreless until the Crusaders broke the ice six minutes into the second period on an Emily Crovo goal. 

It stayed that way until early in the third when Lo Lachapelle split two defenders and shot back against the grain, beating the Holy Cross goalie to the glove side. It was her second goal of the season. Nicholson and Mylie Ellis assisted. 

With six minutes left in regulation, Nicholson's shot from the point found the back of the net, with assists going to Greta Henderson and Keira Healy.  

BU held off the Crusaders' comeback attempts. Sophomore Sydney Fogu made 34 saves in net. 

Neely Nicholson and Keira Healey celebrate scoring a goal at Holy Cross 

● GoTerriers recap and box score 

● Coach Tara Watchorn Post-game comments 


 

 

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