Game Day: BU vs. St. Thomas

Led by junior captain Matt Grzelcyk and senior assistant captains Cason Hohmann and Evan Rodrigues, the #20 Terriers face St. Thomas of New Brunswick today at Agganis Arena. Puck drop is 4 p.m. ET. All ten freshmen, making up the recruit class ranked #1 by OverTheBoards and College Hockey News, are expected to dress for the game.

● GoTerriers.com preview, @BUGameDay, Game Tracker, All-Access Webcast (free)

►Junior goalie Matt O’Connor was named to the watch list for the Mike Richter Award, which annually honors the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA Division I men’s hockey.

► The Hockey News’ list of “50 NCAA Players You Need to Know This Season” includes three BU freshmen, forwards Jack Eichel and AJ Greer and defenseman Brandon Hickey

Looking ahead

2016 recruit Kieffer Bellows scored his first goal of the season in Sioux Falls’ 5-2 win against Tri-City

2015 recruit Bobo Carpenter scored a power play goal in Sioux City’s 4-3 shootout loss to Lincoln.

2016 recruit Clayton Keller scored his first goal of the season in the NTDP U-17s’ 5-2 loss to Youngstown. ISS Scouting's Matt Grainda tweeted that Keller "has some slick skills. Manages the game with his speed and puck control Great feeds and hockey IQ." 

Looking back

Nick Bonino scored a short-handed goal and earned first-star honors in Vancouver’s 2-1 win over Edmonton. (Video)

Matt Nieto scored 1:08 into the game as San Jose defeated Arizona, 3-1.

The 2009 Terriers reached the finals of the NCAA Frozen Four’s Finest fan-vote tournament but were edged by the 1993 Maine Black Bears in a down-to-the-wire contest that saw a combined vote in excess of 36,000. The 2009 Terriers won seven titles, climaxed by the DC Miracle comeback win to edge Miami in the NCAA championship game.  The 1993 Black Bears compiled an incredible 42-1-2 record en route to the national title. Their one loss?  A 7-6 OT defeat at the hands of BU at Maine’s Alfond Arena with Southie’s Mike Prendergast firing in the winner off a slick Mike Pomichter feed.

Women’s Team

Terriers broke a 2-2 tie with three goals in the final 4:09 of regulation to open their season on a successful note, defeating St. Cloud State, 5-2, in Minneapolis.  The outburst was part of a four-goal final period with the game winner coming off the stick of junior forward Rebecca Russo.  Classmate Sarah Lefort (photo), who had a three-point night and joined the BU 100 career point club, opened the scoring in the first period on a power play. 

With the score knotted at one apiece early in the third, BU struck again with the man advantage as sophomore Maddie Elia buried a loose puck. After the Huskies evened the score again, freshman Rebecca Leslie chipped the puck up the boards for Russo, who sped in and scored short side. Twenty-six seconds later, captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who missed last season while leading Canada to Olympic gold, extended the lead, scoring off an assist by Lefort. Then with two minutes remaining, BU rang up its third power play goal with freshman Victoria Bach ripping a wrister for the final tally.

Sophomore Victoria Hanson stopped 15 shots for the Terriers, who will be back on the ice Saturday night to take on top-ranked Minnesota.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score 

● Lefort post-game interview