A goalie for the future

BU has received a verbal commitment from goalie Shane Starrett of the Selects Hockey Academy U18 squad at South Kent School. The 6-5, 190 lb. senior netminder from Bellingham, Mass., previously played for Catholic Memorial High School, which is the alma mater of BU Coach Jack Parker and assistants Mike Bavis and Buddy Powers, as well as assistant captain Garrett Noonan.

Playing for Catholic Memorial, Starrett turns aside a shot for 2013 recruit Brendan Collier (7) of Malden Catholic.  (Photo credit Barry Chin/The Boston Globe/Getty Images)

OverTheBoards.net reports that, this season, Starrett has posted a 24-12-4 record in 2047 minutes played, a 1.90 GAA and a .915 save percentage for the SHA U18s, who finished in first place in the Midget Major U18 division of the U.S. Elite Hockey League. Playoffs begin next weekend in Wayne, N.J.

Starrett, who plays summer hockey with the New England Nordiques, was ranked #35 among North American goalies in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings.

Among the highlights of his junior year at CM was a 41 save, 2-2 OT tie against Brendan Collier and eventual repeat state champ Malden Catholic.

After last fall’s New England Prep League Showcase, U.S. Hockey Report wrote:

Shane Starrett, G, ’94 (Selects Academy) 6-5/190 — Towers over the opposition. We did not get to see him in action as long as we would have liked, but there is no doubt that he is interesting. Played for Catholic Memorial last season and stood on his head against St. Sebastian’s, leading them to a 2-1 victory in a game we were in attendance at. Tons of upside here. His older brother, Peter, played defense (sparingly) at Harvard, and graduated this past spring. 

►Daily Free Press: inconsistent play prevents win streaks

Looking ahead

2014 recruit Jack Eichel, playing his fifth game for the NTDP U18s, scored his second goal, which proved to be the game winner in the U18s’ 3-1 win against Green Bay, and earned 2^nd-star honors. Eichel has a combined 21 goals and 15 assists this season.

Looking back

Anaheim Ducks’ Nick Bonino, in Arizona for tonight’s game against the Coyotes, spent the off day at the Angels training camp where he and a few teammates took part in batting practice and Nick got to stand in on pitches from Jared Weaver.

Rick DiPietro stopped 22 shots in a 4-3 Bridgeport win over Adirondack for his first win since clearing waivers.

►Blog contributor and BU alum Brendan Mahoney, now doing graduate studies at Notre Dame, has had some of the luck of the Irish rub off on him. He is the winner of a Frozen Four ticket giveaway held by Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and will attend the 2013 finals at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh

Women’s Team

● Daily Free Press recap of quarterfinal win, Shannon Doyle feature

● Hockey East Online preview of tournament semifinals

● Senior defenseman Kathryn Miller interviewed by Hockey East Online.  

Cats bite back, take 5-2 win

Vermont scored a pair of early goals and another pair late for a 5-2 win, ending BU’s modest two-game winning streak. The loss drops BU into fifth place, two points behind Lowell, BC and Providence and three points behind new leader New Hampshire.

After Matt White’s shorthander and a goal by Brett Bruneteau gave the visitors a 2-0 lead just six-and-a-half minutes in, UVM goalie Brady Hoffman made a pair of game-changing saves. He stoned Matt Nieto on a breakaway and then somehow stopped Evan Rodrigues who appeared to have a half-open net on a two-on-one. Nieto’s power play goal, his 15^th of the season and sixth in three games, assisted by Danny O’Regan and Ahti Oksanen, cut the lead in half.

Vermont scored in the first minute of the second period to regain the two-goal margin  before a Garrett Noonan (photo) shorthander, assisted by Sahir Gill and Rodrigues, brought BU to within a goal again at &;29 of the third. But BU couldn’t produce the equalizer, with Hoffman (26 saves) making several key stops. An even-strength goal and an empty netter in the final two minutes closed the scoring.

Sean Maguire, playing a second consecutive game due to Matt O’Connor’s illness, turned aside 37 of 41 shots.

After dominating the face-off battle Friday night, roles reversed and Vermont won 44 of 60 draws.

BU scored on one of five power play chances, but yielded one shorthander. Terriers killied all four Vermont power plays—and all seven in the two-game series—while also notching a shortie.

►Terrier Coach Jack Parker was recognized for his 40 seasons behind the BU bench in a brief ceremony between the periods and fans in attendance received a commemorative puck

● GoTerriers.com recap, comprehensive box score

● Video highlights

● Boston Hockey Blog recap, slideshow and Three Up, three down

● Post-game comments: Jack Parker

● College Hockey News’ Takeaway

● WTBU Sports recap, O’Connor respiratory issues

● USCHO recap

Looking ahead

2013 recruit Jarrid Privitera score his 9^th goal of the season, a shorthander, but Dubuque gave up two late goals and lost to Sioux Falls in a shootout, 5-4.

Looking back

Feature on former BU goalie Grant Rollheiser, now with the Wichita Thunders.

Women’s team

#4 Terriers advanced to the Hockey East semifinals with a dominating 5-1 win against Connecticut at Walter Brown Arena, led by Jenelle Kohanchuk’s 19^th and 20^th goals and a stifling defense that limited the Huskies to 17 shots.

After a scoreless opening period, BU scored two second-period goals in a minute with Marie-Philip Poulin notching her 15^th and Kayla Tutino her 14^th. UConn cut the lead in half late in the period, but Kohanchuk scored twice in the third period before Caroline Campbell’s empty-netter closed the scoring.

Poulin’s goal was the 50^th of her BU career, making her the fastest to reach that milestone (74 games) in program history.

Terrier will meet Providence next Saturday afternoon in Hyannis, Mass., in a game that will match two coaches—BU’s Brian Durocher and the Friars’ Bob Deraney—who were Terrier goalies as undergrads. BU won all three regular-season games against Providence, which reached the semifinals with a 5-4 OT win over New Hampshire. BC plays Northeastern in the other seminfinal.

● GoTerriers.com recap, comprehensive box score

● Video highlights

● UConn recap

Nieto, Maguire fire Terriers past Vermont

Junior Matt Nieto’s hat trick provided the offense and freshman Sean Maguire rejected 49 of 50 shots to lead BU to a 3-1 win over Vermont at Agganis Arena.

Nieto, a second-round San Jose draft pick in 2011, scored a goal in each period—two on the power play—to register the Terriers’ first hat trick since Brandon Yip netted three against Providence on March 6, 2009. The speedy left wing has been on a tear of late, with seven goals and three assists in the past seven games.

The Catamounts drew first blood when Chris McCarthy banged home a loose puck in the BU crease, but the Terriers' California Connection knotted the score when Nieto scored off a Ryan Santana feed with 25 seconds left in the opening period. Danny O’Regan and Evan Rodrigues assisted on the second-period game-winner and E-Rod set up Nieto’s early third-period goal on a 2-on-1 rush.

The Catamounts poured pucks on Maguire trying to get back into the game, but the Powell River, B.C., native stopped all 22 shots to preserve the 3-1 margin.

The win put BU into a third-place tie with Providence, a point behind New Hampshire and two points behind Lowell and BC.

 Nieto, whose parents are visiting from California, has scored BU’s last five goals, having tallied the final two in Tuesday’s 5-2 win against Merrimack.

Terriers was absolutely dominant on faceoffs, winning 41 of 62 draws, with Cason Hohmann accounting for an off-the-charts 18 of 20.

In addition to the strong efforts by Nieto and Maguire, Coach Jack Parker praised the play of Rodrigues, Santana and defenseman Ahti Oksanen.

BU and UVM concludes their season series tonight with puck drop at 7 p.m.

● GoTerriers.com recap, comprehensive box score

● Video highlights
● Post-game comments: Jack Parker, Nieto/Maguire

● Boston Hockey Blog recap, analysis, Three Up, three down, slideshow 

● College Hockey News’ Takeaway

● WTBU Sports recap

● USCHO recap

Looking back

In a matchup of former BU blueliners, both of whom wore #3, Ryan Whitney collected his first goal of the season for Edmonton, but Kevin Shattenkirk’s power play goal was the game-winner in the Blues’ 4-2 win.

Looking ahead

2013 recruit Robbie Baillargeon’s shorthanded goal ignited a four-goal second period outburst as Omaha routed Des Moines, 5-1.

Women’s Team

The #4 Terriers’ quest for a third Hockey East tournament title in four years begins today with a quarterfinal game against UConn at Walter Brown Arena at 3 p.m. BU swept the Huskies last second and took all three games of the regular season’s series. BU also has won six of its last seven Hockey East tournament games.

BU is 17-2-2 in its last 21 games, has 11 players with double figures in points, led by junior Marie Philip Poulin (45), and seniors Isabel Menard (38) and Jennelle Kohanchuck (37)

A win tomorrow would send BU to the conference semifinals in Hyannis, Mass. on March 9.

● GoTerriers.com preview, game notes, Game Tracker, Terrier TV Webcast, WTBU Radio Webcast, Twitter Updates

Game Day: Terriers vs. Catamounts

With four games left in the regular season, Terriers begin a pair of crucial home games against Vermont tonight. Puck drop at Agganis Arena is 7:30 p.m. BU is in sixth place in Hockey East, but just two points out of the top spot.

The Catamounts, who dropped a 6-2 decision to BU in Burlington last November, have won only seven Hockey East games (7-11-5), but are playing their best hockey of the season. They’re 4-2-1 over the past seven games including an overtime tie and one-goal loss to New Hampshire last weekend. Vermont’s top scorers are senior Chris McCarthy (24 points) and sophomore Jacob Fallon (19), a transfer from Michigan. Freshman goalie Brody Hoffman has a 2.72 GAA.

Sophomore Cason Hohmann (photo), who has nearly quadrupled his freshman point total, tops the Terriers with 29 points.  Three Terriers with hot sticks lately are junior Matt Nieto, with five goals in the past five games, sophomore Evan Rodrigues and freshman Danny O’Regan.  Rodrigues and O’Regan each have 16 points over the past seven weeks. Freshman Sean Maguire, who earned his first win of the season against Vermont, will get the start in goal tonight.

Megan – Hohmann – Gill

Nieto – O’Regan – Rodrigues

Lane – Rosen – Kurker

Moran –Santana – Moscatel

Escobedo – Ruikka

Noonan – Grzelcyk

Oksanen – MacGregor

Maguire

► Terrier Coach Jack Parker will be honored during Saturday’s game for his 40 seasons behind the BU bench. Fans attending the game will receive a commemorative puck.

● GoTerriers.com preview,  Game Tracker, Terrier TV Webcast, WWZN Radio Webcast, Twitter Updates

● Daily Free Press preview

● Boston Hockey Blog live in-game blog

● USCHO picks and predictions
● Hockey East Online weekend preview and live scoreboard
● WTBU Sports preview and notebook

● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape; Q&A with Hockey East Director of Officials Dan Schachte

► Episode 19 of Inside BU Hockey features Bernie Corbett’s interviews with Coach Jack Parker, goalie Matt O’Connor and Mark Krys, captain of the BU’s 1991 NCAA finalist team.

Looking ahead

The fourth renewal of Red Hot Hockey, matching BU and Cornell is New York’s Madison Square Garden, will take place on Nov. 30, 2013, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Tickets are now on sale for the event.

While BU’s 2013-2014 schedule is far from complete, it will feature home games with perennial Western powers North Dakota and Wisconsin. Posts on USCHO have indicated that the Terriers will visit both Michigan and Michigan State next season.

2013 recruit Doyle Somerby (photo courtesy of Dave Arnold Photography) scored the only goal for Kimball Union, which was upset by Gunnery, 4-1, in the quarterfinal round of the New England Prep School Tournament.  The Wildcats, who were the top seed in the tournament, finished the season at 28-3-0. Somerby, a 5th round draft choice of the Islanders in 2012, captained the team.

With his prep season complete, Somerby reportedly may join the USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks, who selected the left-shot defenseman from Marblehead, Mass., in the 2012 USHL entry draft.

Looking back

It was a “Three Dog Night” in Anaheim this past Wednesday with a trio of ex-Terriers on the ice:  Colin Wilson and Brandon Yip for the visiting Predators and Nick Bonino for the host Ducks. Only Bonino made the score sheet in Anaheim’s 5-1 blowout, benefitting from some puck-handling hesitation by the Nashville goalie to get the Ducks on the board just three minutes into the game.

● SB Nation story with video

●Ducks’ Blog story on goal’s extra meaning

Senators’ blueliner Eric Gryba played his first game at TD Garden since the 2009 Hockey East Championship game in Ottawa’s 2-1 loss to the Bruins.

Women’s Team

#4 Terriers begin their quest for a third Hockey East tournament title on Saturday afternoon at Walter Brown Arena with a quarterfinal game against Connecticut. Puck drop is at 3 p.m.

● USCHO Women’s post-season analysis

● KazWatch feature on junior co-captain Marie-Philip Poulin [subsequently the list of Kazmaier Award finalists was announced and Poulin was not a finalist]