Men’s Hockey: Terriers Battle to 1-1 OT Draw with Eagles
By: Jake Reiser
On Saturday night, the Boston University Terriers looked to rebound from a tough 5-3 loss at Conte Forum to their historic rival Boston College Eagles. Backed by a stalwart performance from Sean Maguire, the Terriers and the Eagles skated to a 1-1 overtime draw.
In the first period, BU would have two prime power play chances, with Matthew Gaudreau going to the box for tripping, and defenseman Ian McCoshen for high sticking, but to no avail. Then, the Terriers penalty kill would have to step up, when Jordan Greenway was sent to the sin bin for roughing, and a 5-on-3 for 1:22 with a John MacLeod interference.
“We weren’t happy with the way we played last night and I’m very proud of the guys for taking a great step forward in the first period,” Matt Grzelyck said.
It would take until the second period for someone to score, and that would be Boston University’s captain in Matt Grzelyck. Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson would be stopped by BC goalie Thatcher Demko on a breakaway, and Grzelyck would deflect a Danny O’Regan shot into the net, putting the Terriers up 1-0.
“I saw JFK going in on a breakaway, just kind of following the play just in case there was a bounce there,” Grzelyck said. “The puck made its way up the wall and Danny [O’Regan] made a heads-up play to throw it to the net and I got a stick on it, and a little bit of puck luck there.”
BU would get another power play chance on a Colin White roughing, but Brandon Fortunato would take only his second career penalty, a holding call, putting it at 4-on-4. The second would end with shots on goal 27-25 in favor of the Eagles.
Sean Maguire and the Boston University defense would continue to stand tall for almost all of the third period. Maguire ended the game with 38 saves.
“He’s been getting better,” Coach Quinn said. “The great thing about the weekend on our end is that we got great goaltending, that certainly bodes well moving forward.”
Grzelyck said, “I’ve known him for four years now and he’s the most competitive kid I’ve ever met. Just gives us a whole new confidence level back there.”
With 2:05 to go, however, Boston College would find the back of the net. The puck would find the stick of Ryan Fitzgerald in the middle of the slot, who would spin 360 degrees and roof one high over Maguire to tie the game. The Eagles would get four shots in the overtime period compared to the Terriers lone shot, but the bout would end in 1-1 draw.
“Obviously disappointing that we didn’t get those two points, but a much better performance from our guys tonight,” Quinn said.
The Terriers will come back to action next weekend in a home-at-home against the University of Maine Black Bears. Friday night, BU travels to Maine for a 7:30p.m. puck drop, then game time is at 7:00p.m. at Agganis Arena on Saturday.