Men’s Hockey: BU Holds For 3-2 Win over ND

By: Jake Reiser

The Scarlet and White got off to a positive start to the weekend, beating Notre Dame, 3-2. On Friday night, the No. 9 Boston University Terriers started their last regular season weekend of the year, the first of two games at No. 10 Notre Dame University Fighting Irish. The Irish are third in the Hockey East Rankings and BU is in fourth, tied with UMass Lowell at 26 points. If the Terriers gets more points than the Riverhawks on the weekend, they’ll claim that fourth seed and a first round bye, and with a 3-1 Lowell loss earlier in the night, a win was vital for BU.

After a back-and-forth start to the game, a power play goal put Boston University ahead. On a Bobby Nardella trip, Danny O’Regan found himself uncovered in the middle of the ice against Irish goaltender Cal Petersen. Instead of taking the shot, he passed to the far side, where Ahti Oksanen broke his February scoring slump with a one-time ripper through Petersen and into the net. As much as special teams helped BU, it hurt them as well at the end of the first. On a Doyle Somerby elbow, Nardella slipped a cross-ice pass to Connor Hurley, throwing one past a down BU netminder in Sean Maguire and in.

The middle frame saw a dominant stretch of Notre Dame possession, but Maguire stood tall against 16 shots in the second period. On a broken play in front of the ND net, an Irish defenseman would kick the puck to Mike Moran, who hammered home a rebound on the backhand to reinstate a BU lead, 2-1. When leading after two, the Terriers were 13-0-1 coming into the night.

BU would get an insurance goal mid-way through the third period. Jordan Greenway forced a turnover to the left of Petersen and made a pass to Charlie McAvoy, who ripped a clapper from the center of the blue line to bulge the twine and give the Terriers a 3-1 lead. Steven Fogerty chipped a rebound past Maguire to make it 3-2 with 1:32 to go, but bespite a lot of pressure with the net pulled, that’s all that would be written, as Boston University would hang on for the 3-2 victory.

The Terriers and the Irish square off again on Saturday night in South Bend, IN. Puck drop is at 7:00p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NBCSN. With a regulation win, BU would jump to third in the Hockey East standings.