Men’s Hockey: Terriers to face-off Providence in home-and-home clash this weekend

By: Joe Pohoryles

The Boston University Terriers (2-2-3, 1-1-2 HE) kick off a home-and-home showdown this weekend vs the Friars of Providence College (4-3-1, 2-2-0 HE) tonight at Agganis Arena at 7:30 p.m. and tomorrow at Providence at 7:00 p.m.

The Terriers are coming off a disappointing weekend in Orono, Maine, earning one point in two games against the University of Maine Black Bears. 

The Friars have also encountered struggles recently with their last win coming on Oct. 25 against Boston College and going 0-2-1 in the three games since.

Amidst an up-and-down season, the Terriers have had bad injury luck that led to losing key veteran contributors for long stretches. Luckily, they will have at least a few players back soon. Senior forward and assistant captain Patrick Harper returns tonight after missing nearly three games, and sophomore forward Jack DeBoer recently returned to practice, although he will not be playing this weekend. Junior defenseman and assistant captain Cam Crotty is now listed as day-to-day and looks to return to the ice soon.

Despite the recent troubles, the Friars boast the two current leading point scorers in Hockey East this season in sophomore forwards Jack Dugan and Tyce Thompson, with 18 and 14 points, respectively. Junior forward Greg Printz is also tied with Thompson and Terriers’ senior forward and captain Patrick Curry for the most goals in Hockey East, each with seven, so fans will be in store for a lot of firepower in this matchup.

Graduate goaltender Michael Lackey has started all eight of the Friars’ games this season in net, and for good reason. The former Harvard Crimson netminder holds a 1.96 goals against average and a .936 save percentage.

With Harper back in the lineup, the Terriers, who have no trouble scoring goals, are poised to give Lackey a big test, but the red-hot trio of Dugan, Thompson and Printz could give what has been an inconsistent Terrier defense real concerns.

With both the Terriers and Friars amid a four-team tie for third place in Hockey East right now, a strong performance this weekend will be enough to boost either team ahead of the pack.

Featured Image by G. Turi.