Men’s Hockey: Terriers open Hockey East Playoffs against UConn
By Owen Gund
It has been a roller coaster of a season for the Boston University Terriers (19-12-3, 13-8-3 HEA), who are gearing up to face the University of Connecticut Huskies (18-5-0, 14-10-0 HEA) Saturday afternoon in the Hockey East quarterfinals at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.
The Terriers won their three-game season series against the Huskies this season thanks to a pair of 2-1 wins down in Hartford with a 5-1 loss at home sandwiched in between. However, they were stuck in a three-way tie with UConn and Merrimack at the end of the season and an 8-1 loss to Maine on the final night of the regular season cost them the opportunity to host a playoff game at Agganis Arena.
Boston University head coach Albie O’Connell said that overall, it was a successful regular season for the Terriers.
“We had a really good regular season. We had a lot of woes from an injury standpoint and trying to find our game as a group, but we’ve come a long way,” O’Connell said. “We put ourselves in a spot to not play on Wednesday [in the play-in].”
The Terriers’ injury woes plagued them in Saturday’s loss against Maine, where they were missing two important defensemen in junior Alex Vlasic and sophomore Cade Webber. O’Connell mentioned both players before hinting that they will likely be in the lineup on Saturday.
“Getting some guys back and getting some rest will do us hopefully some good,” O’Connell said.
It is safe to assume that both players will suit up for Saturday’s contest
Vlasic and Webber are a part of a group that Boston University sophomore goaltender Drew Commesso referred to as “the best [defense] core in the country” earlier this season.
Junior Domenick Fensore, the team’s Hobey Baker nominee, anchors the Boston University blue line and is tied with junior forward Wilmer Skoog for a team-leading 30 points. Skoog has points in four straight games, and leads BU with 15 goals this season.
On the other side, the Huskies looked formidable all season, and O’Connell said that he expects Saturday’s matchup to be a close, hard-fought game.
“They’re arguably the best team we’ve seen all year,” he said. “From the games that we’ve had with them, I think they pose a lot of different problems.”
Senior forward Jachym Koldelik and sophomore forward Ryan Tverberg pace the Huskies’ scoring attack with 32 and 31 points, respectively. Graduate goaltender Darion Hanson has been in the pipes for all but one of UConn’s contests this season and posts an impressive .919 save percentage.
In their eighth season in the Hockey East, the Huskies are still searching for their first postseason victory.
The winner of Saturday’s contest heads to TD Garden for the Hockey East semi-finals on Friday. Puck drop for Saturday’s game is set for 4:30 pm.
Featured Image by Patrick Donnelly