Defense: D+
Left legless after killing six penalties, BU’s defense gave up three third-period goals to blow a 3-2 lead. BU coach Jack Parker called his blue line’s effort “pathetic,” as RPI reached the crease on four of its five goals. Junior defenseman Colby Cohen was a healthy scratch for not playing “fast enough or smart enough,” but the rest of the backline didn’t seem to get the message.
Offense: B
The Terriers scored three goals Friday night — two of them on shorthanded breaks. Junior defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was involved in both, earning the No. 1 Star of the Game. In the first, he forced a turnover on the blue line that junior forward Nick Bonino turned into a goal. He went coast-to-coast flanked on a 2-on-1 to put BU up 3-2 with 10:05 left in the second. But that was all she wrote for the Terriers, as they were unable to strike back after RPI’s third-period surge.
Special Teams: A-
BU held an RPI team with a 22-percent power-play efficiency to an 0-for-6 showing on the man advantage. Senior forward Zach Cohen tied the game at two on the Terriers’ lone power-play conversion. He screened RPI goalie Bryce Merriam on freshman defenseman Max Nicastro’s wrister from the point, and got a stick on the puck to tip it in on the way by. The Terriers finished 1-for-6 on the power play.
Goalie: C
“Our goalie effort has fallen back greatly from last year,” BU coach Jack Parker said after the game. Sophomore goalie Kieran Millan made 20 saves on 24 shots, and the Engineers netted an empty-netter with under a minute remaining. But Millan didn’t have a lot of help in front of him.
X-Factor: Faceoffs
The Terriers lost the faceoff battle, 33-to-19, Friday. As Parker noted in the postgame press conference, RPI is a team that thrives on making a single pass after the faceoff before shooting on goal. The Terriers’ inability to win faceoffs led to numerous Engineer opportunities. Parker also noted that faceoffs aren’t about skill; they’re about effort. The latter was clearly lacking, and nothing was more revealing of that fact than BU’s faceoff ineptitude.
Let us hope that this awful semester has bottomed out with this lackluster performance against a very mediocre RPI team. Can it get any worse?
BU is not as loaded as last year’s national championship team, but there is still a lot of talent left, just not too many consistent efforts from game to game, period to period and player to player. The bottom line is this team is underachieving, perhaps because it thinks it is better than it actually happens to be.
Far too many mistakes are made on defense. Shattenkirk and Warsofsky are wonderful players, but are trying to do too much. Colby Cohen is still living off that deflected goal in the NCAA finals. Escobedo simply is not ready for the speed of this level. Rosen has better skills, but his mistakes, while fewer, are even scarier.
I don’t understand why Santana doesn’t dress more often. He has character and really hustles, both of which seem to be in short supply.
Coach Parker has a history of righting ships during second semesters, but this malaise has gone on far too long for a team with a lot of parts but little cohension.
Losing five of the top six forwards, plus top defencemen Gilroy and Strait, has taken a major toll. Particularly since this year’s freshmen class has not been stellar out of the gate (potential is good, first semester production not so good).
Chiasson looked very good early, until he was KOed in practice by Gryba. Nicastro is clearly a force for the near future, but still has a lot to learn.
If Strait had stayed, and Escobedo had another season to develope, he would have been much better off.
Rosen came with an offensive reputation, but he is a bit lightweight and hasn’t got to show it.
There is no offense coming from Megan, Courtnall and Santana right now. All three could turn out to be good players, but right now BU could really have used a DaCosta of Merrimack on the team.
Lets go BU
do you see bu turning it around in the second half of the year? any shot at getting a home ice seed in the hockey east play offs?
Home ice? They did it two years ago, finishing second after a poor start. But they needed to win the playoffs to move on to the NCAAs, and that is where they fell short.
An attitude adjustment would go a long way to turning this around. There is enough talent to do it.
they don’t seem to have the overall talent or desire I have seen in past teams. No energy on bench at all. No forecheck at all.
did someone put the boats back together???!!!!