By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff
On how the team rebounds from this weekend
I think we just got to start practicing again, work harder. We started out great, undefeated for a while. Quick start. Every team goes through it. They went through it a few weeks ago, you know, adversity. Now we got to come back together, start working harder, getting back to the basics and hopefully put a good last two games together and finish strong. Go on break, regroup and come back stronger.
On what the team struggled with in both games
It’s hard to say. It’s our rivals. Big game. They’re national champions and they played like it this weekend. We didn’t step up and match their intensity. It’s something you can’t do, especially against a great team and your rivals. I think maybe we didn’t come ready to play. We didn’t come focused. Turnovers hurt us this weekend all weekend. It’s hard to win when you turn the puck over. We’ve just got to come back together and finish strong. These next two games are important for us.
On the quick turnaround before Wednesday’s game
Get back to practice, start working hard, and thank God we have a quick turnaround. It’s better. Two days off – we’ve got tomorrow off and then right back to practicing. We’re ready to go. We play Northeastern. That’s a huge game. Biggest game of the year. Then RPI. Our goal now is to win the next two games and finish 9-3-5. That’s a pretty good first half of the year.
On how this series ranks in his career of BU/BC games
As a senior, obviously I think it’s one of the tough weekends. I don’t think I’ve ever lost two games back to back to BC. We have a lot of guys in the line-up, a lot of freshmen, a lot of younger players. It was a good step to see what college hockey’s all about for them. I do think that was the best team we’ve played all year, the fastest team we’ve played all year. Now we gauge ourselves and that’s where we have to be. Hopefully our next crack in the Beanpot or whenever we play them again, we’ll be ready to go.
On whether a weekend like this one can spark a young team
No team is going to be consistent all year. Every guy is going to have ups and downs. It’s how you face adversity that’s going to matter. We’re facing it right now, so hopefully we just keep battling, be resilient. It’s what we’ve been all year. Unfortunately it didn’t work out this weekend for us but Wednesday, Friday or Saturday, that’s the biggest games of the year right now. We just have to come hard. As one of the leaders on the team, just be ready to go.
On how he thought the freshmen played
I think maybe they were a little shook a little bit, got a little rattled. There were a lot of pucks going off our sticks, not just freshmen but upperclassmen too. It was a good taste for them. We’ll be ready to go when it comes Beanpot time and playoff Hockey East. Right now, they can have these wins. We never want to lose versus BC but it’s still early in the year. That’s one thing I’ve learned. At the end of the year, those games matter more. As a team, we’ve got to learn from this weekend. You can’t take anybody lightly. Just keep building, come back and learn from this, grow and come back stronger.
He states the truth throughout. 9-3-5 would be a nice first half. This team needs to learn how to win games convincingly and not just by a goal or settling for ties (especially at home). To this point they have shown signs they can be good, this weekend showed they also have a long way to go. Wednesday will be a good indication if they got the message. Nice leadership by #6.