BU seniors honored after win

Kieran Millan and his mother Wendy after BU’s win. Junhee Chung/DFP Staff

By: Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff

Senior forward Chris Connolly stood out at center ice with his arms around his parents’ shoulders as the Boston University men’s hockey team’s fans cheered in a standing ovation for their captain. The sweat on his face mixed with what looked to be tears welling up in his eyes as he waved to the student sections for what will be the last time during the regular season in his career.

Connolly, along with the rest of his teammates defeated Northeastern University 5-2 at Agganis Arena on Senior Night. It was only fitting that the group of six players who have won the National Championship, the Hockey East Championship and the Beanpot among other things won their final game in their home arena.

Seniors Kieran Millan, Grant Rollheiser, Ross Gaudet, Ryan Ruikka, Kevin Gilroy and Connolly celebrated their final game in a postgame ceremony in which the fans remained standing and cheering for their seniors. The seniors had their various accolades announced over the public address system while they smiled alongside their parents on a red carpet on the ice.

“We had a nice night for the parents. They were happy,” said BU coach Jack Parker.

Gaudet and Ruikka, who both have another year of eligibility because they redshirted freshman year, were honored at Senior Night because they are both finishing their undergraduate degrees. While Gaudet is still deciding whether or not to return to the team next season, Ruikka will be leaving the team as he is graduating with a masters degree from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Ruikka, who has scored 11 points in 57 games in his career, is a model student off the ice. Ruikka is double-majoring in Economics and Mathematics at BU, and has a near-4.0 grade point average. He recorded an assist in the game as he fed junior forward Wade Megan for the second of the goal of the game.

Another senior who recorded an assist in the game was Gaudet, who fired a shot that deflected off junior forward Ryan Santana’s stick through Northeastern goalie Chris Rawlings’ legs for the fourth goal of the game. Gaudet has scored 16 goals and nine assists in 106 games as a Terrier.

Because it was Senior Night, Gilroy was inserted into the lineup in place of freshman forward Evan Rodrigues. While Gilroy has only played in 12 games this season, he played the 67th game of his career, in which he has scored seven goals and 12 points.

Another player who hasn’t seen the ice much this season, and didn’t see it again Friday night was Rollheiser. However, the senior goalie earned his second career shutout in Vermont last Friday, and will start again tomorrow night at Matthews Arena.

The goalie who did start on senior night was Millan. The former Hockey East Rookie of the Year stopped 25 of 27 shots on the night to earn his 79th career win as a Terrier.

“The reason why we won that game was because our goalie played unbelievable tonight.” Parker said. “Kieran Millan was terrific tonight.”

Then there was Connolly, who scored an empty net goal on the night to seal the victory in the third period on a pass from sophomore Matt Nieto.

“I’m happy he got it. I was kind of crawling to get onside for him there,” said sophomore forward Matt Nieto. “I’m happy he put it in so he must have been happy.”

The goal was Connolly’s seventh on the year, 37th in his career and 120th point.

It was a big occasion at Agganis Arena, as over 40 former BU players were at the arena to witness the event. The group was outside the BU locker room before the game to wish the team luck.

“It was really, really heartwarming. I knew that they were here for me and they were here for the program,” Parker said. “A lot of great names were down that corridor. An awful lot of great players.”

While this didn’t mark the end of the careers of the seniors, from here on out the Terriers only have the first round of the playoffs left at Agganis Arena for the rest of their careers.

So as Connolly looked on at the fans before he skated off the ice to the locker room, it was not his last time to skate on the Agganis Arena ice as a Terrier. The regular season ended at home, but the season will continue tomorrow night at Matthews Arena.