By Tim Healey/DFP Staff
NORTH ANDOVER – Behind the strength of freshman goaltender Matt O’Connor’s 34 saves and a three-point game from senior captain Wade Megan, the No. 11/12 Boston University men’s hockey team topped Merrimack College, 3-1, Friday night.
Megan bookended his second-period goal with two assists, as three different Terriers (5-2, 4-1 Hockey East) scored against the Warriors (4-4-1, 3-2-1 Hockey East) at J. Thom Lawler Arena.
“We just beat a very good hockey team,” BU head coach Jack Parker said. “It’s tough to beat them, and extremely tough to beat them here, so that’s a big win for us.”
O’Connor limited Merrimack to just one goal, which came while the Warriors had a man-advantage, to lower his goals-against average to 1.66.
“He is proving himself right now,” said sophomore forward Evan Rodrigues. “When he is back there the guys aren’t worried about playing a lot of defense in front of him.”
Rodrigues had the best scoring chance out of anyone on either team, but after a few back-and-forth passes between him and senior captain Wade Megan, Rodrigues’ shot rang off a pipe. Originally ruling the shot a goal, the referees reversed their decision after a review.
Parker said the officials told him it hit the pipe, then the cross bar and bounced out. It never crossed the goal line.
It didn’t take BU long to get going in the second because freshman defenseman Ahti Oksanen put the team up 1-0 just 1:22 into the period. After the Terriers won on a battle on the boards, sophomore forward Cason Hohmann sent a pass across the ice to Oksanen at the top of the right circle. Oksanen one-timed it, beating Merrimack goalie Sam Marotta glove-side.
Megan extended the lead to 2-0 at 8:42. Freshman defenseman Matt Grzelcyk bounced a soft pass off the boards right to Megan, who skated down the left wing and put the puck through Marotta’s five-hole.
“Oh, that was beautiful,” Megan said of the pass. “I kind of saw him have the puck and that is kind of what I had in mind was the indirect, so I just kind of took off and we were on the same page on that one. He played it perfectly and I was able to get it so that was great. Great play.”
But the Warriors came firing back in the third, almost immediately cutting the deficit to 2-1. Senior John Heffernan’s wrist shot from near the red line bounced off freshman goalie Matt O’Connor’s arm and into the BU net just 14 seconds into the final frame.
“I didn’t want to mention it to my team, but Merrimack’s record in the third period is unbelievable,” Parker said. “It looked like they were coming back again.”
Merrimack indeed almost came back, as it kept the pressure on BU for much of the period.
The Warriors thought they knotted things at two about halfway through the period. After O’Connor made the initial save there was a scrum to the side of the net, with the puck squeaking between O’Connor’s skate and the post. After a review the officials ruled it was kicked in, and thus not a goal.
Rodrigues gave the Terriers some breathing room at 12:48 when he got a rebound by Marotta from the right side of the crease. Grzelcyk and Megan again collected assists as the first-line right wing potted his first goal of the season.
“The whole game I was thinking about the first one,” Rodrigues said of his non-goal. “I swear it went in. But it was nice at the end, I had an empty net and I was real nervous, but I put it in and now it is off my chest.”
The Terriers have a rare Saturday off and will host No. 1 Boston College at Agganis Arena at 1 p.m. Sunday. It will be the first of three matchups between the rivals in a three-week span.
“We will take [Friday’s win],” Megan said, “but today is over and we have got a big one Sunday so that is what we are getting ready for.”
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