Terriers hang on to beat Maine, 1-0

The No. 7 Boston University men’s hockey team defended a one-goal lead for almost 53 minutes on Saturday against the University of Maine, beating the Black Bears 1-0 in their last home game of 2012. Freshman goalie Sean Maguire had 28 saves in the shutout, his second straight at Agganis Arena.

BU (10-5-0, 8-4-0 Hockey East) opened the game with three and a half minutes of puck possession in Maine’s defensive zone. The Black Bears (2-10-2, 1-6-2 HE) couldn’t clear the puck or even catch up with BU’s quick passes around the zone, and their first line had to remain on the ice for about three times the length of a normal shift.

Junior defenseman Garrett Noonan opened the scoring at 7:13 of the first. On BU’s second power play of the night, he took a cross-ice pass from sophomore center Danny O’Regan and ripped a slap shot past Ouellette for his third goal of the year.

Late in the first, sophomore wing Evan Rodrigues became the latest in a long string of Terriers to be called for embellishment. Maine defenseman Brice O’Connor hooked Rodrigues as he skated into the Maine zone, but the ref ruled that Rodrigues exaggerated his fall. Black Bear winger Will Merchant also went to the box on that play.

The call was the sixth embellishment or diving call against BU since Nov. 3.

After BU’s dominant start, Maine picked up its pace and finished the period even with the Terriers in shots, 9-9. They didn’t back down in the second, either, outshooting the Terriers 11-8 in that frame.

With 4:52 remaining in the second, sophomore center Cason Hohmann cut in on the Maine net and was hooked by a Black Bear. He drew a penalty shot, the first of the season for BU.

Hohmann veered slightly to the left as he came in on goal, then snapped off a wrister that Ouellette gloved without much trouble.

Halfway through the third, with the score still 1-0, BU had a scary moment when freshman defenseman Matt Grzelcyk took a puck off of his left ankle. He fell to the ice and got up slowly, in apparent pain. Freshman center Wes Myron and senior defenseman Sean Escobedo helped him off the ice. Fortunately for the Terriers, Grzelcyk returned to the ice after a few minutes of rest.

With 5:32 remaining in the game, senior forward Ben Rosen received a five-minute major penalty for boarding when he knocked down Maine captain Mark Nemec. But the Terriers killed off the Maine power play to pick up their 10th win of the season.