By Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff
Former Boston University men’s hockey player Tom O’Regan and his wife Claudia will have a tough time deciding who to cheer for in Wednesday night’s game between No. 8 BU and Harvard University at Agganis Arena. The pair will watch their sons, Danny and Tommy, face off against each other in a battle between brothers.
Danny O’Regan, a freshman at BU (11–6, 8–4 Hockey East), has had a strong first season with the Terriers, scoring five goals and six assists through 17 games. His brother, Tommy O’Regan, is a sophomore at Harvard (4–7–1, 3–5 ECAC) and has recorded a goal and six assists through 12 games this season.
BU coach Jack Parker recognized that this is the first time the brothers will play a collegiate game against each other, but said that the game is more than just a battle of the O’Regans.
“It will be interesting to see how his parents and Tommy’s parents handle brother versus brother,” Parker said. “It is a team sport. It is not an individual sport. It’s not like he is going on the mound to face his brother in the batting box.”
While the O’Regan brothers will have their own rivalry, the battles between BU and Harvard have gone on since long before either of them were born.
The Terriers and Crimson, who both compete for the Beanpot every year, have matched up 145 times since the 1922-23 season. BU is the all-time series leader with a 76–63–6 record.
“We have had great games with them over the years and have had a great rivalry long before I was coaching here,” Parker said. “Of late, we have had unbelievable games with them. One-goal games here and there, comebacks by each team, real nail-biters, really physical games and real emotional games.”
One of the key contributors for Harvard will be freshman forward Jim Vesey, who has eight points this season and just won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia.
Harvard goaltender Raphael Girard will likely make his 13th start of the season Wednesday. The junior has a 3.05 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage this season this season and has started every game for the Crimson.
“He played well against us last year,” Parker said. “He has had a good career there thus far. He has been a solid goaltender for them.”
BU will look to get its top offensive weapon back Wednesday, as senior captain Wade Megan practiced Tuesday for the first time since injuring his shoulder on Dec. 29 against the University of Denver. The senior is “probable” for the game and will be evaluated by the team training staff after the pregame warm-ups.
Junior assistant captain Garrett Noonan may miss Wednesday’s game with a flu bug, according to Parker. With sophomore defenseman Alexx Privitera already ruled out of the game by Parker as a punishment for the penalties he took against Denver, the Terriers will turn to junior defenseman Matt Ronan if Noonan misses the game.
If Ronan plays, it will be only his third career appearance for BU. The Woburn native played Feb. 3 of last season against Merrimack College and Oct. 10, 2010 against the University of Notre Dame.
Privitera already missed last game against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute due to a one-game disqualification he received from the NCAA for a kicking penalty against Denver.
“He took a couple stupid penalties,” Parker said. “If he didn’t get a suspension by them I would’ve given him one game. I was going to give him one game either way. He also got one from the NCAA but that wasn’t my doing.”
Freshman goaltender Matt O’Connor will start in goal for the Terriers. The Toronto native is 7–4 on the season with a 2.56 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. It will be his first start since allowing six goals to Denver.
That game, along with the first two periods of the Terriers’ overtime win over RPI, marked a sluggish start to the second half of the season for BU. However, after some strong play in the third period against RPI and an overtime goal from sophomore forward Cason Hohmann, BU will look to continue moving on from that poor level of performance with a win over Harvard.
“Hopefully we are over that ‘Vacation Mode’ and back in the ‘Play Hard Mode,’” Parker said.
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