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Sean Maguire, Matt O’Connor roughed up during blow out in Maine

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff 

ORONO, Maine — The 14-month Boston University men’s hockey goalie battle took an interesting turn Friday night.

In a 7-0 loss at Alfond Arena to the University of Maine, sophomore Sean Maguire — in sticking with the team’s two-netminder rotation — got the start and allowed three goals in the first half. Sophomore Matt O’Connor came on in relief but allowed four goals in the final period and a half.

For a BU team that has struggled to find the back of the net as of late, its usually solid goaltending didn’t do the team any favors.

“[The Black Bears] were opportunistic. They were very opportunistic. Give them credit,” BU coach David Quinn said. “They had chances and they buried them. … We had chances and we have got to bury them. We didn’t.”

That Maine took advantage of its opportunities may be an understatement. It broke a scoreless tie midway through the first when center Devin Shore snuck one between Maguire and the nearside pipe for one of the softer goals the netminder has given up all year.

About 20 minutes of game time later, Maguire let in another particularly regrettable tally when defenseman Ben Hutton took it end-to-end during a BU 5-on-3. The resulting shot dribbled through Maguire’s legs before barely crossing the line.

Quinn promptly pulled Maguire from the game.

“I just thought that the way the momentum was going I thought he would have liked to have the first and third goals back. Just a hunch,” Quinn said. “There were a bunch of reasons that went into that.”

Although O’Connor let in one more goal in about the same amount of time, he did not play as poorly.

By the time O’Connor entered the game, with BU already down by a considerable margin, the Terriers had to employ a riskier style of offense if they had any chance of coming back. That meant numerous breakaways for the Black Bears.

“We left him out to dry on some goals at the end there,” Noonan said. “But those are back-door tap-ins that we’d like to not let them tap in.”

What Friday’s loss means in terms of the big-picture goalie situation for Quinn’s crew is unclear. O’Connor will likely start Sunday against the University of Connecticut, given that Quinn has displayed little desire to stray away from the rotation, particularly when the goalie’s efforts don’t force the issue.

On the season, Maguire owns a 2.49 goals-against average and .929 save percentage, while O’Connor’s corresponding numbers are 3.46 and .905. Both are swayed by the last three games — all losses — in which opponents have outscored BU 15-2.

Of the Terriers’ four wins, one has come with Maguire between the pipes — the season opener, a 3-1 win over the University of Massachusetts. He is somewhat a victim of BU’s lack of offense, with the Terriers scoring a combined three goals in Maguire’s four other starts.

BU has averaged 3.2 goals in each of O’Connor’s five starts.

But chalking up Maguire’s lack of success to a lack of offense at the other end likely serves as little consolation given it doesn’t change the bottom line — Ws. And it almost certainly didn’t help as he skated to the bench in the second period against Maine, not allowed to finish a game for his second time as a Terrier.

“I didn’t [say anything to] Mags. He’s a great goalie,” said senior captain Garrett Noonan. “I don’t think me going over there and saying, ‘It’s not your fault’ or whatever is going to do him any good. He knows it’s not his fault. We have to play better in front of him, and he’s an awesome goalie. We know he’s going to be there for us.”

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