BOSTON — For the Boston University men’s hockey team, the first semester of the 2024-25 season was full of ups and downs. Thankfully for the Terriers, it ended on a high note.
No. 13 BU (9-6-1, 5-3-1 Hockey East) wrapped up the fall term on Friday at Agganis Arena, taking down the USA Hockey National Team Development Program 7-5 in an exhibition.
The NTDP is loaded with talent and features four future Terriers: forwards Conrad Fondrk and Jack Murtagh and defensemen Charlie Trethewey and Carter Amico. Amico didn’t play Friday with an undisclosed injury.
Fondrk, Murtagh, and Trethewey were announced as “future Terriers” during introductions and received a loud cheer from the Agganis faithful.
The Terriers jumped out in front when senior forward Matt Copponi opened the scoring at 1:15 of the first period. He forced a turnover in the offensive zone, drove the net, and whisked home a feed from sophomore co-captain Shane Lachance, beating Harrison Boettinger five-hole to give BU a 1-0 advantage.
“He’s made a huge impact for us,” head coach Jay Pandolfo said postgame. “I expect that he’s gonna have a great second half.”
The NTDP controlled much of the play after falling behind, peppering sophomore netminder Max Lacroix with 10 shots in the first seven minutes of the game, compared to BU’s two.
But at 11:11, junior forward Quinn Hutson extended the Terrier lead. The puck was poked away from Asher Barnett by senior forward Jack Hughes and was picked up behind the cage by Alex Zetterberg. The freshman forward found a wide-open Huston net front, who beat Boettinger.
Jake Stuart got one back for the NTDP at 13:29. From behind the net, Jacob Kvasnicka found Stuart in the slot, who, from his backhand, shoveled the puck past Lacroix to make it 2-1.
Lacroix, on his 21st birthday, made 23 saves in the first two periods before being pulled for graduate Billy Girard IV at the start of the third. Girard IV stopped five shots in his first action as a Terrier.
“He works really hard for our team every day, does a lot of extra with guys. So it was great to see him,” Pandolfo said of Girard IV. “I thought he did a heck of a job.”
It was a high-paced first period, and the start of the second frame looked much the same. Will Horcoff knotted the scoreline at 4:16, and at 7:28, senior forward Tristan Amonte regained the Terriers’ lead off a slick feed from sophomore forward Jack Harvey.
BU went back up two goals at 9:17. Freshman forward Nick Roukounakis wheeled down the left wing, skating the puck around the net and back up to the top of the right circle, firing a shot on goal. Freshman forward Kamil Bednarik redirected the puck into the back of the net to give the Terriers a 4-2 advantage.
“It was good to get some opportunity,” Roukounakis said postgame. “It was good to build some confidence.”
With Friday’s contest listed as an exhibition for BU, players like Roukounakis saw increased ice time, and the forward made the most of his opportunity.
“When he moves his feet, he’s tough to contain because he’s a big body,” Pandolfo said. “He got rewarded because of it.”
Freshmen Cole Hutson, Cole Eiserman, and Brandon Svoboda and sophomore Tom Willander all sat out Friday after being selected to play in the 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Pandolfo said it made “zero sense” for them to play in the exhibition given the risk. Junior Devin Kaplan also didn’t play due to “maintenance,” according to Pandolfo.
Zetterberg extended the Terrier lead to three at 17:28, rocketing a wrister past Boettinger on a two-on-one. 29 seconds later, Richard Gallant made it 5-3, cleaning up a mess in front of Lacroix.
At 4:52 of the third period, Copponi dished the puck to Zetterberg for an easy finish. The Swede’s second tally of the evening pushed the BU lead to 6-3.
“I got a lot of pucks to work with [tonight],” Zetterberg said postgame. “And I found the net today.”
Both offenses remained potent late. Hughes picked up a power play goal at 8:50. Then Gallant buried his second of the game at 12:22, and Will Moore scored at 19:59.
The Terriers will begin the second half of the season in 16 days on the road at Yale. Until then, the team has time to reflect on what was a rocky start to the year.
“We went through a lot this first half,” Pandolfo said. “I don’t think we really fully got into a rhythm as a team.”
But the confidence is still there for the Terriers, regardless of how the first 16 games looked.
“If we stick together as a group,” Zetterberg said, “we can do some things.”
Recent Comments