Head coach Albie O’Connell and the Terriers announced this week that the team has added graduate transfer Sam Tucker. Tucker played four seasons for Yale (ECAC) before committing to BU.
Over the course of his four years at Yale, Tucker played in 54 games for the Bulldogs, registering 20 wins and three shutouts between the pipes. The 23-year-old finished his Yale career with a 2.88 goals against average (GAA) and .903 save percentage; both stand as sixth-best in program history.
In 19 games as a senior last season, the Wilton, Connecticut native recorded a career-best .917 save percentage, the ninth-best single-season save percentage in program history, as well as a 2.53 GAA, the 12th-best single-season GAA in program history. Tucker’s senior season was highlighted by a 43-save performance versus No. 15 Harvard as well as shutouts against RPI and Union.
As a junior in 2017-18, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound netminder recorded a .893 save percentage as well as a 3.08 GAA in 20 games after carding a .899 save percentage and 3.05 GAA in 15 games as a sophomore in 2016-17.
Tucker dressed in 17 games as a freshman in 2015-16, but did not see game action that season. Before Yale, he played four seasons with the prep school Choate Rosemary Hall where he had a career .930 save percentage; his .952 save percentage during his senior year led prep school goaltenders.
A four-time ECAC All-Academic Team honoree, Tucker graduated Yale with a bachelor’s degree in political science and government. After the Terriers saw both Jake Oettinger and Max Prawdzik depart at the conclusion of last season, fans can expect Tucker to add experience to a BU goaltending group that has just two total starts (both from Vinnie Purpura last season), and compete for the starting job in the crease.
Looks like Sam was ranked #27 out of 76 NCAA D-1 goalies last season as far as save percentage. What I’m pleased about is his significant improvement year-over-year from 2017-2018 to 2018-2019 with regard to goals against average (down to 2.53 from 3.08) and save percentage (up to .917 from .893). I wish him a great experience here at BU!
He may be out top goalie this year. Last year stats seem pretty good.Lucky to get a transfer with such experience in D 1. Need one more year for our top prospect to develop.