Northeastern

NCAA tournament bracket set

The NCAA tournament bracket was announced Sunday, it can be found here:

West Regional in Sioux Falls, SD:

No. 1 St. Cloud State vs No. 4 Air Force

No. 2 Minnesota State vs No. 3 University of Minnesota Duluth

Midwest Regional in Allentown, PA

No. 1 Ohio State vs No. 4 Princeton:

No. 2 Denver vs No. 3 Penn State

Northeast Regional in Worcester:

No. 1 Cornell vs No. 4 Boston University

No. 2 Michigan vs No. 3 Northeastern

East Regional in Bridgeport, CT

No. 1 Notre Dame vs No. 4 Michigan Tech

No. 2 Providence vs No. 3 Clarkson

 

Matt will be back later this week to breakdown the BU and Cornell matchup

INFOGRAPHIC: extended

After last Saturday’s win against the No. 11 University of New Hampshire, the No. 18 Boston University men’s hockey team has officially made it through the first third of its 36 regular-game season.

The Boston Hockey Blog decided to compile an infographic on the team’s progress so far. We’ve also elaborated on some of the information in the graphic below and added things that couldn’t fit.

Senior forward Chase Phelps in front of the net against Northeastern University. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Senior forward Chase Phelps in front of the net against Northeastern University. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Rankings: No. 2 (preseason), No. 2, No. 7, No. 6, No. 12, No. 15, No. 18

As per USCHO.com

BU was slated as No. 2 behind University of Denver in the preseason poll, and kept this standing as it beat Union 4-1 during its home-opener and Quinnipiac University 4-3 in overtime. However, a sweep by Minnesota State University caused the Terriers to drop to No. 7. The following weekend, BU split its series against UConn and moved up a spot. 

After losing to both the Denver and Providence College, the Terriers went to No. 12. The following weekend, BU split its Hockey East matchups after a win against Providence, but a loss to Northeastern, causing it to drop to No. 15. Finally, despite beating UNH, the Terriers were swept by Northeastern giving them a No. 18 spot in the polls. 

Record: 5-6-1, 3-3-1 Hockey East during the Terriers’ first 12 games

Power Play: 20.4 percent

  • Junior forward Bobo Carpenter has scored four of his seven goals while BU was on a power play.

Penalty Kill: 70.6 percent

  • Carpenter scored two short-handed goals against UConn on Oct. 20.

Faceoff Wins: 50.9 percent

Goals per Game: 2.4

Shots per Game: 32.5

Other Leading Scorers:

  • Freshman forward Shane Bowers (4g, 2a) – 6 points
  • Sophomore defenseman Dante Fabbro (3g, 3a) – 6 points
  • Sophomore forward Patrick Curry (2g, 1a) – 3 points
  • Senior defenseman Brandon Hickey (1g, 2a) – 3 points

Terriers with Two Points: freshman forward Ty Amonte, graduate transfer forward Drew Melanson, freshman defenseman David Farrance

Freshman forward Shane Bowers with the puck in BU's 2-0 win against Providence College. PHOTO BY MADDIE MAHOLTRA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Freshman forward Shane Bowers with the puck in BU’s 2-0 win against Providence College. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Goaltending:

  • Jake Oettinger sits on a .904 goal save percentage and 2.91 goals against average over 658:41 minutes
  • Max Prawdzik owns a .968 goal save percentage and .91 goals against average over 66:03 minutes

Other Things to Note:

  • Fabbro leads the team in blocked shots with 32
  • Krys leads in shots with 45
  • Freshman forward Brady Tkachuk leads BU with a plus-minus rating of +7
  • The Terriers have been outscored 15-8 in the second period
  • BU has allowed its opponent to score first in seven games with a 2-5 record in those contests

Other Notable Quotes:

  • “For the next 50 minutes they played men’s hockey and we played boy’s hockey, and that was the difference.” — Coach Quinn after 3-6 loss to Minnesota State University
  • “At the end of the day, this is a game about scoring goals. We can talk about forechecking, d-zone coverage, we can talk about power plays and penalty kills, but you got to score goals.” — Coach Quinn after 1-6 loss to then-No. 13 Northeastern University

Upcoming Games:

After this weekend’s series against the University of Maine, the Terriers will only have five more games left before the end of the semester.

  • Cornell University at Madison Square Garden for Red Hot Hockey, 8 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 25
  • Boston College at Conte Forum, 7 p.m. on Friday Dec. 1
  • Boston College at Agganis Arena, 7 p.m. on Saturday Dec. 2
  • University of Massachusetts Lowell at  Tsongas Center, 7:15 p.m. on Friday Dec. 8
  • University of Massachusetts Lowell at Agganis Arena, 7 p.m. on Saturday Dec. 9
Senior forward Nik Olsson looking for a pass against Providence. PHOTO BY MADDIE MAHOLTRA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Senior forward Nik Olsson looking for a pass against Providence. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Look Back: BU channels comeback mindset to sweep Northeastern

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Chad Krys scored Saturday’s game-winning goal. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

What a weekend it was for the No. 8 Boston University men’s hockey team.

Pegged against Northeastern University in the quarterfinals of the Hockey East Tournament, the Terriers had quite the task before them. The Huskies were 11-3 in their last 14 contests heading into the weekend and boasted two of the nation’s top-five scorers in forwards Dylan Sikura and Zach Aston-Reese.

By Saturday night’s end, however, none of that mattered. Head coach David Quinn’s side dug deep in game one and game two, producing virtually identical performances to upend their cross-city foes.

On both occasions, head coach Jim Madigan’s team jumped out to 2-0 leads in the first period, only for BU to turn into The Comeback Kids. Friday’s encounter went into overtime, while Saturday’s was decided with 24.9 seconds left – and each time a 3-2 scoreline in favor of BU stood tall.

Looking ahead, BU now plays next Friday at TD Garden in the semifinals of the Hockey East Tournament against a to-be-determined opponent. Early indicators are it’ll face either Boston College or the University of New Hampshire, though.

Now that the dust has settled, let’s reflect on the series that was against Northeastern.

Content

  1. Friday’s recap, with a game-winning goal by Jordan Greenway.
  2. Friday’s sider on BU’s first-period woes.
  3. Saturday’s recap, with a game-winning goal by Chad Krys.
  4. Saturday’s sider on BU’s never-say-die attitude.

Highlights

Press Conferences

Quotes of the Weekend

“You lose one of your top players in [sophomore forward] Bobo Carpenter and one of your top [junior] defenseman in Johnny MacLeod, two heavy players that are really good players and to be able to dust yourself off. Being down 2-0 and losing two players in the same period says an awful lot about our mental toughness.” – David Quinn

“It’s never easy to end somebody’s season. That’s a heck of a hockey team we just played. I don’t think there’s a team in the country that you’re playing like that in the second round of your playoffs. We may move forward and not see teams as good as them.” – David Quinn

“We just have to play a full 60. You don’t always have to be on your best every single shift, but we have to limit our worst when we’re coming out of the gates and take that never-die approach to the Garden.” – Doyle Somerby

“We can’t keep playing with fire the way we have been the last few weeks. But like I said before, I certainly like some of the characteristics we’ve shown over the last few weeks in being mentally tough and playing well in crucial and critical times.” – David Quinn

Tweets of the Weekend

Live Blog: BU hosts Northeastern in game two of Hockey East quarterfinals

When Boston University and Northeastern square off on Saturday night, both will have high stakes on the line.

The Terriers, fresh off a 3-2 overtime victory in game one of the Hockey East quarterfinals, will be playing for a berth in the semifinals next weekend at TD Garden. Meanwhile, the Huskies’ season will be on the line, as a loss guarantees their exit from postseason play.

With those plotlines, puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. at Agganis Arena, and the clash will be streamed on NESN and the American Sports Network.

We’ll also be at Agganis all evening, so follow along on our live blog below!

Live Blog BU vs. Northeastern – Hockey East quarterfinals game two
 

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BU hosts Northeastern in Hockey East Tournament quarterfinals

This article originally appeared on The Daily Free Press.

M46A0355Playoff hockey is back.

Beginning Friday night, the No. 8 Boston University men’s hockey team will host Northeastern University at Agganis Arena for a best-of-three series in the quarterfinal round of the Hockey East Tournament. The second-seeded Terriers and eighth-ranked Huskies will square off again on Saturday evening and, if necessary, on Sunday night.

Both squads are riding high, as BU is fresh off earning a share of the Hockey East regular-season title, while Northeastern is 11-3 in its past 14 games. Perhaps more importantly, though, senior captain and defenseman Doyle Somerby said that postseason play brings about urgency.

“It’s pretty serious now; it’s a big brand of hockey,” Somerby said. “ … When we met on Tuesday, we left it all on the line and said, ‘This is a weekend where we need to play the way we can play and set a tone for what our playoffs are going to be like.’ We trust ourselves, and it’s just something that has to come from within.”

These two sides met back in early November, with the Terriers taking three of a possible four points from the weekend series. However, BU (21-10-3, 13-6-3 Hockey East) head coach David Quinn said those results won’t influence these upcoming games.

The dominant reasons, Quinn said, are head coach Jim Madigan’s team is healthy and “better defensively.” As for Somerby, he said Northeastern (18-13-5, 9-10-3 Hockey East), which won the 2016 Hockey East Tournament, always seems to get hot come playoff hockey.

“They’re a really good team,” Somerby said. “They’re fast, they’re up-tempo, they like to push the pace. They put up so much offense.”

The superlatives from Somerby bear fruit, too.

Northeastern’s power-play unit scores 28.95 percent of the time, good for second in Division I hockey. Meanwhile, it boasts three of the nation’s top-10 scorers in senior Zach Aston-Reese (62 points), junior Dylan Sikura (56 points) and sophomore Adam Gaudette (52 points).

The Huskies’ biggest flaw, arguably, is goaltender Ryan Ruck, whose goals against average (2.94) and save percentage (.896) all rank in the bottom three of Hockey East netminders. Through those highs and lows, Quinn said Northeastern poses a serious challenge.

“We certainly understand our opponent and how talented they are, and we just have to make sure we don’t give them time and space,” Quinn said. “If you do that, you have a much better chance to have success.”

Leading that charge for BU – the youngest team in college hockey – will be a slew of talented youngsters.

M46A0533Freshman goaltender Jake Oettinger, who will start on Friday, ranks in the top-10 nationally in goals against average (2.06), save percentage (.927) and shutouts (four). Meanwhile, forwards Clayton Keller (38 points) and Patrick Harper (34 points) both rank in the top-five nationally in freshman scoring.

Outside of any single player, Somerby said another motivator is how BU fared in the 2015-16 postseason.

In the Hockey East Tournament, the Terriers narrowly squeezed by the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the opening round, only to be promptly bounced by the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Come the NCAA Tournament, BU lost in the opening round, 7-2, to the University of Denver.

In simple terms, Somerby said playoff hockey means there’s no guarantee of another game.

“We’re not taking anything for granted,” Somerby said. “We know we have a special group and we have a close-knit group, so we put it on the line that we’re playing for each other and extend our season for as long as we can. That starts tomorrow.”

All things considered, Quinn said BU must approach the weekend one tilt at a time. From that, he said, BU could secure its ninth Hockey East Tournament title.

So, what will Quinn be looking for?

“Our puck movement, our urgency,” Quinn said. “When a puck comes to you, are you ready to do something with it? The edge that we have physically and offensively, and then our commitment to playing defense. Those are the things that are going to determine our success throughout the weekend.”

Live Blog: BU hosts Northeastern in Hockey East quarterfinals

Playoff hockey is officially here, BU hockey fans!

We’re live at Agganis Arena for Friday night’s clash between the Terriers and Northeastern, which will get underway at 7:05 p.m. This is the first clash of a best-of-three series, with other contests occurring on Saturday and Sunday.

We’ll be providing minute-by-minute updates, so follow along on our live blog below!

Live Blog BU vs. Northeastern – Hockey East Quarterfinals
 

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Five Thoughts on BU’s weekend series with Northeastern

Now that the dust has settled, let’s reflect back on the Boston University men’s hockey team’s weekend series against Northeastern University.

On Friday night at Matthews Arena, the Terriers let up a late equalizer and struggled to tune out the Matthews Arena crowd. Simply, the 4-4 tie in overtime left BU with a bitter taste in its mouth.

In the return affair on Saturday evening at Agganis Arena, the Terriers bounced back in a major way, earning a 3-0 win. Freshmen Patrick Harper, Jake Oettinger and Kieffer Bellows led the way, while BU finally stayed out of the box for an extended period of time.

Now, here are our five thoughts:

1.) Second line – It’s interesting to note that the second line had much more success than the first line this weekend. That second line of Patrick Harper, Clayton Keller and Jordan Greenway scored five of BU’s seven total goals in its two games against Northeastern, while the first line of Kieffer Bellows, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and Bobo Carpenter totaled just one. In Saturday’s game, both of Harper’s goals featured assists from Keller and Greenway, indicating that those three have really gelled together quickly.

While Bellows scored in Saturday’s win, it was a quiet weekend for both Forsbacka Karlsson and Carpenter, who combined for just two assists in the two games. Of course, to refer to their efforts as quiet is more of a testament to that stacked BU offense. Regardless, the Harper-Keller-Greenway line looked fantastic all weekend, while the Bellows-JFK-Carpenter line was cast in the shadows. – Nick

2.) Jordan Greenway – After Greenway picked up a 10-minute misconduct penalty that proved crucial in the tie with Northeastern on Friday, Coach David Quinn responded by sitting Greenway for the entire first period Saturday. In his press conference on Friday, Quinn made it clear he wasn’t going to let those type of penalties slide, and he backed it up by sitting Greenway.

Once he got out on the ice, Greenway was back to his old, physical self. He had a few bad moments, like when he completely whiffed on a one-timer early in the second period, but he still contributed with two assists in the win. Once or twice after the whistle, a NU player would get in Greenway’s face to try and incite him, but Greenway kept his arms down and stayed out of trouble. He was called for no penalties after spending 14 minutes in the penalty box on Friday, so we assume Quinn is pleased with Greenway’s turnaround. – Nick

3.) Clayton Keller – Man, Keller is so fun to watch. Every time the opposing goalie passes out to a defenseman, Keller is there to try and disrupt it. That’s what led to his shorthanded goal on Friday. We’ll update you as soon as we learn more about the severity of his injury. – Nick

4.) Oskar Andrén – With injuries stacking up – Nik Olsson, Ryan Cloonan and Keller could all be out for a while – the return of the Swedish winger was a welcomed sight. The sophomore slotted onto the fourth line in Saturday’s game and brought energy throughout. It was his first game of the 2016-17 season. He didn’t register a shot or make any jaw-dropping plays, but he doesn’t need to right now. He just needs to fill a role. – Jonathan

5.) Tommy Kelley – When BU hockey fans picture Tommy Kelley, odds are they envision a fourth line player who is on the periphery. Now a senior, it’s clear that coach Quinn wants “TK” to take on a far more expansive role for the Terriers.

He’ll never be an offensive powerhouse and likely isn’t a top-six forward, but his contributions are undoubtedly important. He kills penalties, makes smart hockey plays and is gradually growing into a leadership role. He also logs an incredible amount of ice time, far more than most fourth-line players ever would. – Jonathan

Highlights

Friday’s game:

Saturday’s game:

Live Blog: BU hosts Northeastern to close weekend series

Follow along on our live blog of tonight’s action between BU and Northeastern. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.

Live Blog BU vs. Northeastern – Agganis Arena
 

BU lines:

Forwards:

Kieffer Bellows – Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson – Bobo Carpenter

Patrick Harper – Clayton Keller – Jordan Greenway

Patrick Curry – Ryan Cloonan – Nick Roberto

Oskar Andrén – Johnny McDermott – Tommy Kelley

Defense:

Chad Krys – Charlie McAvoy

Brandon Hickey – Dante Fabbro

Doyle Somerby – John MacLeod

Goalies:

Jake Oettinger

Connor LaCouvee

Max Prawdzik

 

From The FreeP: Dramatic game at Northeastern leads to tie

Friday night’s clash between the Boston University men’s hockey team and Northeastern University surely didn’t disappoint. There were four lead changes throughout, including a game-tying goal with under a minute left by the Huskies’ Zach Aston-Reese.

The final scoreline was 4-4, as an overtime period couldn’t produce a winner inside a raucous Matthews Arena. For greater details on what unfolded, check out Nick’s recap and Jonathan’s sider.