Sean Fields had 36 saves en route to his third collegiate shutout.
Junior goalie Sean Fields posted his third career shutout and Brian Collins, John Laliberte, and Mark Mullen each scored a goal as the Boston University hockey team blanked Harvard, 3-0, in front of 3065 fans at B.U.'s Walter Brown Arena on Tuesday night.
The victory improved the Terriers' record to 7-3-2 overall, while Harvard slipped to a 5-3-0 overall record.
Fields, who had blanked Merrimack his freshman year and Merrimack again as a sophomore, turned aside all 36 Crimson shots, 19 of which came in the third period.
"It was good to get a shutout against someone other than Merrimack," Fields kidded after the game. "This was a close game, and you have to keep your focus. There is more pressure in games like these, and they are more fun to play.
"Our forwards were taking their men out of the play," Fields continued. "If you are a good goalie, 99 percent of the time you should make those saves."
Bryan Miller, who assisted on the Terriers' game-winner, was singled out by Head Coach Jack Parker at the end of the game.
Of Fields' 36 total saves, 12 came in the first period, as the Terriers were outshot, 12-8. One of the eight was taken by Collins as he provided the Terriers the only goal they would need at the 14:59 mark of the period. With the Terriers skating on their power play, senior captain Freddy Meyer got the puck at the left point. He unloaded a slap shot that Collins deflected in close that beat Harvard goalie Dov Grumet-Morris, who likewise played an excellent game with 29 saves. The Terriers' Bryan Miller also earned an assist on the goal.
The second period belonged to the Terriers who outshot the Crimson, 14-5, but they could not increase their lead.
"That second period was as good a period as we have played in a long, long time," said Terrier head coach Jack Parker. "We looked like a team out there getting the puck out of neutral ice."
David Klema's excellent play set up the Terriers' insurance goal by John Laliberte.
Harvard came out strong in the third period, but it was B.U. that accounted for the only two goals. Laliberte provided an insurance goal when he took a pass from David Klema in the slot and beat Grumet-Morris at 11:05. Klema made a nifty play taking the puck off the left wing boards, and, just as he was taken down by a Harvard defenseman, he slid the puck over to Laliberte. Matt Radoslovich also picked up an assist.
Mullen, with an assist to John Cronin, closed out the scoring with an empty net goal with just 1:15 to play in regulation.
"This was a nice game to win," said Parker. "There was a flow to the game. There was speed and tempo to the game.
"We played a real smart game, and there wasn't a guy out there who had a bad night," the coach went on. "We had the goaltending when we needed it, and I thought the entire defense played well, but, in particular, I thought that Bryan Miller had a great night.
"It was also good to see Brian Collins score a goal," Parker said of his assistant captain who had not scored a goal in this year's 11 games. "He has been playing well and hard and it was nice to see him finally score a goal."
"I thought the key to the game was they finished their opportunities, and we didn't finish ours," said Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni.
Harvard's best chance came in the third period when Tom Cavanaugh came skating in alone on Fields.
"I wanted to poke check the puck away but I missed it," Fields said of the play. "Then, I tried to brace myself against the net, and fortunately, the puck (Cavanaugh's shot) stayed out."
"There was excellent goaltending on both ends," said Mazzoleni, who was disappointed his team didn't play well until the third period. "I don't know why we didn't play our best hockey until the third period. You can't play a team like B.U. and not bring your game until the third period."
