Terriers End First-Semester Schedule With Win Over Rensselaer
December 10, 2002 | Men's Ice Hockey
| Game Statistics | Season Statistics |
The Terrier hockey team used a balanced scoring attack along with excellent penalty killing and strong goaltending by Sean Fields to close out its first-semester schedule with a 4-1 win over host Rensselaer on Tuesday night (December 10th).
The win ended a three-game road losing streak for the Terriers who are now 9-6-2 overall and won't play again until December 28th when they meet Michigan State in the first round of the Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. In the other first-round game, Michigan Tech will take on the University of Michigan. The two winners will play in the title game on December 29th, while there will also be a consolation game.
Tuesday's victory also marked the second time in less than two months that the Terriers defeated Rensselaer. On October 12th, B.U. skated to a 5-1 win over the Engineers in the title game of the Ice Breaker Tournament hosted by the University of Wisconsin. Tuesday night's loss to the Terriers dropped Rensselaer's overall record to 7-9-1.
"I was very happy with our effort tonight," Terrier head coach Jack Parker said after the game. "We wanted to build on what we did against UMass last Saturday night (a 3-1 Terrier victory) by playing well and playing hard tonight. We did both of those things, and we won.
"We continued to struggle on the power play, but we did a great job killing penalties," said Parker, pointing to the Terriers' 0-for-5 total on the power play, but 6-for-7 in killing the Rensselaer man-up situations. "I thought that all six forwards we used on killing penalties did a great job.
"I thought that Freddy Meyer and Dan Spang had great games," continued the coach. "And, Fields played exceptionally well in the second and third periods."
The first period was scoreless despite the fact the Terriers outshot the Engineers, 10-3. Five of B.U. shots came on their power play, which was 0-for-2 in the first 20 minutes of action.
The Terriers finally got on the scoreboard at 2:18 of the second period when Frantisek Skladany scored his third goal of the season and second in as many games. He was set up in the slot in front of Rensselaer goalie Nathan Marstens (19 saves) on a pretty pass by Kenny Magowan. Ryan Whitney fed the puck to Magowan who brought it down the ring wing boards and cut into the right faceoff circle where he found Skladany in front.
The Engineers tied the game on a power play goal at 15:24 when Kevin Croxton slipped home a rebound of a shot that was taken by Nolan Graham. Fields, who had nine saves in the second period, made the initial save but the rebound was left in front. The Terrier goalie tried to dive over to where the puck was resting in the slot but he was a split second too late.
Just 42 seconds later, at the 16:06 mark of the period, Mark Mullen, who is off to his best start in the three years with the Terriers, gave B.U. a lead it would never relinquish. He came skating down the right faceoff circle when he suddenly cut left and headed to the crease. He let go his shot and the puck found the far side of the net that beat Marstens to the stick side. David Klema and Spang picked up the assists, as B.U. led, 4-1, after two periods.
It was Fields, though, who turned in one of the big plays of the period. With the Terriers holding on to their 1-0 lead and still approximately 8:00 to play in the period, Fields made a sparkling glove save off C.J. Hanafin. The Rensselaer sophomore from Burlington came in alone on the Terrier goalie and took a shot that was earmarked for the upper right hand corner of the cage. But, Fields made the stop to preserve the Terrier lead.
Spang earned his second assist of the game on a pretty pass that set Matt Radoslovich up for his second goal of the season at 10:47 of the third period. Spang, who got the puck along the left wing boards from Brian Collins, came skating behind the Rensselaer goal from left to right. As he came out toward the slot, he saw Radoslovich cutting from left to right along the left faceoff circle. Spang's pass hit Radoslovich perfectly so that he tapped the puck home for a 3-1 Terrier lead.
Justin Maiser closed out the scoring at 17:30 of the third period when he took a pass at center ice from Jekabs Redlihs. Maiser carried the puck over the blue line as he headed to the right faceoff circle. He then cut to his left and shot toward the upper right corner of the Rensselaer goal. The puck eluded Marstens' glove, and the Terriers had their fourth goal of the game.
Last Saturday night, after losing a weekend series at Cornell and a game at UMass, the Terriers answered the challenges issued by Coach Parker as they defeated UMass, 3-1.
Another challenge was issued on Tuesday night regarding the team's ability to win on the road. Again, they answered the challenge on a positive note with a 4-1 win at Rensselaer.
Over the next 18 days, the challenges will be final first-semester exams and staying in shape for the rigors of the January, February, and March hockey schedule and the post-season playoffs.
