BOX SCORE
BOSTON ??? Sophomore goaltender Karson Gillespie (Mankota, Sask.) earned both his first collegiate win and first career shutout as he made 31 saves to backstop the Boston University men???s ice hockey team (4-4-2 overall, 3-3-1 Hockey East) to a 1-0 blanking of reigning back-to-back national champion No. 13 Denver (5-6-2 overall, 3-3-2 WCHA) on Friday night at Agganis Arena. Senior Dan Spang (Winchester, Mass.) netted the only goal the Terriers would need to end a four-game winless streak.
Opening the scoring for just the third time this season, the Terriers got on the board in the first period and held tight to the lead throughout the remainder of the game, while also killing five Pioneer penalties, including nearly a two-minute span of 5-on-3 action.
???I was real pleased with our effort obviously, pleased that we got a ???W??? and got ourselves back to .500,??? said BU Head Coach Jack Parker. ???Hopefully we can build on that.
???The best story of the night was Gillespie ??? he played very very well and looked very very confident. He gave us just what we needed,??? added Parker.
???You sit on the bench for 50 games and it makes you pretty hungry,??? said Gillespie who played for the first time since relieving John Curry (Shorewood, Minn.) in the third period at Colorado College on Nov. 27, 2004. ???When you finally get that second shot, you???ve got to make it work and do what you gotta do to get the win. Most importantly, the team???s back on track and hopefully we keep it going tomorrow.???
Spang???s goal, which was the defenseman???s second of the season and fourth point in the last five games, came at 12:34 of the first stanza when he took a pass from freshman John McCarthy (Andover, Mass.) and rushed toward the DU net through the left faceoff circle. Just as he neared the goal line, he skidded to a halt and sent a backhander high over a sprawled Pioneer goalie Glenn Fisher.
The BU defense stepped it up in the remaining period and a half, blocking a total of 19 shots on the game to help protect Gillespie and maintain the lead.
The win marked the fourth Terrier win over a ranked opponent this season, as BU is now 4-1-1 against the nation???s finest.
Denver out shot BU, 31-24, while all five of the Pioneer power plays were killed and both of the Terriers??? man-advantage opportunities were turned aside.
The Terriers return to action tomorrow night versus No. 3 Colorado College at Agganis Arena at 7:00 p.m. The Tigers lost to Massachusetts, 4-3, on Friday.
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