Dec. 30, 2007
BOSTON - Playing for the first time in three weeks, the Boston University men's ice hockey team (4-10-2, 3-6-1 HE) kicks off the second half of its schedule with a league contest against Merrimack (6-7-2, 3-7-1) on Sunday (Dec. 30) at Agganis Arena. The game, which will be broadcast live by ESPNU, will start at 7 p.m. The Terriers will look to avoid their first four-game losing streak since February 2004 while also attempting to earn their 10th straight win against Merrimack.
Due to a postponement for the Dec. 13 game against Dartmouth and the recent exam and holiday break, the Terriers have not played since a 3-2 exhibition win over the U.S. National Under-18 Team on Dec. 8. BU dropped a 4-3 contest at UMass Lowell on Dec. 7, making it 23 days since the team last played a game that counted towards its record.
Merrimack has posted twice as many wins (6) as they did all of last season (3). However, since opening the season with three straight non-conference victories, the Warriors are 3-7-2 and are winless in their last four contests (0-3-1). They last played on Dec. 8, dropping a 3-1 road contest against Maine.
Junior Rob Ricci has tallied a team-high 16 points on the strength of 10 assists, while sophomore Matt Jones has developed into the team's go-to goal scorer with nine markers as part of his 12 points on the year. Freshmen forwards Francois Ouimet (4g, 4a) and Chris Barton (3g, 5a) have each registered eight points thus far. Junior netminder Patrick Watson has made 12 starts and has posted a .909 save percentage and a 2.74 goals against average to go along with a 4-6-2 record. Merrimack's offense ranks just 51st in the country with 2.13 goals per contest. Mark Dennehy is in his third season at the helm of the Warriors' program.
The Terriers and Warriors go into Sunday's game having played 79 times since first meeting on Dec. 11, 1964, and the Terriers hold a commanding 64-11-4 (.835) advantage. Merrimack's last win over BU was on Feb. 12, 2004. The Terriers are 4-0 against the Warriors at Agganis Arena and have not suffered a home loss to them since March 2, 2001, at Walter Brown Arena.
Pete MacArthur is the only senior to have appeared in all nine contests against Merrimack over the past three seasons, and he has performed well in the those games, posting 11 points on four goals -- including three game winners -- and seven assists. Juniors Chris Higgins (2g, 5a) and Brandon Yip (1g, 6a) have also fared well against the Warriors, recording seven points apiece in six and five games, respectively. Seniors Bryan Ewing and Ryan Monaghan have each tallied two goals and an assist versus Merrimack.
BU swept its three-game season series with Merrimack during the 2006-07 campaign, marking the third straight year that feat has been achieved. After posting a 4-1 road win on Oct. 21, the Terriers swept a home-and-home series on Jan. 19 & 20 with a 3-0 win at Lawler Arena and a 2-1 triumph the following night at Agganis Arena. Brett Bennett made his collegeiate debut in the series finale, while classmate Eric Gryba's first collegiate goal was the game winner.
BU's power play was a bright spot during the end of the first half, having converted on 10 of its last 29 chances (.345). The unit ranks seventh in the country, operating at 22.9 percent (18 of 79). This comes on the heels of a 2006-07 campaign in which the team's power play ranked 45th in the nation at 14.8 percent.
The suspensions of four players -- seniors Brian McGuirk, Dan McGoff and Bryan Ewing and junior Brandon Yip -- for breaking team rules have been lifted and all four are eligble to return to the lineup for Sunday's game.
The Terriers will be without the services of sophomore Brian Strait and freshman Colin Wilson, as the two are currently playing for Team USA at the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic.
