Terriers, Eagles Open Season Series at Agganis
December 5, 2009 | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 5, 2009
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BOSTON - One of the greatest rivalries in college sports enters its 83rd season, as the Boston University men's ice hockey team will play host to No. 14/15 Boston College on Saturday (Dec. 5) in the teams’ first meeting of the 2009-10 campaign. Game time at Agganis Arena is set for 7 p.m. The game will not be televised, but fans can catch all of the action live on BU All-Access.
SERIES HISTORY
• The Comm. Ave. rivals have met 246 times and the Terriers lead the series, 123-106-17 (.535).
• The teams are 4-4-2 in their last 10 meetings, but the Terriers have won the past three, including a 3-2 win in last year’s Hockey East semifinals.
• BU is just 2-4-1 (.357) against BC at Agganis Arena.
• No other opponent has appeared on BU’s schedule more often. Northeastern is the next closest, and the Terriers and Huskies have met 203 times since the 1930-31 season.
• BU began playing hockey during the 1917-18 season and played its lone game that year against BC.
JACK AND JERRY
To add even more to this rivalry, the opposing bench bosses are the top two active coaches in career victories, as BU’s Jack Parker has 820 victories, second only to BC’s Jerry York at 828. Both coach at their respective alma mater and the two faced off on the ice from 1965-67.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
• Boston College is 5-1-2 in its last eight contests and carries a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) into tonight’s game.
• Last night, the Eagles overcame an early UMass goal en route to a 3-1 road victory over the ninth-ranked Minutemen.
• Junior Brian Gibbons has a team-best 14 points on four goals and 10 assists, while senior Ben Smith (9g, 4a) and senior Carl Sneep (5g, 8a) have each put up 13 points. Sophomore Cam Atkinson, who scored two goals in Friday’s win, now has 12 points (6g, 6a).
• Junior John Muse has made nine starts in goal for the Eagles this season and has a 4-3-2 record to go along with a 3.07 goals-against average. Freshman Parker Milner has won all three of his starts in goal.
• BC’s offense ranks seventh in the nation, averaging 3.75 goals per contest and its power-unit is operating at 25.7 percent, good for sixth in the country.
• Jerry York is in his 16th season at the helm of the BC program and has a record of 361-197-57 (.633) at the school.
LAST MARCH AT THE GARDEN
• Boston University scored three goals in a 44-second span in the third period to erase a 1-0 deficit before holding on to post a 3-2 victory over Boston College in the semifinal round of the 2009 Hockey East Championship on March 20. The result ended the Eagles’ season.
• Zach Cohen, Brian Strait and Colin Wilson all scored in the 12th minute of play in the third period after BC got on the board first at the 17:50 mark of the second.
LAST YEAR’S HOCKEY EAST SERIES
• BU went 2-0-1 against BC in their regular-season series in 2008-09, marking its best showing against its arch-rival since the 1994-95 season, when it won all three contests.
• The Terriers posted a 5-2 home victory on Jan. 17 after earning a three-point weekend in a home-and-home series on Dec. 5-6. After the teams battled to a 1-1 draw at Agganis, the Terriers posted a 3-1 road victory the following night.
TERRIERS, EAGLES TO MEET AT FENWAY
The home of the Boston Red Sox will become the Hub’s hockey haven in the first week of 2010, as Boston University will face archrival Boston College on Jan. 8 at Fenway Park, just one week after the Boston Bruins take on the Philadelphia Flyers on the same sheet of ice for the NHL Winter Classic.
TERRIERS TIE UP VERMONT
• For the second time in as many games, Boston University rallied from a 3-1 deficit to earn a draw, as the Terriers skated to a 3-3 tie with No. 19 Vermont on Friday evening at Agganis Arena. BU played in a fourth straight overtime game for the first time in program history.
• Sophomore Corey Trivino scored the game-tying tally on a power play with 5:18 left in regulation, as he elevated a rebound above the right post over UVM netimnder Rob Madore after a shot by classmate Vinny Saponari went off the crossbar. In all, BU hit four pipes on the night, including two more after Saponari’s while in search of a game-winner.
• Vermont jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals 34 seconds apart towards the end of the first period. BU got one back when senior Eric Gryba potted his first goal of the season just over four minutes into the second.
• The Catamounts regained a two-goal edge on a goal at the 8:11 mark of the middle period, but sophomore Ross Gaudet made it a one-goal affair after two when he buried a rebound at 14:22 of the second.
• Madore made 37 saves, including 13 in both the first and third periods, while sophomore Grant Rollheiser turned in a 21-save performance for the Terriers.
TERRIER TIDBITS
• BU is undefeated in its last four contests, posting a 1-0-3 record during the stretch, and 2-1-3 since losing four consecutive games from Oct. 31-Nov. 13.
• The Terriers scored just 12 goals in their first six games this season but have tallied 28 in the eight contests since.
• Over the past seven games, 18 different Terriers have scored at least one point and sophomore Vinny Saponari has a team-best nine points (2g, 7a) during the stretch.
• BU is 34-0-1 in its last 35 games in which it has led after two periods. A draw with UNH on Nov. 21 ended a streak of 34 straight wins in that situation.
• Sophomore goaltender Grant Rollheiser is 3-0-4 in his last seven decisions.
• Last season, the Terriers were 5-0-0 when allowing exactly three goals. This season, BU is 0-4-3 when allowing an opponent to score three goals.
