Oct. 23, 2010

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BOSTON - Off to its best start in nine years, the No. 8 Boston University men's ice hockey team (3-0-1, 1-0-1 Hockey East) returns to Agganis Arena on Saturday (Oct. 23) to face Providence (1-3-0, 1-0-1). The Terriers are in search of a four-point weekend after earning a 4-3 victory at UMass on Friday.

The 2001-02 Terriers won their first four games as part of a 6-0-1 start. A win on Saturday would allow the BU to reach the four-win mark one full month earlier than it did last season.

BU will face a Providence team that won the league series between the two squads last year, as the home team swept the three games. The Friars earned 3-1 (Jan. 15) and 5-4 (Feb. 19) wins at Schneider Arena before the Terriers rebounded with a 2-1 win at Agganis on Feb. 20. BU is 7-1-1 in its last nine home games.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Terriers and Friars have played 160 times since first meeting in the 1926-27 season, and BU holds a 97-51-12 (.644) advantage.
• BU is 9-3-0 against PC in their last 12 meetings.
• The Terriers are 8-3-0 (.727) in the 11 meetings at Agganis Arena.
• Since the formation of Hockey East in 1984-85, the Terriers have a 43-25-11 (.614) advantage in league games.
• PC holds a 7-4-12 advantage in the 23 meetings that have gone into overtime, while BU has recorded 14 of the 18 shutouts in the series.

SCOUTING THE FRIARS
• Providence is winless in its last three games (0-2-1) after opening the season with a 3-2 victory at Northeastern. Last night, the Friars lost, 5-4, in overtime at UMass Lowell. PC dropped a pair of contests at Minnesota-Duluth last weekend.
• Sophomore Tim Schaller has the early team lead in points with four (1g, 3a) while senior Kyle MacKinnon has a team-best three goals. Freshman Derek Army, son of PC head coach Tim Army, has made early contributions with a goal and two assists.
• PC has scored on just two of its 18 power-play chances thus far this season.
• Junior goaltender Alex Beaudry has made all four starts and has posted an .877 save percentage and a 4.41 goals-against average.
• Former All-American Tim Army is in his sixth season as head coach of the Friars and has a 59-101-20 record at his alma mater.

BEST VS. THE FRIARS
• Senior Joe Pereira (2g, 2a) and juniors Chris Connolly (4a) have each tallied four career points against Providence.
• Sophomore defenseman Max Nicastro (1g, 2a) averaged a point per game against the Friars as a rookie last year.
• Junior Kieran Millan has a .904 save percentage and a 2.79 goals-against average in four career starts versus the Friars.

LAST NIGHT IN AMHERST
• Boosted by a three-goal second period, the No. 8 Boston University men's ice hockey team earned a hard-fought 4-3 road victory over Massachusetts on Friday evening at Mullins Center.
• The Minutemen scored the lone goal of the opening period before the Terriers used goals from Charlie Coyle, Andrew Glass and Joe Pereira to take a 3-1 lead after two. Sahir Gill made it 4-2 late with the eventual game-winner, as UMass added a extra-attacker goal before BU held on for the win.
• UMass (0-3-1, 0-1-1) got its first two goals from Darren Rowe before Michael Marcou potted the extra-attacker tally with 17 seconds left in regulation. Jeff Teglia made 33 saves, as the Terriers held a 37-26 shot advantage.
• Kieran Millan improved to 2-0-1 on the year with a 23-save performance for the Terriers, who went 1-of-5 on the power play. UMass converted one of its three chances with the man advantage.

PEREIRA OFF TO HOT START
After scoring five goals all of last season, senior co-captain Joe Pereira has already tallied four this year, including three at the Ice Breaker.

A DIFFERENT TEAM
Last year, BU went 2-9-2 in games in which it trailed after one period. The Terriers are already 2-0-0 in that situation this year.

YOUNG SQUAD
• The Terriers are one of the youngest teams in the country, as their average age is 20.3 years and underclassmen take up 17 of the 26 spots on the roster.
• Eight players made their collegiate debut at the season-opening Ice Breaker tournament and the opening-night roster against Wisconsin featured six freshmen and seven sophomores.

DOWN TO THE WIRE
Twenty-five of the Terriers' last 45 games have been decided by a single goal and BU is 17-8 in those contests. Four other games during the stretch have been ties.