Boston University
Merrimack
No. 8 Terriers Skate Past Merrimack, 4-1
January 11, 2013 | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 11, 2013
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - Paced by a career-high 37-save performance from freshman Sean Maguire, the No. 8 Boston University men's ice hockey team posted a thorough 4-1 road victory against Merrimack on Friday evening at Lawler Arena.
Senior Wade Megan (1g, 1a) was one of four Terriers to light the lamp, helping the team improve to 12-7-0 overall and 9-4-0 in Hockey East play. The Warriors fell to 7-9-4 with a 5-5-1 conference mark.
Megan opened the scoring at 12:20 of the first with his second shorthanded goal of the year. Junior Sahir Gill and sophomore Cason Hohmann recorded tip-in goals in the second period before junior Matt Nieto made it a 4-0 contest midway through the third.
Merrimack spoiled Maguire's shutout bid when Kyle Bigos's shot got through traffic with 6:22 left in regulation.
Maguire won his fifth straight start to move to 5-2-0 on the year. Rasmus Tirronen made 20 stops in goal for the Warriors, who held a 38-24 shot advantage but only had a handful of strong scoring chances thanks to a great effort by the Terrier defense.
Merrimack went 0-for-3 on the power play and BU came up empty on its two chances with the man advantage.
On the home team's first power-play opportunity, Megan collected a puck in the neutral zone and skated in before roofing a shot past Tirronen for his team-leading 10th goal of the year. He has both of BU's shorthanded tallies this season.
In the middle period, BU doubled its lead at 3:51 when Gill tipped in the puck at the top of the crease off a great feed by sophomore Alexx Privitera, who eluded a Warrior defender at the right point before sending a pass to the low slot. Hohmann also assisted on the play.
A 3-0 cushion was established at 14:29 of the second on a rush, as Megan took a pass from junior Garrett Noonan and skated up the left side before sending an elevated pass towards the goal. Hohmann crashed the net and got a piece of the puck in the air to knock it past Tirronen for his sixth goal of the year.
Nieto capped the scoring for BU at the 10:23 mark of the third when he sent slammed home a pass from sophomore Evan Rodrigues at the right post. The goal, which also was assisted by freshman Danny O'Regan, was Nieto's fifth of the year and second in as many games.
Merrimack junior Mike Collins, who is tied for the league lead in scoring, was held without a point for the first time in Hockey East play this season.
The Terriers will return to action on Friday, Jan. 18, when they play host to Northeastern. The game, which will be televised by NESN, will begin at 7 p.m.
