No. 11/12 Terriers Open Home Schedule with MSU, Michigan
October 23, 2014 | Men's Ice Hockey
Tickets: Michigan State | Michigan
Watch: Michigan State | Michigan
Game Notes | Listen | Gametracker: Michigan State | Michigan
@BUGameDay | Inside BU Hockey - Episode 3
BOSTON - Two Big Ten programs will be the first 2014-15 home opponents for the No. 11/12 Boston University men's ice hockey team (1-0-0), as the Terriers face Michigan State (1-1-0) on Friday (Oct. 24) in their home opener before welcoming No. 14 Michigan (1-2-0) on Saturday (Oct. 25).
Friday's game against the Spartans will start at 7:30 p.m. while Saturday's tilt versus the Wolverines begins at 7 p.m. Both contests, which are part of the second annual Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge, will be broadcast live on Terrier TV. Through eight of 20 games, Hockey East leads the Challenge, 10-9.
BU is two weeks removed from its season opener, which was an 8-1 road triumph over Massachusetts on Oct. 10. Combined with exhibition wins over St. Thomas (12-1) and the U.S. National Under-18 Team (6-4), the Terriers have outscored their opponents by a 26-6 margin thus far this season.
Friday will be the first time BU's 10 freshmen will skate on Agganis Arena ice in a regular-season game. In his first collegiate game against UMass, rookie Jack Eichel registered two goals and two assists, giving him the highest point total in a Terrier debut in over 17 years.
BU continues to move up in the national polls. This week, the Terriers come in at No. 11 in the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine poll, while they rank No. 12 in the USCHO.com national poll.
The Terriers visited these two Michigan schools last season, falling 2-1 at Michigan on Oct. 25 before dropping a 3-1 contest the following night in their first visit to Munn Ice Arena since 1990.
BU scored first in both games, as Robbie Baillargeon lit the lamp against the Wolverines and Matt Lane tallied the first goal against the Spartans. Matt O'Connor turned in an impressive 42-save performance in the Michigan game. MSU tallied all three of its goals in the third period.
The Terriers and Spartans have met a total of 16 times and the series is split even with both teams emerging victorious eight times. Seven of the 16 meetings have taken place in the NCAA tournament with the most recent coming in 2007 when Michigan State defeated the Terriers 5-1 en route to winning the NCAA title.
A 17th meeting took place at the 1997 Ice Breaker Invitational, where MSU secured a 3-1 opening-round victory. BU counted the Ice Breaker that year as exhibition contests, while the Spartans counted them as exempt regular-season games.
BU has faced Michigan 23 times since first meeting during the 1950 NCAA semifinals, and the Wolverines hold a 14-10 advantage in the series.
MSU and Michigan have made three combined visits to Agganis and the Terriers came out on top each time. In October of 2008, as BU topped the Spartans, 2-1, to claim the Ice Breaker title before dominating the Wolverines, 7-2, two weeks later. Michigan came back the following season and the Terriers pulled off a 3-2 win.
Last weekend, the Spartans opened their season with a split at home against UMass, winning the opener by a score of 5-3 before falling, 4-3, in the finale. Senior Matt Berry was impressive in the series, totaling six points (4g, 2a) over the two games.
Michigan is also coming off a home split against a Hockey East team, as they rebounded from a 5-1 loss to New Hampshire by securing a 2-1 win the following night. The Wolverines dropped their season opener at Ferris State, 4-3, on Oct. 4.
Six different players have scored Michigan's six goals this season. Sophomore Alex Kile has a team-best three points (1g, 2a).
