No. 1 Terriers to Host No. 18 Harvard Tuesday
November 24, 2014 | Men's Ice Hockey
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BOSTON - Currently on a nation-best five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1), the top-ranked Boston University (8-1-1, 6-1-1 Hockey East) men's ice hockey team welcomes Harvard (5-1-2, 3-1-2 ECAC) to Agganis Arena Tuesday night in the 150th meeting between the crosstown rivalss. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m.
For the first time since Nov. 8, 2010, BU is ranked No. 1 in the both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine national college hockey polls. The top ranking comes on the heels of a weekend sweep of Maine and Connecticut.
Freshman forward Jack Eichel was named the Warrior Hockey Player of the Week by Hockey East on Monday after a four-point (1g, 3a) weekend. He scored the overtime winner, along with an assist, in a 3-2 victory over Maine on Friday night, and then tallied two assists in a 5-2 win at the XL Center in Hartford.
Eichel and sophomore Alexander Kerfoot rank 1-2 in the nation in points per game at 1.90 and 1.62, respectively. BU junior Danny O'Regan is fourth at 1.50 points per game and he'll once again face his older brother, Tommy, who is a senior on the Crimson squad.
Junior goaltender Matt O'Connor ranks third among all goalies in college hockey with an .875 (7-1-0) winning percentage. O'Connor also is seventh in goals-against average (1.62) and eighth in save percentage (.943).
As a team, the Terriers are third in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 3.70 goals per game. Defensively, BU is holding opponents to just 1.80 goals per game, good for seventh. The Terriers also own the highest winning percentage of any team in the country at .850 (8-1-1).
The Crimson enter this matchup with two consecutive victories, defeating Dartmouth and Bentley by a combined score of 7-1. Junior forward Jimmy Vesey scored two goals and added an assist in the two wins. He leads the team in goals with seven, and ranks second on the team in points with 11. Vesey also leads the country in goals per game with 0.88 after tallying seven in eight games.
Kerfoot has a team-best 13 points on four goals and nine assists while junior Jimmy Vesey (7g, 4a) and senior Patrick McNally (4g, 7a) have added 11 points each. McNally leads all Division I defensemen in points per game at 1.38.
Minnesota Wild draft pick Steve Michalek has been between the pipes in all eight contests for Harvard. The senior ranks fourth in the country in goals-against average (1.47) and third in save percentage (.951).
The Terriers and Crimson have played 149 times since the 1922-23 season, and BU holds a 76-67-6 (.530) advantage. Harvard has won the last four games between the two Beanpot schools, including two victories over BU last season.
