By Marisa Ingemi
BU News Service
Now at 2-1-1 in conference play, the Boston University Men’s hockey team continues to face challenges head on. With injuries mounting and three forwards likely to remain out until after the break, the Terriers faced Connecticut in a home-and-home series this weekend.
Game 1 at Hartford on Friday saw junior Connor LaCouvee make his first start of the season and lead the Terriers to a 2-1. Saturday, however, was a much different story — a 4-0 loss where BU put 37 shots on net.
While coach David Quinn wasn’t disappointed in his team’s effort, where they surrendered goals on home ice for just the first time this season, it’s yet another speed bump for BU.
First, it was recovering from a sweep in Denver, then it was a tough draw at Northeastern and a loss at Michigan.
BU was able to bounce back from them all.
On Tuesday night, BU will get another chance when they host Harvard.
Despite giving up four goals, the Terriers did some things well on Saturday night. The penalty kill was solid again, and the top forward line produced two thirds of their shots-on-goal. Freshman Patrick Harper had nine of his own, while Jordan Greenway continued to play well.
Still, there was frustration from Quinn and freshman goalie Jake Oettinger about the need for improved play, as well as preventing soft goals.
The bottom two forward lines struggled again on Saturday night, as Gabriel Chabot struggled a night after his first career goal, and Chase Phelps looked lost in his second game of the season.
With Clayton Keller out, Nick Roberto was moved up to the second line, but with Niklas Olssen and Ryan Cloonan still battling to return, the depth of the team is being tested. Even bottom pairing defender John MacLeod was out, and Brien Diffley was forced to take his place playing alongside Doyle Somerby after playing forward last week.
Still a top five team in the nation, BU is also the youngest. Early season challenges have become a hallmark of this group, and thus far, they’ve continued to succeed.
Bouncing back from their worst loss of the year is just another test for this battle-tested Terrier group.
