Matt O’Connor was more impressive against the Badgers than Maguire was against the Engineers. O’Connor turned away 40 shots Saturday to Maguire’s 26 on Friday.

PHOTO CREDIT - PointStreakSites.com

Philadelphia - October 20, 2013 - Coming into the weekend, the Boston University Terriers were faced with two difficult tests in the form of home games against the #17 RPI Engineers and #2 Wisconsin Badgers. Sitting at #15 in the rankings themselves, this weekend looked like an important measuring stick for the Terriers to see where they stood against some of the best non-Hockey East teams in the country. Under new coach David Quinn, there was an increased sense of newness around the team after the retirement of longtime coach Jack Parker.

In Parker’s last year, the Terriers flashed moments of brilliance, defeating two #1 ranked teams early in the season, Boston College and the University of New Hampshire. They also proved to be maddeningly inconsistent, seemingly playing down to the level of inferior teams. Headed into the holiday break in December, the team was on the upswing and looked to be primed to make a run at the NCAA Tournament. In the first game out of the break, the Terriers were soundly defeated by the University of Denver Pioneers by a score of 6-0. After that loss, the team was inconsistent, struggling to win games and lost in the Hockey East finals against UMass Lowell, ending Parker’s tenure as coach.

One of the biggest reasons for their inconsistency is their youth and reliance on young players in key positions. On Saturday’s roster of 18 skaters, there were 8 freshmen and 6 sophomores, and both O’Connor and Maguire are sophomores. When the team is playing well, their talent allows them to play with any team in the country. But when they are not on their game, there is a clear lack of continuity and the team struggles to maintain possession, trying to use individual talent to win instead of using each other. With experience, hopefully they become more consistent and elevate their game.

The Terriers this weekend resembled the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde team that we saw last year. Missing one of their most important pieces in starting goalie Jason Kasdorf, the Engineers dominated the Terriers, winning the majority of the loose pucks and dominating possession en route to a 3-1 RPI win.

BU struggled to maintain possession in the RPI zone, with the majority of the Terriers’ 32 shots coming on one-and-done shots from the outside in transition. They rarely set up in the Engineers’ zone and tried to win with home-run stretch passes. One of the stretch passes did connect when Ahti Oksanen made a great pass to a streaking Kevin Duane who put the puck past Scott Diebold to make it 2-1 Engineers to end the second period. But just 48 seconds into the third, RPI made it 3-1 and went into a defensive shell, stifling the Terriers stretch passes and preventing them from getting any real chances to make a comeback.

On Saturday night, the Terriers looked like the team that slayed two #1 teams in the country last year. Coming off of a 9-2 thrashing Friday night at the hands of the BC Eagles, the Wisconsin Badgers had no shortage of motivation coming into the game.

In the first period, the teams traded goals and ended the period with the score tied 1-1. In the second and third period, the Terriers opened the game up, scoring three goals in each period to Wisconsin’s 1 en route to a 7-3 win. It was a particularly bad night for Wisconsin goaltender Landon Peterson, who surrendered all seven goals on just 26 Terrier shots.

The biggest difference between the team Friday night and the team Saturday night was their ability to work the puck around in the Wisconsin zone. They were helped by the fact that Wisconsin played very undisciplined hockey, taking ten penalties, including a 5 minute major and ejection for star forward Nic Kerdiles for a hit from behind on freshman Tommy Kelley.

The Terriers took advantage on their power plays, potting three power play goals on seven opportunities. Throughout the game, the Terriers effectively utilized their pointmen after establishing possession in the offensive zone. Defensemen Matt Grzelcyk, Garrett Noonan, and Ahti Oksanen all scored on blasts from the point, and Robbie Baillargeon’s goal came on a deflection on a point shot from Grzelcyk.

In both games, the Terriers goaltenders played well but Matt O’Connor was more impressive against the Badgers than Maguire was against the Engineers. O’Connor turned away 40 shots Saturday to Maguire’s 26 on Friday.

While it would have been nice to pick up 4 points on the weekend, the Terriers should not be disappointed coming away with 2 points against two quality opponents. If they can continue to play a team game instead of trying to win with individual rushes and stretch passes, their talent will do the rest. They will take a trip to Michigan to face the University of Michigan and Michigan State next weekend.