Light Appetizers (Week 8 Preview)
Light weekend of games with only the Men hosting Merrimack for one
The men’s team (5-5-1, HEA: 2-2-1 (6th)) host the Merrimack Warriors for one game at Agganis.
Men’s
The Terriers welcome Merrimack to Agganis Arena (November 22nd, 7pm) in their first of three games vs. the Warriors this season, all three at different venues.
Merrimack
(3-6-1, HEA (7th): 2-3-1)
The Terriers welcome the Warriors for a single game, part of a three game set this season which includes a first round matchup in the Friendship Four in Belfast.
Merrimack enters the weekend off a 10-day break after an OT loss to Stonehill on November 12th. The Warriors have lost 4 of their last 6 games and 5 of their last 8, with their only wins coming against UConn. Merrimack is led by junior defenseman Zach Bookman who leads the team with 5 points. Three different Warriors have scored 3 goals, freshman Caelan Fitzpatrick, sophomore Ethan Bono, and grad student Antonio Venuto. The team also features David Sacco (2-0—2), son of the former Terrier of the same name. The Warriors have started 4 different goalies, but the majority of minutes have been split between freshman Max Lungren (.898/2.92) and junior Nils Wallstrom (.868/3.69).
BU enters off a pair of up and down weekends, splitting with UMass Lowell, with each team winning the road game, and Maine—a loss and tie to the Black Bears. Cole Eiserman leads all Terriers and all Hockey East freshmen in goals (7). Eiserman and Shane Lachance lead all Terriers in points (11). Eiserman, Lachance and Quinn Hutson lead all Terriers with 1.00 points per game. Merrimack transfer Matt Copponi leads all Terriers with a +7 rating.
Both Terrier goalies, have similar stat lines, with Max Lacroix holding a 3.23 GAA and Mathieu Caron holding a 3.39 GAA. Both have a .888 SV%.
BU have won their last 4 against the Warriors, dating back to the 2023 Hockey East Tournament Title game, averaging 4.75 goals in that span.
Records
97-25-8: vs. Merrimack (4-2-0 under Jay Pandolfo)
65-11-3: vs. Merrimack at home (2-1-0)
12-1-1: vs. Merrimack at home in November
Stats
Shane Lachance recorded his first multigoal game vs. a conference opponent against Merrimack on December 1st, 2023
Ryan Greene leads all current Terriers with 4 assists and 5 points vs. Merrimack
Update on a question from our November Mailbag:
Thanks to the Terrier Hockey Fan Blog, we have a more complete answer to the question about backup goalies taking the starting job:
John Curry came to BU as a preferred walk-on and played just a few minutes as a freshman. He was the #3 to begin the 2004-05 season. In a season-opening tournament, the top goalie, Stephen Siewic, lost 5-1 to Miami. The next night, Michigan took it to his back-up, Karson Gillespie, scoring 7 in the first two periods. Curry blanked Michigan in the third and became the new #1, playing 33 games. His 1.97 GAA that season remains 3rd best in program history.
His career GAA 2.07 is #1, as is his career save percentage of .923.
In 05-06, he led BU to the Hockey East tournament title and was 2nd team All-American. In 06-07, he was HE Player of the Year, 1st team All-American, won the Walter Brown Award and was a Hobey Baker finalist.
Curry was a huge fan favorite at Agganis: "John-ny Cur-ry, clap, clap...clap, clap, clap." Had a nice AHL career and several cups of coffee in the NHL.
He and Matt Gilroy are the best rags-to-riches stories in BU hockey history.