FLAGLER: Silver Linings

A month ago, fans of the BU men’s ice hockey and men’s basketball teams were eagerly anticipating a great spring season. Some of the most optimistic even spoke of national title defense and basketball in mid-March.

Now, those teams currently have a combined record of 6-12-2. Enthusiasm and excitement have turned to nervousness and frustration. The hockey team is currently in last place in Hockey East. If that isn’t bad enough, they even lost to Merrimack. Unfortunately, as charismatic and energetic as new men’s basketball coach Patrick Chambers is, he cannot put the ball in the basket himself. Through their first seven games, the men’s basketball team is shooting just 35 percent.

But despite their early struggles, it’s not all bad for BU’s two marquee athletic programs. The season is still very young, and both teams have shown bright spots recently that may indicate the worst is behind them.

While most of us were sleeping off outrageous amounts of turkey and stuffing over Thanksgiving break, the BU men’s hockey team put together two of the most dramatic third-period comebacks its had since last year’s national championship game.

Tuesday against Harvard, senior Zach Cohen scored with just 19.5 seconds remaining in the game to tie the score at five and force overtime. Then, about two minutes later, sophomore Chris Connolly put away the game-winner.

At Madison Square Garden Saturday, the Terriers trailed Cornell 3-1 with less than five minutes to play before junior Nick Bonino cut the deficit to one with an unassisted goal. Once again, Connolly was the late-game hero. This time he scored a power-play goal in the final minute of the game to force a tie.

Despite the dramatic finishes, these two results aren’t all that exciting on paper. The Terriers have much more talent than Harvard and were supposed to win that game. Cornell is a very good team with a fantastic goaltender in Ben Scrivens. They have a good chance to go deep into the NCAA Tournament. Earning a tie against them was a great achievement for BU. But it’s still a tie.

But in these last two games the Terriers have proven a lot more than the results themselves show. They’ve proved that this team still believes in itself.

Despite losing many of the key players on last year’s championship team, terrible early season results and questions swirling around them about what exactly is wrong, last week BU showed that it still has the confidence and poise of a defending champion. Veterans Bonino, Connolly and Z. Cohen stepped up in big spots to show that they may be ready to fill the void left by Colin Wilson, Matt Gilroy and the rest of the leaders lost from last year’s team to make plays when the team needs them most.

BU will play seven of its next ten games at home. That’s good news for a team with a 2-5 record on the road this season. Hopefully, the Terriers can ride the support of the crowd at Agganis and the momentum from the past week to put a winning streak together heading into their Beanpot matchup with Northeastern on Feb. 1.

The BU basketball team has dealt with equally difficult early season struggles. They have lost five of their first seven games and are shooting just 31 percent from the 3-point line. Senior guard Corey Lowe is shooting 30 percent from the field and a dreadful 23 percent from 3.’ BU’s other preseason all-conference player, junior John Holland, currently has 16 turnovers and three assists. Not a good start for a team that needs 3-point shooting and the leadership of its veteran stars to win.

BU’s offensive numbers are poor, but they’re not that surprising given the competition the Terriers have faced early this season.’ While the rest of the teams in the America East are beating up on the likes of Wagner, Marist and Arkansas-Monticello, BU has faced tough opponents such as Georgia Tech and Kansas State.

Things won’t get any easier tonight when the Terriers travel to Hartford, Conn. to face the University of Connecticut. They’ll likely lose their sixth game of the young season, but when BU scheduled teams from the ACC, Big Twelve and Big East, the goal wasn’t to win games.

It would be naive of any fan to expect the team to win while playing a difficult schedule AND adapting to Chambers’ new fast-paced system. The goal was to make this team better heading into its conference schedule beginning in January, and BU has already showed that they’re on their way to doing just that.

The Terriers beat Northeastern 69-64 in overtime at Case on Wednesday, shooting more than 40 percent for the first time this season. Holland finished with 15 points capped by a dunk on an assist from Lowe late in the overtime period. BU seemed to be in sync again offensively for most of Sunday’s game against Harvard. They lead by as much as eight in the second half before watching their lead slip away during a late seven-minute field goal drought. They ultimately lost 78-70. But despite the result, this team has made it clear that they will be very dangerous in the America East.

There are a million things to stress and complain about at the end of the semester: professors, the cold, darkness at 4 p.m. and finals are just a few. If the BU hockey and basketball teams continue to struggle, I’ll be as disappointed as anyone, but both have showed that they’re poised to turn their seasons around, so let’s hold off judgment there for at least a few days longer.