Stirred, not shaken.
That was the reaction of the man who’s snapping glove has been his secret weapon in defending the Boston University net from intruders this season, sometimes doubling as an extra special agent in coach Jack Parker’s scarlet and white brigade on top of his duties as its goaltender.
But this weekend, sophomore goalie Sean Fields encountered a doubter and a critic.
“I think he’s shaky,” University of Massachusetts at Lowell hockey coach Blaise MacDonald said of Fields after the Terriers swept the River Hawks in a home-and-home series last weekend.
It may be tough to find a spot where Fields could have been more stable on Friday night. He made 29 saves in the 5-1 win, surrending the lone goal on the rebound of one of those stops. He followed that up Saturday night at Tsongas Arena with 15 more saves, allowing one goal on an uncontested breakaway, another on a wraparound following a flurry of activity in front of him, and a third being a meaningless score with 2.5 seconds to play.
“I thought I played well in the first game,” Fields said. “In the second game, I mean, I know I can play better hockey than that. It wasn’t as if I absolutely stunk the joint out. It was an average game on Saturday.”
If numbers never lie, Fields has been better than average for much of the season. He has turned aside more than 91 percent of the shots he’s faced in league play, is allowing just 2.30 goals per game and has a gaudy record of 18-5-2 overall.
Yet MacDonald says the sophomore is “the one ingredient I’m not sure of with BU.”
“I’m not going to get into that. I’m not going to get into a war of words,” Fields said. “He’s a good coach and he’s got his team playing some good hockey. He’s entitled to his own opinion, even though it’s different than mine. But I’m not going to get into a war of words. I’ll just shrug it off.”
In BU’s seven straight wins, Fields has gone 6-0 with a 2.17 goals against average. The Icedogs have outscored their opponents 26-12 during the stretch, led by Mike Pandolfo (4-5-9) and Bryan Miller (1-6-7).
A balanced attack has carried the Terriers during the seven-game span, much the way it did during the Terriers equally-as-long unbeaten stretch to start the season. But whereas the lines employed by Parker remained pretty consistent throughout that stretch, injuries and mid-season tournaments forced him to jumble the lines and the return of consistency on the line chart coincided with continued success on the ice.
The second line of Brian McConnell, Jack Baker and John Sabo have played particularly well as a unit, chipping in with 10 goals and seven assists. The line features three physical playmakers, with the 6-foot 2-inch McConnell owning the middle of the ice while his wingers buzz along the boards.
“It’s good to get some new linemates to get some more energy or more creativity is just a change to get some new blood. It’s definitely worked out well,” McConnell said. “It’s nice playing with guys that are real fast and get in people’s faces and are really good on the forecheck. They get on people really fast.
“Pandolfo’s by far our leading scorer, but besides that everyone else has pretty much the same amount of points. Everybody’s pulling for each other to make plays and get points. It’s not like anybody’s trying to lead the league in scoring. I think every guy wants to help the team.”
Fields credited the team’s success to an increase in focus.
“Everyone’s coming to the rink ready to play,” he said. “We’re excited to play. We just want to go out there and win.”
“Everybody’s pretty excited about winning the Beanpot, including beating BC in that first round,” McConnell said. “We didn’t have real tough games against Merrimack and UMass-Amherst, but we still played real well in those games and weren’t overlooking them.”
The seven game span is BU’s longest winning streak since 1997-98, when they had three such stretches. One factor for the Icedogs’ success could be their increased aptitude on the power play, an area in which they had previously struggled. Going into Saturday night’s game, BU was 8-of-26 with the man advantage, converting on more than 30 percent of its chances during the winning streak, nearly double their previous average for the season.
The Terriers have remained dominant while a man down, killing 89.3 percent of opponents’ power plays and getting two short handed goals of their own.
A voter in the USA Today Division I college hockey poll is obviously a believer in the Terriers. BU ranked fifth overall in that poll last week, but what was more impressive was that they received one of 19 first-place votes … With their 21 wins, the Icedogs reached the 20-win plateau for the 19th time in Parker’s 29 years. His teams are 47-12-4 all-time against Lowell … Happy birthday wishes are in order for freshman defenseman Ryan Whitney, who turned 19 yesterday. That means the heralded rookie can be drafted without having to leave school this summer … Senior defenseman Chris Dyment leads the team with a plus-21 … Freshman wing Justin Maiser was named Hockey East Rookie of the Week after his Beanpot heroics and goal at Lowell on Saturday.
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