The University of New Hampshire fan section erupted in cheers behind Boston University men’s hockey freshman goaltender Sean Maguire as the puck trickled between Maguire’s legs and into the back of the net.
UNH forward Nick Sorkin celebrated his second goal of the season and his team’s second goal in the last 18 seconds as it took a 2–1 lead late in the first period. While Sorkin skated to his bench to go down a line of high-fives, Maguire glided toward the boards along his goal line with his head hung.
It was not the way Maguire wanted to start his collegiate career. The 19-year-old struggled in his first start for BU on Saturday, allowing four goals in a little more than a period and a half of action before getting pulled in favor of fellow freshman goaltender Matt O’Connor. During Maguire’s 32:19 in net, he made 10 saves on 14 total shots.
“I thought he was fighting the puck from the get go,” Parker said. “He looked nervous. He looked a little uptight. He made some nice saves but also I think his confidence level was way down from the get-go.”
Maguire held the Wildcats scoreless through the first eight minutes, but when two BU players turned the puck over at their own defensive blue line, UNH forward John Henrion picked up the puck and snapped it on goal. Maguire got a piece of the puck, but it squeaked through his equipment and rolled into the net, tying the game at one.
When Sorkin poked the puck through Maguire’s pads 18 seconds later, he gave UNH the lead and appeared to shake the confidence of the freshman goaltender. However, Parker said the first two goals were not necessarily due to poor play by Maguire.
“This is a team you cannot turn the puck over [against], and we turned the puck over twice on the first goal at our blue line and then we turned the puck over once when there is no need to turn it over, and they jumped the other way and scored,” Parker said. “Both of those goals were off of bad turnovers … but we would like to get a save there too.”
Turnovers continued to plague the Terriers into the second period, especially on the fourth goal when UNH forced a turnover behind the BU goal and fed it out to forward Scott Pavelski.
Pavelski, a senior who had only scored three goals in his career before Saturday, fired a shot from the slot that snuck through Maguire and trickled into the net again.
Maguire got a piece of three of the pucks that got by him, but after a few more close chances in the second period, Parker made the move to O’Connor.
O’Connor came in and shut down the Wildcats, making 15 saves over the next period and a half. O’Connor did not get much action in the second period, but was called upon to make 13 stops in the third period while BU tried to make a comeback.
“I thought O’Connor came in and played pretty well,” Parker said. “He made some big saves.”
While O’Connor outplayed Maguire on Saturday night and had a successful debut in a win over Providence College, it is still early in the season and Parker said he is not ready to make a decision on a starting goaltender.
Both goaltenders will start a game during the upcoming two-game series against the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Maguire may get a chance to play at home for the first time of his collegiate career against UMass. Parker said the atmosphere at Whittemore Center may have affected Maguire’s performance and played a part in his tough start to his career.
“I think [UNH is] a tough place to play for anybody, whether you are a senior or a freshman,” Parker said. “I think that it probably was a big factor in him being a little jumpy. But you know, we could have played UNH at home and they are a good team and maybe he would have been a little jumpy there too.”
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