The No. 3 Boston University men’s hockey team was losing when it went into the first intermission of its exhibition game against Acadia University on Saturday.
Senior assistant captain Danny O’Regan and senior forward Ahti Oksanen had already pasted their names on the scoresheet with O’Regan’s lucky bounce of a goal in the first. But the Axemen answered with two goals of their own to take a one-goal lead heading into the second period.
Just over two minutes into the middle frame, a couple of freshmen tacked their names on as well.
After freshman winger Bobo Carpenter received a pass from sophomore forward Nikolas Olsson, he backhanded the puck across the slot to freshman defenseman Shane Switzer, drawing Acadia netminder Brandon Glover away from the blue liner and giving him plenty of space to finish off the scoring opportunity.
“It felt really good, actually,” Switzer said of his goal. “Got the monkey off my back pretty quick, so they say.”
Switzer had another pair of shots in the second, including one in the last two minutes that called for a sprawling glove save by Glover. Senior center Mike Moran’s initial try was turned aside, and Switzer fired the puck at what looked like a wide open net before Glover spoiled his chance.
“He played well,” BU coach David Quinn said. “And we were excited when we got him, and he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He sees the ice well, and he jumps into the rush. I thought he was probably one of our better defensemen.”
Switzer himself said he likes to keep it simple with his play but has a “good offensive game” to go with his defensive one.
In a lineup with plenty of defensemen to choose from, he played on the third pairing with Doyle Somerby while senior captain Matt Grzelcyk sat with a knee injury and sophomore Brandon Fortunato was a healthy scratch. Switzer said he’s just trying to get better every day and that anything can happen in terms of trying to make the lineup on a regular basis.
Switzer also admitted that it will likely be different playing Union College next week and when BU “gets to a real game” at Agganis, but mentioned that the effort was a “good stepping stone.”
Fellow rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy also helped generate offense for the Terriers, starting rushes up the ice and at times taking the puck through from one blue line past the other. He registered one shot on goal but had a trio of shot attempts on the day, logging all his minutes on the first pairing with sophomore Brandon Hickey.
“We like to get our D active in the play, so it’s something we like to do,” Switzer said.
At the other end of the ice, freshman center Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson tallied the final two goals of the game to power BU over the Axemen, one of which was a penalty shot that saw the forward fake Glover out to one side before pulling the puck back and tucking it around the goalie’s left skate to make the score 4-2.
Freshman wing Jordan Greenway was involved as well. While he didn’t register a point in the game, he tallied a team-high four shots on goal and turned half a dozen total shot attempts toward net.
In sum, the rookies accounted for 13 of BU’s 30 shots on the game.
Having skated with the newcomers on the team for a little over a month or so, O’Regan said you can see they have a “ton of talent.”
“I thought all of them did a great job tonight, and I think they can all contribute and be a big part of our team’s success this year,” he said.
Switzer added that the departure of Jack Eichel from the roster opens up room for the freshmen to make their own mark on the team.
“I would expect a lot of big things from us,” he said.
Nice girl, tries hard, loves the game. Judy covers men's hockey for The Daily Free Press. When she's not writing, she's quoting "Miracle" in conversations and living in a constant in a state of wonder at everything Patrice Bergeron has ever done. Follow her on Twitter at @judylee_c
