GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Many teams look to their experienced players to make the important plays at the end of the game. The veterans tend to be the leaders of a squad and upperclassmen are usually elected as team captains.
But for the No. 12 Boston University men’s hockey team, it was a group of freshmen — including goaltender Matt O’Connor and forwards Danny O’Regan and Matt Lane — who stepped up in the third period to lead BU to a come-from-behind 4–2 win over the No. 5/6 University of North Dakota.
“The freshmen have been contributing really well lately,” said junior forward Matt Nieto. “There are so many of them so it has really been key to our success.”
The Terriers (4–2, 3–1 Hockey East) were down by a goal entering the third period, but they had just taken the momentum, thanks to a key save by O’Connor. Late in the second period, UND (3–2–1) forward Brendan O’Donnell skated the puck in on a breakaway after sophomore defenseman Alexx Privitera misplayed a pass in the offensive zone.
O’Donnell tried to deke to O’Connor’s left and slip the puck past him, but O’Connor stretched out a pad to make the save, preserving the one-goal differential.
With another win, O’Connor remained undefeated in his four starts to start his collegiate career. In a game when he only allowed two goals, his goals-against average actually moved up to 1.81 and his save percentage decreased to .942.
“I thought that Matt O’Connor played fabulous,” said BU coach Jack Parker. “He looked like a top-notch goaltender tonight, very poised and very sure of himself.”
Keeping the score within reach for the Terriers was key, because it took until late in the third period for BU to bring the score even.
With just over five minutes remaining in the third period, senior defenseman Sean Escobedo moved the puck to O’Regan in the offensive zone. O’Regan skated from the boards into the slot and appeared to be ready to drive the puck toward goal.
However, the Needham native surprised UND’s defense as he dropped off a pass to junior forward Matt Nieto and cleared out of the slot, leaving Nieto wide open to score his second goal of the season and tie the game.
Nieto’s goal was his second in the past three games.
O’Regan assisted on both of those goals, and has scored all seven of his collegiate points in the four games since he was moved up to the second line.
“He is hot right now,” Nieto said. “I love playing with him. He is very unselfish, he is creative and he is an awesome player … Danny has helped us a lot.”
Less than four minutes later, Lane finished the job that O’Regan and Nieto started, as he roofed a wrist shot over North Dakota goalie Zane Gothberg.
The goal was Lane’s first of his career, and his first point since his assist in BU’s season opener against Providence College.
“Lane had a really nice goal,” Nieto said. “Privitera made a really nice pass to him and he made sure that one went in. It was a hard shot, right in the back of the net.”
Lane had a tough game Friday night, as he went to the penalty box twice. North Dakota scored the game-winning goal with Lane and Escobedo in the penalty box.
However, Lane’s game-winner Saturday night helped make up for the penalties he took Friday.
Eleven seconds after Lane’s goal, O’Regan added another point to the scoreboard after he stole a pass from North Dakota captain Andrew MacWilliam and wrapped it around Gothberg. The tally tied him with senior captain Wade Megan for the team lead in goals on the year at four.
During the Terriers’ series at the Ralph Engelstad Arena, freshmen scored four of the six goals against North Dakota. A freshman earned an assist in each of the two goals that were scored by upperclassmen.
The strong performance from the freshmen came on the team’s first overnight road trip of the season, when each of the newcomers got their first looks at playing a non-conference road game. Privitera had high praise for the atmosphere of playing at UND.
“Unbelievable arena,” Privitera said. “Facility’s great, wish I could have seen their locker room, but this is a great place, it’s got to be the best place in college hockey to play. The atmosphere was unbelievable.”
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