BOSTON - Seven different skaters recorded a point and freshman Sean Maguire earned his fourth shutout of the season as the No. 18 Boston University men's ice hockey team topped Merrimack, 3-0, on Friday evening in the first game of a best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series at Agganis Arena.
Third-seeded BU improved to 19-15-12 and won for the fifth time in its last six games. One more win in the series would seal the Terriers' 11th trip to the league semifinals in the last 12 seasons.
Maguire stopped all 30 shots he faced for his second straight shutout. He has not allowed a goal in his last 132:22 and his home shutout streak extended to 121:38. With tonight's' performance, Maguire becomes the first BU goaltender since John Curry during the 2006-07 campaign to earn back-to-back shutouts twice in a season.
Junior Matt Nieto notched a goal and an assist and is now one point shy of 100 for her career. Senior captain Wade Megan collected the game-winning goal and freshman Ahti Oksanen recorded his second two-assist game of the season.
The Terriers held a 45-30 shot advantage and went 1-for-8 on the power play, as senior Ryan Santana closed out the scoring with a man-up tally in the opening minute of the third.
Junior Sam Marotta recorded 42 in a losing effort for Merrimack, which fell to 15-16-6 on the year. BU killed off all four of the Warriors' power plays and has now successfully killed its opponents' last 20 chances with the man advantage.
The teams will return to the ice tomorrow for game two of the quarterfinal series. Game time is set for 7 p.m.