Change We Can Believe In

In the first National Poll since last week’s historic election, the voters have spoken, and they have called for change.

The Boston University Terriers have catapulted to the top spot in the USA Today and the USCHO.com polls, gaining the number one spot for the first time since March 2006 just before the NCAA Tournament began.

It is also the first time the Terriers have found themselves at number one during the regular season since the days of Chris Drury during the 1998 campaign.

BU has steadily moved up the ladder since being ranked at number nine in the pre-season polls. Although rival BC dropped to fifth, Hockey East is still off to an outstanding start, with UNH sitting at sixth and Northeastern University ranked seventh in the nation.

The Terriers have won on the strength of sophomore stud Colin Wilson. Wilson has been particularly explosive recently, tallying nine points in BU’s last three games.

Their most recent victory came in dramatic fashion on the road at U-Mass Lowell. In a rematch of last season’s Hockey East Quarterfinals, the Terriers found themselves in an unfamiliar position; trailing late in the third period.

But the Terriers showed some toughness, coming back from down four to three as Chris Higgins scored a goal from Wilson and Jason Lawrence to tie the game with just 2:14 remaining in the third.

Wilson took matters into his own hands two minutes later, grabbing a puck at the point and picking his spot over River Hawks’ backup goaltender T.J. Massie’s shoulder with just 14 seconds remaining in the game. Wilson had a total of four points on the night.

Carrying the Terriers to victory in dramatic fashion was enough to earn Wilson Hockey East Player of the Week honors.

Wilson and teammate Nick Bonino currently sit atop the leader-board for points in Hockey East with 12 apiece. Those numbers are also good enough to put the star sophomores at third nationally.

Strong goaltending has also helped push the IceDogs to their current standing atop the College Hockey world. Freshmen goalies Kieran Millan and Grant Rollheiser have played outstanding in the two-man rotation system, combining for a 2.00 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.

The Terriers will look to expand on their success with two games against ranked opponents this weekend. BU travels to #20 U-Mass Amherst on Friday night for the final game of their three game road swing. Then the Terriers return home for the first time in more than three weeks when the host the #7 Northeastern Huskies at Agganis Arena on Sunday Night.

--Phil DiMartino