The 800 Club

Parker Joins Elite Company, Terriers Defeat Merrimack 3-1

Jack Parker earned his 800th career win Friday night, as the Boston University Terriers earned a wire to wire victory over Merrimack College in North Andover.

Matt Gilroy started the scoring in the first, and Brandon Yip and Colby Cohen added power play goals in the second and third periods respectively in the effort to make Parker just the third coach in NCAA history to reach the 800-win mark.

Colin Wilson also continued his quest for the Hobey Baker award, notching two assists to add to his team high 32 points on the season. Rookie netminder Kieran Millan improved to an impressive 15-1-1 on the year.

BU is now 12-1-1 in their last 14 contests, the one blemish a loss at home to Providence College.

The win put Parker in rare company, as he joins current Boston College coach Jerry York and legendary head coach Ron Mason, most recently of Michigan State University, as the only head coaches to reach the 800 win mark. Parker is the only one to achieve the milestone with just one team.

After the win, Parker attributed his success to his longevity as a head coach. ``I'm old,” he said to goterriers.com. “I've been here a long time -- that's the reason you get 800 wins. I've also had over these 36 seasons some fabulous assistant coaches who have [recruited] some great players.''

The Terriers’ squad this year is responsible for 19 of those 800 victories, marking one of the most successful starts in team history. The latest win helps solidify the Terriers’ spot atop the Pairwise Rankings, which mirror the selection guidelines for the NCAA tournament.

While the Terriers did convert two goals with the man advantage, their power play did not shine quite as it has in the past. The Terriers enjoyed 15 minutes of power play time in the game, and were shut down often by the Merrimack special teams unit.

BU’s penalty kill continued its outstanding play, keeping Merrimack off the board on seven power play chances. Since giving up a power play goal to Boston College on January 17, the IceDogs have rattled off an amazing special teams streak, killing off 27 consecutive penalties over a span of 49:21.

The BU defense is anchored by the brick wall that is Kieran Millan. In his 17 games, Millan has posted a 1.47 goals against average and a .937 save percentage.

Those stats put him at third in the nation for GAA and tied for foruth for save percentage among qualifying goaltenders.

Millan’s stellar play has put Parker’s plan for a rotating goalie system on ice, for now. Fellow freshman Grant Rollheiser spent the early part of the year splitting time with Millan, putting up a 2.66 GAA and .876 save percentage.

Simply put, Rollheiser played well, but Millan has been spectacular.

The Terriers will try to ride their recent success into the 57th Beanpot Tournament Monday Night. Although the Terriers are the owners of 28 Beanpot banners, they fell in the opening round last season to Boston College. BU will look to get back to Beanpot glory at T.D. Banknorth Garden in the 5:00 pm game against Harvard University on Monday Night.