Terriers open with exhibition victory over Acadia

BOSTON — There was little that surprised Boston University head coach David Quinn at the conclusion of the Terriers’ exhibition match against Acadia University.

Clocking in with just a few hours of practice over the span of a month, Quinn expected to take in a fair share of both the good and the bad in his team’s first official run-through of the 2015-16 season.

Such was the case for the Terriers, but it was enough to come away with the win, as BU defeated the Axemen, 4-2, Saturday night at Agganis Arena.

"Pretty much what I expected," Quinn said, adding: "Overall, I thought it was a pretty good night. It gives us a chance to go watch the film and look at the things we thought we did well and work on some of the things we didn’t do well.

"Either way, whenever you play a hockey game, you want to win it, and it was nice to get a win."

Eight different players registered a point for the Terriers, punctuated by freshman center Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, who capped BU’s scoring with two goals in the third period — including an impressive penalty-shot tally to seal the victory.

Senior Sean Maguire and sophomore Connor LaCouvee split time in net for BU, with Maguire earning the win after stopping all 15 shots that came his way.

It was a fitting return to the ice for Maguire, who made his first appearance for the Terriers since February 2014 after missing all of last season with concussion issues.

Forwards Remy Giftopoulos and Zachary Franko accounted for the Axemen’s two scores on the night, while goaltender Brandon Glover recorded 26 saves in the loss.

Senior center Danny O’Regan — BU’s top returning scorer after a 50-point stat line in 2014-15 — handed BU its first goal at 9:53 in the first.

After receiving the puck from linemate Ahti Oksanen, O’Regan maneuvered behind the Acadia net before releasing a backhand shot near the right post. The puck managed to ricochet off of an Acadia skater and trickle into the net to put the Terriers on the board.

A redirection goal from Giftopoulos knotted the game at 1-1 with just under eight minutes to play in the first, while a breakaway strike from Franko gave Acadia the lead exactly three minutes later.

Both Axemen tallies came against LaCouvee, who finished his stint between the pipes with 12 saves.

The Terriers managed to reassert themselves in the second, tying the game after freshman defenseman Shane Switzer lit the lamp at 2:09 in the stanza.

BU managed to seize the lead for good in the third, as sophomore forward A.J. Greer fired a puck in from the left circle that sailed through traffic before ending up on Forsbacka Karlsson’s stick. The Bruins prospect promptly tapped the offering into Acadia’s cage to give the Terriers a one-goal lead.

Forsbacka Karlsson was not finished, drawing a penalty shot off of a tripping penalty from Acadia defenseman Daniel Poliziani with 6:45 remaining on the clock.

The Stockholm native capitalized on the free bid, faking a shot and deking to his right before firing past a sprawled-out Glover to conclude the exhibition in impressive fashion.

JFK pulls off a beauty on the penalty shot. @TerrierHockey leads, 4-2. pic.twitter.com/7AqManWEmj

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) October 3, 2015

"That was a heck of a shot," Quinn said of Forsbacka Karlsson’s second goal. "That’s a good goalie. He had him down and out, too. … He’s going to be a really good player for us this year and he was a really player tonight."

Inaugurating any season with a victory stands as a positive start, but O’Regan was first to admit that there is much that the Terriers need to improve on before their regular-season debut against Union College on Oct. 10.

"I think we have a lot of work to do," O’Regan said. "I know it was everyone’s first game, so it was good to get that under our belt — Getting used to some linemates and just kind of the pace that we needed to play at.

"But we have a lot of things to work on."