Feb. 1, 2008

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BOSTON - The Boston University men's ice hockey team (7-13-4, 6-8-3 Hockey East) looks to rebound from a pair of losses against New Hampshire when it welcomes Merrimack (10-11-2, 4-11-1) to Agganis Arena on Friday, Feb. 1, for the teams' final game of their season series. Game time is set for 7 p.m. The Terriers have won their last 11 contests against the Warriors. BU will be opening up a nine-game February which includes five home contests and the Beanpot.

Merrimack has posted more than three times as many wins (10) as they did all of last season (3). Last weekend, the Warriors completed an undefeated non-conference season (6-0-1) with a 4-0 shutout victory at home against Canisius, as 11 different players recorded a point in the game.

Junior Rob Ricci has tallied a team-high 26 points on the strength of 18 assists, while sophomore Matt Jones has developed into the team's go-to goal scorer with 11 markers as part of his 14 points on the year. Freshmen forwards Chris Barton (5g, 11a) and Francois Ouimet (6g, 6a) have registered 16 and 21 points, respectively, thus far. Merrimack's offense ranks 45th in the country with 2.78 goals per contest. Junior Patrick Watson and sophomore Andrew Brathwaite have split up the goaltending duties, combining for a 2.76 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. Mark Dennehy is in his third season at the helm of the Warriors' program.

BU and Merrimack go into Friday's game having played 81 times since first meeting on Dec. 11, 1964, and the Terriers hold a commanding 66-11-4 (.840) advantage. Since the teams began meeting as Hockey East rivals, the Terriers hold a 46-8-4 (.828) record. Merrimack's last win over BU was on Feb. 12, 2004.

Pete MacArthur is the only senior to have appeared in all 11 contests against Merrimack over the past four seasons, and he has performed well in the those games, posting 16 points on five goals -- including three game winners -- and 11 assists. Junior Chris Higgins (3g, 7a) and senior Bryan Ewing (5g, 4a) have 10 and nine points, respectively, in eight contests apiece. Four of Ewing's goals have been game winners. Junior Brandon Yip (1g, 7a) has also fared well against the Warriors with eight points in seven games.

BU scored five unanswered goals spanning the first two periods en route to a 6-4 road victory against Merrimack on Jan. 18. The Terriers got goals from six different players, including a career-high four-point effort from freshman Colin Wilson (1g, 3a). BU's top line of Wilson, MacArthur (1g, 2a) and Ewing (1g, 2a) combined for 10 points on the night. Freshman Nick Bonino, junior Matt Gilroy and senior Brian McGuirk also found the back of the net for the Terriers.

Ewing scored twice, including the game winner, and added an assist to help BU post a 5-2 home win over Merrimack on Dec. 30. Higgins had a goal and an assist, while MacArthur added two assists. The Terriers scored on their first three shots on goal and never looked back. Senior Karson Gillespie picked up his first win of the season in goal for the Terriers, making 17 saves.

Wilson has tallied at least one point in nine of his last 10 games, totaling four goals and 11 assists during the stretch. Ewing and MacArthur rank 1-2 amongst Hockey East players in scoring during conference play with 1.62 (10-16--26 in 16 games) and 1.41 (8-16--24 in 17 games) points per game, respectively. Ewing has a team-high 30 points on the year and MacArthur is right behind at 29, as their points-per-game averages of 1.30 and 1.21 rank ninth and 17th in the country.