Muse has been pleasant surprise

BC freshman John Muse, who had help from Nick Petrecki on this play, kept BU at bay Monday during a 4-3 overtime victory in the first round of the Beanpot. (ADAM BOGHOSIAN/FOR THE GLOBE)

When Boston College's hockey staff was putting together its roster last summer, goaltender John Muse was not even penciled in. Coach Jerry York figured he'd have Cory Schneider back for his senior season and Muse would be getting some seasoning playing juniors in Indianapolis of the US Hockey League.

But Schneider elected to turn pro, and Muse stepped in as a freshman and made the job his own. On Monday night, the 19-year-old East Falmouth native was the youngest starting netminder in the Beanpot, five months younger than Boston University's Brett Bennett. Muse had 23 saves in the Eagles' 4-3 overtime victory over the Terriers and did something Schneider couldn't in his college career: He beat the Eagles' nemesis in the storied tournament. Muse will be between the pipes in Monday's championship game against Harvard at TD Banknorth Garden.

Although Muse played down the accomplishment, saying the Eagles hadn't yet won anything, BC goaltending coach Jim Logue believes the Noble and Greenough graduate has great promise.

"John, when he came in, he had big shoes to fill," said Logue. "He had a lot of pressure on him, right off the bat. Coming directly from high school, that's a huge jump to arguably the best hockey league in the country, from top to bottom. He was coming to a program that had been to seven Final Fours in the last 10 years.

"We had assumed Cory Schneider was coming back for his senior year, so John was going to go out and play junior. He probably would've played 40, 50, or more games. He would've had that under his belt when he came to BC and he'd be kind of a seasoned goaltender instead of an inexperienced goaltender."

Logue has been working very closely with Muse.

"From the get-go, John has been rock-solid and a real pleasant surprise, not because of a lack of talent or anything like that, but basically because of inexperience," said Logue. "He's a very coachable kid and he's a joy to coach because he's so likable.

"He came fundamentally sound. We didn't have to do a lot of tweaking. But what we've worked on - probably a lot more so than any of the other kids because they'll come in a little more experienced - but we worked on his conditioning and his mental approach."

BC won just three of its first 12 games this season (3-4-5), but it wasn't because of Muse's play. Logue felt it was crucial to point that out to him, but also to give him some incentive to step up his game.

"John was playing real well early and the team was struggling; we weren't scoring any goals," said Logue. "John and I kind of had a conversation like, 'Hey, you're playing really well, John, but you've got to steal a couple of games, even if it has to be 1-0. You know, a 15-15 team can become 20-10 if you steal five games in the course of a year.'

"We always challenge him in practice and we challenge him every day as part of his maturing process. He has responded and he's a very athletic and competitive kid. He's quiet but he's a great teammate in the locker room and he's respected by his peers and I think that has helped a lot for him, too."

Logue doesn't think it premature to expect Muse to rise to the level of BC's outstanding goaltenders of the past.

"[Assistant coach] Mike Cavanaugh was going through the stats and he was saying we're 20-8 in the last 10 years in NCAA competition," he said. "You don't get there if you don't have good goaltending. We've had some great players but we've had terrific goaltending with the likes of Scott Clemmensen and Tim Kelleher and Matti Kaltiainen and Cory Schneider. I think John is going to be right there with the best of them when his career is done at BC."

If there was one concern about Muse aside from the experience factor, it was his lean frame. At 5 feet 11 inches, 175 pounds, he is considered slight by today's standards, but Logue said what he lacks in size, he makes up for in other ways.

"After watching Cory and some of the bigger goaltenders we've had, there don't seem to be too many holes," said Logue. "John being smaller, there were some holes. But we worked on it early, and him being so athletic and competitive, when you get into game situations, it's totally different than practice when shooters have a lot of time.

"He's challenging shooters more than he was when he initially came in and he's probably a little squarer than he was when he initially came in. Overall, it's not a huge change. It's his athleticism and competitiveness that really helps him. He has surprised a lot of people."

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.