The Terriers salvaged a tie at home against the
Eagles of Boston College. Down 3-2 since late in
the second period, B.U. waited until the 18:59
mark of the third before they could tie the game
up. The Terriers outshot the Eagles 16-4 in that
period but junior Eagle goalie Andy McLaughlin was
solid in the nets.
 
The tying goal came while B.U. was enjoying a
6-on-4 advantage. Jeff Farkas of B.C. got called
for interference I think, at what I thought was a
little over two minutes to go. I forget the nature
of the call although it did seem valid ... but
giving B.U. a power-play at this juncture in the
game was certainly a goldmine for the Terriers. It
also seemed heavily ironic that Farkas would get
the call due to his constant objections throughout
the game when he was being interfered with by B.U.
players (with no avail). I believe the loud mouth
players get the least benefit of the doubt in most
situations, guys like Chris Drury of B.U. who
never say anything get much more leeway. But
anyhow, B.U. pulled their goalie Tom Noble for an
offensive zone faceoff with about 1:10 to go.
Drury won the draw to Tom Poti along the right
boards ... who slid a nice pass to Mike Sylvia
high left in the slot. Sylvia one-timed the pass
and beat McLaughlin through his pads as he slid
right-to-left.
 
Despite the heavy shot advantage in the period, I
thought B.C. had equal chances to put the game out
of reach before B.U. scored. There were some
opportunities for Reasoner and Gionta that are
hard to believe. It should have been 4-2 or even
5-2 B.C. by the time Sylvia tied the game. But,
then again, Sylvia and Drury had a few good
chances of their own as well as a breakaway midway
through the period by a Terrier freshman whose
name escapes me. (something with a few e's and
double letters .. I want to say Dellazy but I know
he's on UNH). The freshman in question had a good
game but could never seem to finish.
 
The overtime continued to see chippy play which
was present throughout the game ... lots of
penalties. B.U. got a 5-minute major with close to
three minutes to play and Parker look fit to be
tied (he actually just flipped out for a second
then looked very astounded. The call in question
was something that should have been called both
ways if anything ... if looked like both players
should have got fighting calls ... but the B.U.
player ended up with a facemask call.
 
The referee might have been immediately looking
for a call against B.C. to even things up, but
Mike Mottau gift-wrapped one for him a few seconds
later and the teams would wind up skating 4-on-4
until late in the overtime period. Mottau was
trying to keep the puck in at the point but
couldn't quite do it ... and meanwhile was losing
his balnace fast ... about to fall over backward
when a B.U. player skated up into his face to help
him a bit. Well, Mottau grabbed on around the neck
of the B.U. player and both players fell to the
ice.
 
B.U. was lucky to get out with the tie. Although
both teams never really looked together ... there
was a lot of talent evident in brief flashes on
both ends of the ice. This freshman of B.C.'s
named Brian Gionta had an incredible game. The kid
is small but loves to hit ... maybe to a fault
since he often goes out of the way of the play to
finish a check on the last opposing player to have
the puck. However, one of his biggest strengths is
his strong ability to get down one the ice with
stick flat and extended to block shots and passes.
He does it such a way that keeps him moving and
ready to turn and resume full speed in a second.
He was used heavily on special teams. He also gave
Drury a serious headache when he popped him as
Drury was bent over in front of the B.U. net.
Gionta was skating by and the resulting hit sent
Drury's down on his head.
 
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