(Box from BC official game summary)
Friday, December 10, 2004 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 2, NU 1 HOCKEY EAST GAME
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NORTHEASTERN UNIV. (HE) 0 1 0 0 - 1 (6-8-1 overall, 3-4-0 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 1 0 0 1 - 2 (7-3-3 overall, 4-1-3 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
NU 8- 9-10- 2-- 29 6 - 12 1 - 4
BC 9-15-10- 3-- 37 5 - 10 0 - 5
NU - Keni Gibson 8-15-10- 2 - 35 saves/2 goals (64:37)
BC - Cory Schneider 8- 8-10- 2 - 28 saves/1 goals (64:37)
Referee - Scott Hansen
Assistants - Chris Federico, Jack Millea
Attendance - 5247
1st Period
BC1 Matt Greene 1 (Dan Bertram, Joe Rooney) 3:10
Penalties
NU Chuck Tomes (obstruction-tripping) 10:47
NU Donny Grover (interference) 16:02
BC Andrew Alberts (interference) 16:45
BC Ryan Murphy (high-sticking-contact to head) 17:13
2nd Period
NU1 Mike Morris 6 (Jason Guerriero, Jon Awe) PPG 5:55
Penalties
BC Patrick Eaves (elbowing) 4:31
NU Steve Birnstill (high-sticking-contact to head) 7:36
BC Mike Brennan (roughing) 10:18
NU Joe Santilli (roughing) 10:18
NU Joe Santilli (instigation) 10:18
(served by Josh Robertson)
BC Ryan Murphy (charging) 19:35
3rd Period
No scoring
Penalties
NU Donny Grover (roughing-contact to head) 10:46
Overtime
BC2 Dave Spina 7 (Patrick Eaves, Peter Harrold) 4:37 GWG
Penalties
None
3 Stars - 1. BC - Dave Spina (1G)
2. BC - Matt Greene (1G)
3. NU - Mike Morris (1G)
Northeastern University:
F BRIAN SWINIARSKI, JASON GUERRIERO, MIKE MORRIS
Yale Lewis, Ray Ortiz, Josh Robertson
Joe Santilli, Bryan Esner, Jared Mudryk
Aaron Moore, Jason Blain, Jimmy Russo
D STEVE BIRNSTILL, DONNY GROVER
Chuck Tomes, Tim Judy
Brian Deeth, Jon Awe
G KENI GIBSON, Adam Geragosian, Tim Heneroty
Boston College:
F PATRICK EAVES, STEPHEN GIONTA, DAN BERTRAM
Chris Collins, Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina
Ned Havern, Brian Boyle, Taylor Leahy
Joe Rooney, Matt Greene, Ryan Murphy
D ANDREW ALBERTS, MIKE BRENNAN
John Adams, Peter Harrold
Brian O'Hanley, Greg Lauze
G CORY SCHNEIDER, Matti Kaltiainen, Robbie Miller
COMMENTS
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Boston College won a thrilling overtime contest over Northeastern Friday
night at BC, as Dave Spina got to the net to score the winning goal with
just 23 seconds left in the game. It was a tight checking affair that
saw BC take the lead early on frosh Matt Greene's first collegiate tally,
then had NU fight back with a power play score by Mike Morris in the
second.
Both goalies had good games, with BC's Cory Schneider making some huge
stops on rebound chances late in the third period to get the game to
overtime for Spina's heroics.
BC has been having a hard time scoring goals and it looked like they might
start strong with the early score in this game. Chris Collins had a tip
that slid by the post in the first minute, and Matt Greene fired one off
the outside of the net on a 2-on-1 break. The puck was kept in after that,
and Joe Rooney took it strong to the net from the right corner, but Gibson
made the stop. Dan Bertram collected the rebound in the left corner and
fed the puck to the front of the net where Greene stopped it and pushed
a low shot through Gibson for the first score. The Eagles continued to
have most of the early momentum with Ryan Murphy unable to score on a
partial break, and Pat Eaves firing wide after collecting his own rebound.
Chuck Tomes prevented an almost certain goal when he disrupted a pass
across the goalmouth that would have found Eaves wide open at the left
post. BC had lots of pressure and tips on a subsequent power play but
could not get it past Gibson. NU started to gain a little offense of their
own, with Tomes and Josh Robertson each having chances after the man-
advantage. A series of penalties gave the Huskies an eventual 5-on-3
advantage, but they couldn't get one of their own. Late in the period
Robertson had a great chance camped at the right post but was robbed by
Schneider to end the period with BC up 1-0.
BC started the second buzzing the net as they had early in the first
period, but a frustration penalty by Pat Eaves gave Northeastern a power
play, and they capitalized. A hard slapshot by Jon Awe struck Steve
Gionta on the arm and he was injured and without his stick as play
continued. Jason Guerriero collected the puck on the left side and
fed Mike Morris, who fired a hard shot into a crowd in front, where it
bounced up off a BC player and over Schneider's shoulder for the
equalizer. The Huskies gained energy from the goal and played tougher
from that point forward, killing off 2 BC power plays and putting pressure
on the BC net. One shot was blocked off the goalie's mask, and then
Schneider made a huge save when Brian Swiniarski was sent in clean on
an open weak-side wing rush. Another NU shot deflected up and pinged off
the crossbar, then both teams had chances down low where the puck deflected
through the crease and was cleared before anyone could push it into the
open net. Things were getting more physical, more contentious, with lots
of jawing back-and-forth between players all the way to the end of the
period.
The third opened with a Northeastern power play that produced little. Pat
Eaves got a hard shot from the left circle that bounced up off a stick and
ricocheted over the net (it may have nicked the crossbar going by.) Most
of the play was very physical and tight-checking, with the referee letting
most things go with no calls. Initially that had favored NU, then BC
started throwing their weight around too once they realized the calls would
not be made. BC got the last power play of the game and Spina fired one
off Gibson's mask but otherwise was not too effective. The final part of
the period featured some hard work by the Huskies to get the puck to the
net and fire some rebounds at Schneider, but somehow he managed to keep
the puck out of the net. Northeastern thought they had forged a lead
at the 17:30 mark when a BC turnover led to a shot from the slot that
handcuffed the goalie and trickled behind him, but Schneider fell back on
top of the puck before it crossed the goal line. He followed that with
big saves on a rush down the left by Yale Lewis and the subsequent rebound
scramble.
The overtime was tense, with the BC crowd desperate for a goal and more
than a bit frustrated at the lack of scoring by the team. The teams
traded early shots, then BC missed one chance when Greene couldn't reach
a tip in front of an open net. BC took a timeout at 4:17 to rest its
players and brought out an offensive trio of Eaves, Ryan Shannon, and
Spina, and it ended up paying dividends. After battles along the boards
in the BC end, Peter Harrold got it up to Eaves at the blue line, and
he threw a pass to Spina skating down the right side. As he crossed into
NU territory, he put on the jets and was able to skate past the Huskies
defender and cut around him to the slot. Spina carried the puck from
the right to the left in front of the net, got Gibson down, and then
slipped a backhand shot in for the winner, to the delight of the crowd.
Boston College had more shots in this one, and perhaps a little bit more
of the play overall, but it was pretty even after the first period. NU
played well (certainly better than they had in BC's earlier 4-1 win at
Northeastern) but was just as unsuccessful at scoring on BC as the Eagles
have been scoring on their opposition. It was a physical game, more
similar to last year's style (without the emphasis on interference and
the clutching and grabbing.) Many of the shots were from outside or
with screens or crowds in front of the net, and both goaltenders did a
good job seeing the puck and controlling rebounds for the most part.
When necessary, Schneider made some big saves late in the game, and it
provided the Eagles the chance for the win. The 3 stars were given to
the goal scorers in the game, but the #2 and #3 stars should have been
the goaltenders. In Schneider's case, it was a surprise start (breaking
the normal rotation with Matti Kaltiainen) and Jerry York was quoted as
saying he wanted to give Schneider the start because he would be missing
games at the World Junior Tournament later this month.
Northeastern continues to battle hard; they are a hard-working team and
have some talent as well. Morris continues to score now that he has
returned to the lineup, and Keni Gibson has played reasonably well in net.
After last year's struggles out of the gate, they seem to have learned
to come to play almost every night, and every opponent has to work very
hard against the Huskies. NU now faces their recent nemesis, UMass-Lowell,
in the final game before the holidays, Saturday night in Boston. Lowell
has been able to dominate the Huskies for no known reason in recent times
except that they seem to play harder against NU.
BC (and its fans) were happy to finally win one in overtime, though all
would be happier if they would find a way to score goals and win them
easier in regulation. Right now BC is an extremely tough team to score
on but is having offensive difficulties of their own. The typical game
is likely to be low scoring and a battle to the end, so BC folks better
get used to that. It might be good in the playoffs, when that style
tends to be dominant anyway, but it probably will lead to some losses
throughout the season that will keep BC from the top of the rankings.
The Eagles are now off until the Everblades tournament in Florida at
the end of the year. They will go with Matti Kaltiainen in net for that
series, and the opposition will be tough, opening with Cornell (another
team that is tough to score on.) Expect a physical, low-scoring affair
in that game. Given their offensive troubles, I am not confident BC
will win one in Florida this time (they've never played in this tourney
before) but this team can be hard to predict. We will see.
Happy holidays to all the loyal readers who have made it this far!
Rick McAdoo
"Volunteer reporter"
An optimistic BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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