(Box from BC game summary sheet)
Thursday, November 8, 2001 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 6, MC 4 HOCKEY EAST GAME
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MERRIMACK COLLEGE (HE) 0 2 2 - 4 (2-6-0 overall, 0-5-0 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 2 1 3 - 6 (4-4-1 overall, 1-2-0 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
MC 4- 8- 4 -- 16 7 - 14 2 - 7
BC 14-13-14 -- 41 8 - 16 2 - 6
MC - Joe Exter 12-12-11 - 35 saves/6 goals (60:00)
BC - Tim Kelleher 4- 6- 2 - 12 saves/4 goals (60:00)
Referee - Jim Fitzgerald
Assistants - John Jones, Tom Carpenito
Attendance - 4044
1st Period
BC1 Ned Havern 1 (Cass, Murphy) 8:50
BC2 J. D. Forrest 3 (Eaves, Voce) 11:18
Penalties
BC - Dziama (high-sticking) 9:01
BC - Spina (tripping) 16:59
MC - Cordeiro (hooking) 17:21
2nd Period
MC1 Anthony Aquino 7 (Parillo, Foy) 3:47
BC3 Tony Voce 6 (Alberts) SHG 6:12
MC2 Anthony Aquino 8 (Rosa, Lauze) PPG 18:38
Penalties
BC - Schuman (charging) 5:19
MC - Kiley (hooking) 9:06
MC - Rosa (hooking) 12:04
BC - Shannon (interference) 17:55
BC - Alberts (roughing) 19:30
MC - Kiley (roughing) 19:30
3rd Period
BC4 A. J. Walker 2 (Shannon, Forrest) PPG 4:04
BC5 Tony Voce 7 (Forrest, Eaves) PPG 8:06 GWG
BC6 Tony Voce 8 (Eaves, Adams) SHG 12:21
MC3 Ryan Cordeiro 7 (Foy) PPG 12:37
MC4 Ryan Cordeiro 8 (DeYoung) 15:54
Penalties
MC - Cammarata (cross-checking) 2:54
BC - Cass (interference) 4:41
MC - State (tripping) 7:00
MC - Cammarata (high-sticking) 8:19
BC - Alberts (holding) 10:54
BC - Forrest (holding) 13:51
3 Stars - 1. BC - Tony Voce (3G, 1A)
2. MC - Ryan Cordeiro (2G)
3. BC - J.D. Forrest (1G, 2A)
Merrimack College:
F NICK PARILLO, MATT FOY, ANTHONY AQUINO
Ryan Cordeiro, Marco Rosa, Nick Cammarata
Ryan Kiley, Alex Sikatchev, Nick Torretti
Cameron DeYoung, Lucas Smith, Lou Eyster
D GREG LAUZE, TONY JOHNSON
Darren Clarke, Jeff State
Eric Pedersen, Tim Foster
G JOE EXTER, Jason Wolfe, Casey Guenther
Boston College:
F TONY VOCE, BEN EAVES, A.J. WALKER
Jeff Giuliano, Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina
Ned Havern, Ales Dolinar, Ryan Murphy
Anthony D'Arpino, Ty Hennes, Justin Dziama
D John Adams, J.D. Forrest
ANDREW ALBERTS, BILL CASS
Joe Schuman, Brett Peterson
G TIM KELLEHER, Matti Kaltiainen, Robbie Miller
COMMENTS
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Boston College got their first Hockey East victory with a 6-4 win over
visiting Merrimack Thursday night. The Warriors had another bad defensive
night, relying on goaltender Joe Exter to make 35 saves just to keep them
in the game, giving up 2 power play goals and 2 shorthanded goals to the
Eagles. Tony Voce got a hat trick, scoring 3 of those 4 special-team
goals for BC. The Eagles' offense was allowed to wheel and circle in the
Merrimack zone for most of the night, and the score could have been much
worse. The Eagles were sloppy at times in their own zone as well, giving
up 2 late goals to Ryan Cordeiro to keep MC in the game long after they
should have been put away.
The first period was all BC, as forechecking forwards were able to cycle
the puck down low and keep the puck in the zone for extended periods of
time. The shot chart was indicative of the flow of play, with the BC
chances centered on the slot and circles, and the few MC shots scattered
in the zone. BC got on the board first when the Dolinar/Havern/Murphy line
was able to carry the puck and cycle almost unhindered for many seconds in
the right corner, then Bill Cass dropped low and carried the puck low. A
quick pass out to the slot found Havern, and he scored his first college
goal with a soft wrister to the far side. BC had to kill a penalty after
that, but the chances were all BC as Jeff Giuliano and Dolinar got short-
handed bids only to have Exter hold the fort. Another heavy BC forecheck
by Voce and Eaves got the puck loose deep in the left corner and then behind
the net, leading to a clean pass to J.D. Forrest as he pinched down from
the point. A quick low shot found the twine for a 2-0 lead.
More Eagles' forechecking got the puck free again soon after and Ryan
Shannon rang a shot off the post, followed by more BC shorthanded chances
on a Tony Voce rush. Giuliano and Dolinar did more good work on a 4-on-4
for more BC shots, and Eaves missed an open shot on a 3-on-1 at the end of
the period. The Merrimack fans who made the trip to Conte Forum were not
sure if their team would ever break out of their lethargy and make a game
of it. BC skated well, but almost any team would have looked good against
the Warriors defense in the first period.
Merrimack must have refocused in the locker room because they worked much
harder to start the second period, with Matt Foy and Parillo having early
chances, and Anthony Aquino got them on the board on a quick counterattack.
Parillo drove deep down the left side and fed a nice pass to the front
where Aquino cruised in unattended for a quick tip past Kelleher. Nice
work by the speedy tandem, though aided by some lazy defensive work by the
Eagles. Merrimack pushed forward on a subsequent power play to try to
equalize, but after a big hit dropped Nick Parillo deep on the boards, BC
was able to counter with speed and get the puck loose at the right side.
Tony Voce came in, waited, then lifted a shot that deflected off the goalie
and dropped softly over his shoulder and into the net. BC continued to
put the pressure on with power plays and forechecking, but Aquino almost
evened on a shorthanded break of his own. Finally Merrimack got their own
power play and made the most of it, with Greg Lauze hitting the post on a
screened post shot, then another shot after a failed clearance was
deflected and collected in the slot by Aquino. He moved quickly from right
to left, got around Kelleher, and lifted an easy shot for the score. BC
still was dominating the chances but allowed Merrimack to stay close after
two.
The third period moved back to bad Merrimack coverage on defense, forcing
Exter to try to survive the onslaught. Penalties and power plays were
the norm for much of the earlier part of the period. BC stretched the lead
to 4-2 when Ryan Shannon was sent down the left side and he just circled
past the collapsing defense and slid a one-handed pass across the face of
the goal, where A.J. Walker tipped the puck inside the right post on a
hustle play. BC killed a penalty easily, then got another power play and
moved the puck well around the zone. Forrest sent a shot in from the
center point and Voce tipped it from the slot for his second goal of the
night. Another penalty followed, but Merrimack took a timeout and were
able to settle down and kill that one off well. But, on their own power
play, they let Voce pick up his second shorthanded score of the night.
BC broke the puck out of their own zone and got a 3-on-2 break over the
blue line. A beautiful behind-the-back drop pass got the puck to Eaves
at the right circle, and he took a second to spot Voce cruising past the
defense at the left side; a quick pass across and it was an easy tip into
the open net to make it 6-2, Eagles. The Warriors got it right back on
the power play just 16 seconds later, then scored again on a clean
breakaway just as another MC power play ended, where Cordeiro shifted to
his right and slid the puck under Kelleher. At that point Merrimack was
buzzing and looking for the late comeback, but BC was content to counter
and play defensively. The Eagles got a couple of late chances, with Exter
stoning Voce after a clean steal deep in the Merrimack zone, but it ended
quietly.
Merrimack has 2 speedy forward lines, and they can put pressure on you
when they dump and chase and go to the net. Exter is a solid keeper who
makes some nice saves and makes the other team work. But if this is the
way the Warrior defense is going to play this year, they are going to have
a long, long season. BC is a pretty good skating team, and fast and
shifty, but tonight was ridiculous, with Merrimack's entire team looking
like they wanted to call timeout in the middle of a play to get a rest.
They were slow, uncoordinated, unable to control the boards, unable to
move their feet, and apparently unable or unwilling to play physically
to compensate for the skating differential. I was really surprised at
the lack of effort on the defensive end, and it isn't limited to the
defensemen. The forwards were abysmal at coming back to help and break
up plays, and unable to get the puck out of the zone when they had their
chances.
BC was buzzing all night, and skated hard most of the time. Their
forechecking and penalty kills were very effective most of the time, but
then they would have weird moments where they got sloppy. Tim Kelleher
did not have a stellar game in goal, and they need him to start playing
more consistently. If he had a better game, and they didn't get lazy on
a couple of power plays, this could have been a real hammering (like last
year's games at BC?) The thing is, most of BC's mistakes look like they
can be corrected. Merrimack's problems are harder to tell; are they a bit
lost with their coach sidelined with cancer treatments, or just slow and
defensively weak? This game may be an indicator of how these 2 teams will
fare this season -- BC will probably still have their defensive issues and
have to outscore teams, while Merrimack will struggle to survive while
giving up 40 shots a game. Shots on goal aren't always the best indicator,
but in this game, MC was giving up tons of great shots and losing coverage
left and right.
Merrimack will have a week to reorganize themselves, then host Niagara in
2 non-conference games next weekend. The Eagles, now at .500 and with a
2-game win streak for the first time this year, have the weekend off before
hosting Providence in an odd Wednesday game next week.
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