(Box from BC game summary sheet)
Friday, January 17, 2003 at Kelley Rink, Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 3, BU 2 HOCKEY EAST GAME
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY (HE) 1 1 0 - 2 (13-9-2 overall, 7-7-0 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 0 1 2 - 3 (14-5-3 overall, 10-3-1 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
BU 10- 6- 6 -- 22 11 - 22 1 - 5
BC 12- 9- 6 -- 28 8 - 16 1 - 8
BU - Sean Fields 12- 8- 5 - 25 saves/3 goals (58:24)
BC - Matti Kaltiainen 9- 5- 6 - 20 saves/2 goals (60:00)
Referee - Jeff Bunyon
Assistants - Joe Ross, Tim Low
Attendance - 7884 (sellout)
1st Period
BU1 Frantisek Skladany 7 (Jekabs Redlihs) PPG 13:07
Penalties
BU - Jekabs Redlihs (hooking) 1:06
BU - Bryan Miller (hitting after whistle) 1:55
BC - Chris Collins (cross-checking) 6:04
BC - Brett Peterson (interference) 7:15
BU - David Vandergulik (high-sticking) 8:56
BC - Ned Havern (holding) 12:39
BU - Mike Bussoli (interference) 14:52
2nd Period
BU2 Justin Maiser 8 (David Klema) 4x4 10:55
BC1 Tony Voce 10 (Ryan Shannon) PPG 18:21
Penalties
BU - Mike Bussoli (holding) 8:15
BC - Chris Collins (slashing) 10:15
BU - Freddy Meyer (slashing) 10:15
BC - Chris Collins (hooking) 15:01
BU - Freddy Meyer (hooking) 15:56
BU - Ryan Whitney (roughing) 17:05
BU - John Sabo (slashing) 17:05
BC - Dave Spina (hitting after whistle) 17:05
BU - Mark Mullen (hitting after whistle) 17:05
BC - Andrew Alberts (roughing) 17:05
3rd Period
BC2 Ben Eaves 11 (John Adams) SHG 12:13
BC3 Ryan Murphy 6 (Dave Spina) 18:05 GWG
BU Timeout 19:14
Penalties
BC - Andrew Alberts (interference) 10:26
BU - David Vandergulik (interference) 13:24
3 Stars - 1. BC - Ryan Murphy (1G)
2. BU - Justin Maiser (1G)
3. BU - John Adams (1A)
Boston University:
F DAVID VANDERGULIK, BRIAN COLLINS, JOHN SABO
John Laliberte, Mark Mullen, Justin Maiser
Kenny Magowan, Brad Zancanaro, Frantisek Skladany
Matt Radoslovich, David Klema, Ryan Priem
D FREDDY MEYER, BRYAN MILLER
John Cronin, Jekabs Redlihs
Ryan Whitney, Mike Bussoli
G SEAN FIELDS, Stephen Siwiec, Andy Warren
Boston College
F TONY VOCE, BEN EAVES, STEPHEN GIONTA
Ryan Murphy, Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina
Anthony D'Arpino, Ty Hennes, Justin Dziama
Chris Collins, Ned Havern, A.J. Walker
D ANDREW ALBERTS, BEN LOVEJOY
John Adams, Peter Harrold
Brett Peterson, Bill Cass
G MATTI KALTIAINEN, Tim Kelleher, Robbie Miller
COMMENTS
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Boston College gained a series sweep over Boston University Friday night
with a stirring and improbable 3-2 comeback win at BC. BU played better
than the Eagles for much of the night and had a 2-0 lead, but BC tied the
game in the third period on a weird and soft shorthanded goal from center
ice and then iced the win on a nice finish from Ryan Murphy with just
2 minutes left in the contest. Matti Kaltiainen was strong in the nets
for BC and Sean Fields was immense in goal for BU until the inexplicable
tying goal.
Boston University apparently learned some of their lessons from the loss
Thursday night as they played much harder and smarter, particularly on
their penalty kill, holding BC to only 1 power play goal in 8 chances.
This was backstopped by some spectacular glove saves by Fields on labeled
shots and strong physical play overall. The game began with collisions
and cheap shots continuing from the previous night, and BC got an early
5-on-3 advantage, but this time BU was up to the challenge and killed it
off with Fields flashing his glove on an Andrew Alberts hard slap shot.
After the kill BU played better and forced BC into penalties, getting their
own 5-on-3 chance. During the first penalty BU rang one off the far post,
then BC toughened up and fought off the next few chances. BC got another
power play and had a deflection go through the crease, then Fields did his
work with a fine kick save on another booming slap shot. The Terriers got
things going after that and forced another power play, and this one paid
off. Kaltiainen made two saves in succession on outside shots but couldn't
prevent a third one from going in to the open right side when Frantisek
Skladany collected it in a crowd and slid the puck into the net. Fields
made that stand up the rest of the period when he made numerous saves on
a BC man-advantage and then the defense helped him out the final few
minutes.
Both teams were more cautious in the second period and the goalies were able
to stop shots from each side in the early going, though it again was Fields
who was making the more difficult saves. The BU defense was also working
hard to limit the quality of the BC shots, providing more help than the
night before. BU did a good job killing off yet another BC power play,
and then it was 4-on-4 with matching slashings. David Klema carried the
puck
deep down the right side of the BC zone and below the goal line, with BC's
Peterson apparently holding him off. But he managed to squirm free long
enough to swat at the puck and deflect it off the goal iron out to the right
side to a wide-open Justin Maiser. He skated in from the right circle all
alone and lifted a quick shot high to the far side to make the BU lead 2-0.
Fields protected that lead with another flashing glove save but later was
slightly injured in a collision at the net, requiring a brief trainers
visit.
(There was some speculation later that he was less effective after this
point, possibly a factor in the third period problem.) Both teams traded
penalties, then there was a major scrum (unnecessary) at the net after the
whistle at one point, and BU collected another penalty, giving BC a 5-on-3
advantage. Twice during this sequence Ryan Shannon fed the puck across
the face of the goal to Tony Voce at the far side and twice he couldn't get
it on net or Fields was over to stop it. However, after BU got one defender
back, Shannon skated down the left boards and fed it across toward Voce one
more time at the right edge of the crease. The puck was partly deflected
by a BU defender but slid to Voce nonetheless and hit off his stick and
softly popped up and into the open net to get BC back within one late in the
period. BC skated with some energy after that and Alberts carried the
puck into the right circle and hammered a slap shot that pinged off the
post!
Things tighted up even more in the third, with the Eagles pressing for the
tying goal and BU seemingly having the answers to hold them off. Brad
Zancanaro shifted to the middle and fired a shot that Kaltiainen just got
a glove on, then BC fans started celebrating when a Chris Collins shot from
in front seemed to go in and the goal light came on. But it wasn't in the
net and play continued. After a delay to fix the goal post anchor at 7:40,
BC had pressure with a big save on a Ben Eaves one-timer, then Peter
Harrold fanned on a nice setup in the slot. Alberts took a weak
interference
penalty midway through the period, and that led to the most bizarre moment
of the night (and probably for the season for these 2 teams.) BC worked
hard to hold off BU on the power play and late in the kill, John Adams
pushed
the puck out of the zone and fired it ahead on an apparent clear toward the
BU goal. Ben Eaves had broken up ice and just barely tipped the puck as
it went by him outside the BU blue line (it was such a slight tip you really
couldn't tell it changed direction.) But it fluttered toward the net, where
Fields came out confidently to clear it away. He must have been distracted
somehow or it fooled him or jumped a bit, but magically (for BC) and
agonizingly (for BU) it slipped through him and slid slowly but inexorably
into the net to tie the game at 2. The goal was announced as Adams' goal,
but later changed to note the Eaves tip.
To their credit, BU did not hang their heads but came out fired up and
forced
the play to the BC end. However, then they had to kill yet another penalty
(giving the Eagles power play 9 chances is playing with fire the way they
are going at the moment. This is a recurring problem for the Terriers, who
lead the league in penalty minutes.) Things were tight for the next few
minutes as both teams tried for any advantage, but shots were few and hits
were hard. There was one mocking cheer for Fields when he scooped up a
soft clearance that trickled in on him. Then, with just a couple of minutes
left in the game, and after some intense BU pressure that BC fought off,
the Eagles got the puck free in neutral ice. As several players collided
in front of the BU bench, and BU players drew a penalty as they hammered
a BC forward, the puck was taken into the Terriers zone on a 2-on-1 BC
break. Ryan Murphy carried it in, the defender took the other BC forward,
then Murphy sidestepped a desperate defender who came over to stop him,
moved to the middle and flipped a backhand past Fields (who was now out
of position) for the late 3-2 lead. BU pulled Fields with well over a
minute left with faceoffs in the BC end, and used their timeout, but BC
was able to hold off the attack and clear it several times. Kaltiainen
made one big stop on a Bryan Miller stuff attempt from the low left side
and held it in his pads, and a final clearance brought this one to an end.
In many ways BU deserved to win this game, mostly for the effort that Sean
Fields put forth in net, and partly for the hard work on killing penalties
compared to the night before. But right now BC is getting some luck, and
the strange tying goal certainly qualifies as that. Overall BU wasn't
able to score many goals this weekend, a problem for them against the top
level competition, and still took too many penalties. They aren't as
dominant as they were in the 90's and can't afford to play with fire as
much as they do. They still have lots of talent and hustle, and Fields
is capable of great games, but the margin for error is small, and BC was
able to exploit that. It was particularly disheartening for Fields, who
played a very good game except for one totally Twilight Zone moment.
BC has played the past 2 weekends with a mostly constant lineup (after
earlier
problems with injuries and missing players) and it has added some stability
to the offensive flow. With the playmaking of Ben Eaves and Ryan Shannon
and the booming point slap shots of Andrew Alberts, the power play has once
again become difficult to defend. BU did a fine job Friday night on the
PK's, though Fields was the ultimate solution most of the time. The Eagles
have also settled on Matti Kaltiainen as the number-one goaltender, and he
has performed admirably in that role. The defense was able to play well
this weekend despite missing top leader J.D. Forrest, and has become adept
at playing tenaciously. The only unfortunate news of the weekend was the
expected loss of freshman Pat Eaves for the rest of the season -- his
medical exam revealed that he must continue to wear his neck brace for his
fractured vertebrae and will likely not return at all this year. (He has
been out since the injury in early December.)
Overall the past 2 weeks have been rewarding ones for BC, with 8 tough
points in Hockey East play keeping them at the top of the table and solidly
ranked in the national picture. Next week they play a home-and-home with
Providence College. Boston University is now just 7-7 in Hockey East play
and faces a very tough home-and-home meeting with New Hampshire next
Thursday and Saturday, with the danger of losing a shot at home ice in the
Hockey East playoff picture looming. That's part of what makes Hockey
East teams tough in the NCAA playoffs, the week after week grind of playing
difficult competition in the league.
Rick McAdoo
"Volunteer reporter"
A content BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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