Saturday, March 6, 1999 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 7, MC 2 HOCKEY EAST GAME - End of Regular Season
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MERRIMACK COLLEGE (HE) 1 0 1 - 2 7-16-1 HE (11-22-1 overall)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 2 2 3 - 7 15-7-2 HE (21-11-4 overall)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
MC 5- 5- 6 -- 16 9 - 18 0 - 3
BC 11-17- 8 -- 36 9 - 18 1 - 3
MC - Cris Classen 9-15- 3 - 27 saves/6 goals (49:17)
- Roland Sperlich x- x- 2 - 2 saves/1 goal (10:42)
BC - Andy McLaughlin 4- 5- x - 9 saves/1 goal (29:42)
- Mike Correia x- 0- 5 - 5 saves/1 goal (30:18)
3 Stars: BC Chris Masters, BC Mike Mottau, BC Tony Hutchins
COMMENTS
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In a final regular season game that had no bearing on the seedings for the
Hockey East tournament, Boston College rolled to a 7-2 win over Merrimack.
The Warriors seemed tired and off their game, and the Eagles were happy
to let their seniors lead them to victory on Senior Night. Both senior
goaltenders saw action for BC, giving Scott Clemmensen his first full
night off all season. Merrimack could only muster 16 shots on goal and
did not compete well.
The first period was somewhat lethargic, with BC having most of the
chances due to their forechecking. BC had all the pressure for the first
few minutes, but Merrimack opened the scoring at 8:40. Sandy Cohen spun
out of the corner and flipped a backhand on net. Andy McLaughlin made the
initial stop but freshman Greg Classen slid the rebound into the net for
his 13th goal of the season. BC went back on the attack after that and
drew even 2 and a half minutes later when Chris Masters flew down the slot
just in time to tip in a pass from the right side on a breakout. The
Eagles made it 2-1 late in the period as Kevin Caulfield was left all alone
in the slot and wristed home his 7th goal.
The intensity picked up in the second period, with both teams pushing
for early chances. McLaughlin saved a Kris Porter 1-timer just 20 seconds
into the period, then Jeff Giuliano had 2 chances on setups from Jeff
Farkas for BC. BC took the first penalty of the night, but killed it well.
Brian Gionta forced goalie Cris Classen to make a nice save on a short-
handed bid. That woke MC up, though, and they had their most effective
offensive flow of the night for the next few minutes. BC changed goalies
at 9:42, McLaughlin coming out, senior Mike Correia coming in. Play was
back and forth with no shots after that until 14:02, when Farkas flew
around the D down the right wing and lifted a nice goal over a sprawling
goalie. Merrimack penalties after that gave BC the momentum for the rest
of the period (Correia played the last 10:18 of the second period and MC
got off no shots at all during that time.) The Eagles' Blake Bellefeuille
scored yet another power-play goal (his specialty) when he collected a
rebound right in front of the net and slid the backhand around Classen,
giving BC a 4-1 lead at 19:03.
The third period got a bit rougher as the game started to get out of hand
in BC's favor. The BC seniors really stepped up the pace, apparently
trying to get points in their last regular-season home game. Brendan
Buckley missed a wide-open tip in the slot to open the period, then fired
a screened shot from the left point that Masters tipped for a 5-1 lead just
45 seconds in. Merrimack got a power play, though, and after a good BC
kill, MC started to play better. Eventually it led to their 2nd goal,
when the puck was fired at Correia from an impossible angle, deflected
by his leg, and bounced into the net. Joe Gray got credit for the score
at 6:48. Just as it seemed that the Warriors might start a comeback, BC
came right back and made it 6-2 just 20 seconds later. Giuliano carried
in on a 2x1 and fired a high shot into the top of the net. MC changed
goalies 2 minutes later as it was fairly obvious that a comeback wasn't
going to happen. A series of matching penalties followed, with both
teams blowing off some steam. BC closed out the scoring at 16:58 as
freshman Ales Dolinar took a long break pass down the right side, beat
the defenseman to the net, and poked in his own rebound as he slid by the
net. More penalties followed but tempers finally got back under control
and the game came to a quiet end.
BC was able to take advantage of weak defense from Merrimack in this game,
as the Warriors were slow and ineffective in their own zone. Combine that
with some off nights for a few forwards, and it's obvious why the score
ended up as it did. The Eagles kept cranking up the pressure as the game
went along, especially the seniors and the freshmen. Leading scorer Brian
Gionta didn't get a point in the game but wasn't really needed.
Perhaps Merrimack was down after losing their last home game the night
before, which locked them into 8th playoff position. They have the
unenviable task of playing at UNH in the first round of the HE playoffs,
a place where they have not had success this year (not surprising, as UNH
hasn't lost a home game all year.) If they play UNH the way they did in
the BC game, it will make for 2 very ugly losses. We'll see if they can
turn it around for the playoffs.
Boston College will host UMass-Lowell for their first round games, a best-
of-3 series starting Thursday, March 11. While they have beaten Lowell
3 straight times this year, UML has a history of strong playoff efforts
and will want some revenge for the regular season. BC is certainly
capable of sweeping but must avoid a letdown or they could be surprised.
The most recent matchup of these 2 was very physical and I expect that will
be Lowell's strategy again. Many folks are expecting this series to go
the full 3 games. All 3 games are scheduled to be broadcast by Fox Sports
New England as part of their Hockey East playoff coverage (an alternative
game will be shown on Saturday if the series only goes 2 games.)
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Rick McAdoo [log in to unmask]
"Volunteer reporter" A pleased BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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