(Box from BC game summary sheet)
Friday, February 15, 2002 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 2, MC 1 HOCKEY EAST GAME
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MERRIMACK COLLEGE (HE) 1 0 0 - 1 (9-19-2 overall, 4-14-2 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 0 1 1 - 2 (16-13-2 overall, 8-10-1 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
MC 8-14- 7 -- 29 7 - 14 1 - 6
BC 10- 8-13 -- 31 7 - 14 1 - 6
MC - Joe Exter 10- 7-12 - 29 saves/2 goals (59:18)
BC - Tim Kelleher 7-14- 7 - 28 saves/1 goal (60:00)
Referee - Jeff Bunyon
Assistants - James Brown, Hans Baker
Attendance - 5688
1st Period
MC1 Anthony Aquino 23 (Ryan Cordeiro, Nick Parillo) PPG 16:54
Penalties
MC - Ryan Kiley (interference) 7:13
BC - John Adams (tripping) 11:11
BC - Andrew Alberts (interference) 15:40
MC - Tim Foster (high-sticking) 17:38
2nd Period
BC1 Anthony D'Arpino 2 (Jeff Giuliano, Ales Dolinar) 1:18
Penalties
BC - Jeff Giuliano (high-sticking) 4:26
BC - Brett Peterson (slashing) 7:15
MC - Ryan Kiley (roughing) 15:09
BC - Bill Cass (holding) 15:09
MC - Nick Parillo (elbowing) 16:18
3rd Period
BC2 Dave Spina 10 (Tony Voce, J.D. Forrest) PPG 4:25 GWG
Penalties
MC - Marco Rosa (cross-checking) 3:06
BC - Brett Peterson (interference) 9:50
MC - Anthony Aquino (slashing) 12:09
BC - Ryan Murphy (tripping) 15:05
MC - Matthew Foy (roughing) 19:59
3 Stars - 1. BC - Tim Kelleher (1G, 28 saves)
2. MC - Joe Exter (2G, 29 saves)
3. BC - Dave Spina (1G)
(Line/defense combinations may not be accurate; not detailed on game sheet)
Merrimack College:
F RYAN CORDEIRO, MARCO ROSA, ANTHONY AQUINO
Nick Parillo, Alex Sikatchev, Nick Cammarata
Ryan Kiley, Matt Foy, Nick Torretti
Tim Reidy, Stephen Crusco, Luke Smith
D GREG LAUZE, JEFF STATE
Eric Pedersen, Tony Johnson
Brad Mills, Tim Foster
G JOE EXTER, Jason Wolfe
Boston College:
F TONY VOCE, BEN EAVES, RYAN MURPHY
Jeff Giuliano, Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina
Ned Havern, Ales Dolinar, Anthony D'Arpino
Taylor Leahy, Ty Hennes, Justin Dziama
D ANDREW ALBERTS, J.D. FORREST
John Adams, Bill Cass
Brett Peterson, Ben McManama
G TIM KELLEHER, Matti Kaltiainen, Robbie Miller
COMMENTS
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Boston College won their third straight game Friday night with a hard-fought
2-1 victory over Merrimack in Boston. Tim Kelleher was spectacular at times
in goal to preserve the lead for the Eagles, and Joe Exter played well for
the Warriors as well. It was a special "Cloak of Invisibility" night at
Conte Forum, with around 3500 of the announced 5688 in attendance unable to
be seen or heard. :-))
Play was back and forth in the first period, with both teams having early
chances turned away by the goalies. Kelleher had to block an Anthony Aquino
rush in the first minute, and a later spinaround slot wrister by Nick
Parillo. Exter was fortunate to have Taylor Leahy shoot just wide on a
nifty setup right in front at the 3 minute mark, and later sprawled to block
a Jeff Giuliano backhander from the right side. The teams traded chances
on power plays in the middle of the period, with BC maintaining more
possession on their attempts but not getting a lot of shots on net.
Kelleher made another big save as a MC power play ended with a 3-on-1 rush,
deflecting a point-blank shot with his glove. Finally, on a later power
play, Merrimack broke through. Aquino rushed down the left side and fired
one off Kelleher's mask, where it went to the right corner. Parillo and
Cordeiro retrieved it and fed it behind the net to the left, where Aquino
was waiting unattended. He had time to skate to the left edge of the
crease,
and lifted a quick shot inside the post just as Kelleher pulled away to
protect the middle of the net. BC had more opportunities on a late power
play but kept shooting wide or having shots blocked by the defense, which
was a big part of the reason they couldn't score in the first period.
The Eagles opened the second period by scoring the equalizer. After a
minute of Merrimack possession and pressure, BC pushed the puck out of
the zone to Anthony D'Arpino at the left side. He poked it past a pinching
defenseman to release BC on a 2-on-1 rush. D'Arpino carried it down the
left wing, and left alone, he fired a hard shot from the left circle. Exter
was in position for the stop, but somehow the puck managed to find its way
through his leg pads and into the far side for the score. After that,
though, the Warriors carried much of the play in the period, forcing
Kelleher to play very well to keep them off the board. He stopped a hard
slap shot on a 2-on-1, then blocked an attempt after a Marco Rosa rush up
the middle. BC was able to kill off a subsequent penalty, but then took
another one as Brett Peterson was caught slashing after an extended tangle
and wrestling match with Parillo. Alex Sikatchev was robbed in front on a
quick tip attempt, then later Rosa was sent in clean from Aquino and moved
right-to-left for a backhander that Kelleher sprawled to block. Just a
minute later, after Ty Hennes coughed up the puck deep on a bad turnover,
Matt Foy had Kelleher all to himself, moved across to the left and lifted
a backhand toward the open left side. Somehow Kelleher flopped over to
block the shot and cover the rebound, a spectacular save. Play was back
and forth after that, with Eaves and Voce having near misses for BC, and
Sikatchev and Foy getting more doorstop chances after a Parillo setup, only
to fire wide. The defenses settled down somewhat after that and the period
ended with the score deadlocked at 1.
BC got the gamewinner on the power play a few minutes into the third period.
Rosa took a cross-checking penalty when pursuing the puck deep in the BC
zone, and after some defensive success early, BC set up in the zone and put
together some good passing to set up the goal. Ben Eaves sent it across the
zone to J.D. Forrest at the right circle, and he shifted back and sent a
shot through a Tony Voce screen in front. The puck deflected to the left
side where Dave Spina was waiting and he fired it into the open goal. Then
Mr. Kelleher took over again. He stoned Ryan Cordeiro in close on the right
side, and blocked a later shot. BC got their own chance on a 2-on-1 break,
with Eaves's tip just off the glove and covered, then Exter blocked two
more BC shots. Merrimack got a power play and Kelleher made another big
save on a rebound scramble after a screened shot was blocked. BC could not
capitalize on their own power play chance, then gave the Warriors another
power play on a stupid penalty by frosh Ryan Murphy. This led to the play
of the game by Kelleher. Merrimack had a shot blocked to the right side
where there was a crowd of players fighting for possession. Aquino got the
puck and slid it to the front of the net where Matt Foy was all alone with
Kelleher. He faked the goalie down, moved to the right side of the crease,
and shot at the gaping right side. As the crowd reacted to what was thought
to be a sure goal, Kelleher flopped back across the crease and flailed his
arm out to deflect the puck. It bounced up off the right post and sat in
the crease, where the defense cleared it. It was a tense last few minutes
as Merrimack tried desperately for the equalizer but good work by the BC
forwards, especially Giuliano and Ales Dolinar, kept the puck largely in
the Warriors zone. There was a late flurry at the BC net but the puck was
cleared away and the Eagles held on for the victory.
There wasn't much doubt who the first two stars of the game were in this
one. Kelleher saved at least 5 great chances by Merrimack, all of them
right on the doorstep, most of them with no defensive help. Exter was good
in his net as well, though not quite as spectacular as the BC netminder. If
it wasn't for the somewhat soft goal on the D'Arpino shot, this could well
have been a 1-1 tie. Looking back on my report of the first game between
these 2 teams back in November, it is clear that Merrimack worked much
harder at cleaning up their defensive lapses in this game. Coming off a
good win last week over Maine, the Warriors had to think they played well
enough to win this game, and should have some confidence going into
Saturday's rematch at Merrimack. Matt Foy particularly will have to feel
that he owes his team a couple of goals after not getting any past Kelleher.
Boston College gladly takes the 2 points as they try to get back in the
Hockey East race. They remain in 7th place by one point, but have a game
in hand over Providence and now have a 3 game winning streak. It seems
clear that Merrimack and UMass-Amherst will battle it out for the last
playoff (eighth) position, while BC, Providence, UMass-Lowell, and
Northeastern are working for 4th through 7th. UNH, BU, and Maine are the
leaders in positions 1 - 3. The Eagles will certainly want to shore up
some of the defensive lapses they had in this game, and get more production
from their offense. Merrimack played decently, but normally BC should be
able to get more than 2 goals on their defense. BC needs to find a way to
win Saturday at Merrimack if they want to improve their playoff seeding
and have a shot at a playoff run. With a full lineup of 18 skaters again,
it should help the Eagles as they have their first back-to-back games since
mid-January.
Special thanks to Substitute Volunteer Reporter Linda Harrison for her
report on last week's Maine-BC game as I was out-of-town for over two
weeks. Way to go, sweetie!
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