Saturday, November 18, 2000 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
UNH 4, BC 1                 HOCKEY EAST GAME
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UNIV. OF NEW HAMPSHIRE (HE) 1  1  2 - 4     (8-3-1 overall, 4-2-0 ECAC)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE)         1  0  0 - 1     (9-3-0 overall, 4-1-0 HE)

       Shots on Goal       Pen - Min    Power Play
UNH     6- 9-13 -- 28        6 - 12       2 - 5
BC     18-10-10 -- 38        8 - 16       0 - 3

UNH- Ty Conklin         17-10-10 - 37 saves/1 goal  (60:00)
BC - Scott Clemmensen    5- 8-11 - 24 saves/2 goals (59:15)

3 Stars: UNH Ty Conklin, UNH David Busch, BC Tony Voce

COMMENTS
---------
New Hampshire completed a tough weekend on the road with a solid win over
Boston College, 4-1, sparked by stellar play by goalie Ty Conklin and some
resilient defense down the stretch.  It was a tight game down to the last
minute before UNH scored 2 empty net goals for the final margin.  BC
dominated the first period but Conklin made big saves and a late goal by
David Busch knotted the score at 1.  Tough defensive play kept BC from
repeating their play in the 2nd and 3rd periods and provided the Wildcats
with a 4-point weekend on their trip to Boston (having won, 2-1, Friday
at BU.)

After flying past an overmatched Merrimack team Friday night, BC came out
in this game flying once again.  UNH was slow to maneuver and letting the
Eagles carry the puck deep into their zone, and the result was an endless
stream of high-quality shots on Conklin.  Several chances in the first 8
minutes were hard 1-timers from the slot or just to the side, and Conklin
was well-positioned to block them all.  In general, his defense kept the
angles clear so he could see the shots and prevented BC from getting to
rebounds, a formula that would work all night.  BC did finally get on the
board at 8:45 after a turnover led to a quick counterattack.  Ales Dolinar
kept the puck in the zone and fed it to Marty Hughes at the top of the left
circle.  As the defense moved to him, he quickly flipped a pass to the open
right side, where Tony Voce had time to deke.  Conklin went down, Voce
slid to the right and lifted a backhander high for the first score.

UNH had only a few chances in the first period but a couple of them were
semi-break opportunities; BC's Scott Clemmensen also played well and kept
them out of the net.  The Eagles continued to carry play as the period wore
on, with Conklin making 2 good saves on frosh Chuck Kobasew.  The Wildcats
would tie the game at 1 somewhat against the run of play after hard
forechecking work deep in the BC zone.  After some back-and-forth moves
behind the net, Johnny Rogers worked his way free and circled for a quick
backhand stuff attempt.  Clemmensen made the save but the puck bounced up
and it was quickly popped up and over his shoulder into the net by Busch.
That goal enlivened UNH and they played a lot more aggresively the rest of
the period.

The second period was a lot more even, with UNH slowing down the BC attack
and getting more chances of their own.  Both teams killed penalties early
on, and tight checking limited the shots in the first half of the frame.
Things livened up on a series of penalties at 13:41.  BC's Brooks Orpik
got a cross-checking call (a weak one, in my opinion) high in the BC
defensive zone.  With the puck still loose and no whistle yet, Brian
Gionta and UNH's Josh Prudden both ended up flying over the boards and into
one of the penalty boxes; they received matching roughing penalties.  On
the ensuing power play, BC killed the first part, but was caught changing
all 4 players at once and Darren Haydar sped in to fire a shot off the
right post.  As the Eagles defense scrambled to adjust, UNH pushed the
puck deep into the zone, and hard work behind the net led to a stuff attempt
at the right side.  With around 5 bodies crammed into the crease, the puck
squirted loose just in front and Busch quickly knocked it in thru the
crowd.

Tempers got a little hot late in the period when Orpik got a tripping call
on a center-ice hit on UNH's Jim Abbott, who went down with a knee injury.
It looked like a knee-on-knee hit and Abbott was down for several minutes
before being helped off the ice, not putting weight on the right leg.  He
did not return and is expected to be out for some time with a possible ACL
injury.  Predictably, I suppose, the UNH camp thought the hit was not a
fair one, and the BC people thought it was a good hit but unlucky to cause
an injury.

The third period was largely one where UNH would play defensively, let BC
have some possession and get a shot, clear a rebound, and counterattack
when possible.  The first 7 minutes was largely in BC's favor, with several
good shots that Conklin saved and covered or had rebounds knocked away. The
only real UNH chance came on a BC turnover that Clemmensen came up big on
and kicked out.  UNH cranked up the checking at that point and slowed down
the flow of the game, playing strong defense.  The opportunities were shared
after that, with neither team able to solve the other.  BC killed one
penalty, and was pushing hard in the last 2 minutes to generate offense.
A nice defensive steal at the BC blue line resulted in a BC hooking penalty
as they tried to get it back, and the last minute of the game had UNH on
the man advantage.  BC pulled the goalie but UNH was able to send a long
slow clear toward the empty net.  It hit the right post and slid to the
boards, where another UNH try hit the left post.  It finally bounced out to
the slot and was fired into the open net by Corey-Joe Ficek.  Clemmensen
stayed on the bench, BC turned it over in the neutral zone at the last
moment, and Matt Swain sent another empty-netter in with .5 seconds left
for the final score.

Conklin was the number one star in this game, and there was no doubt about
that.  He was strong the whole game long, and BC could not get one by him
when they needed to.  Against many keepers, the game would have been 3-1
BC at the end of the first.  The UNH defense rallied around him and played
much stronger in the last 2 periods, limiting the angles and making sure
that Conklin could see the shots and then covering up rebounds or preventing
BC forwards from getting to rebounds.  A hot goalie is the primary way to
win hockey games, and UNH gladly accepted this one.  Unlike Friday's game,
when Merrimack could not keep the puck out of the net against BC pressure,
UNH's greater talent showed when they were able to adjust and play strong
for the last 40 minutes.  UNH still showed signs of offensive weakness,
though, and I wonder if they need to start generating more offense than
they have showed so far.  The goals were hard-working ones, but it wouldn't
have been a stretch to say that both the non-empty-net goals might not
have scored with a little more bad luck.

Part of the UNH offensive struggles can also be attributed to the BC
defense, which played pretty well.  Though there were some breakdowns,
Clemmensen also played well and kept the puck out of the net.  All in all,
it was a well-played game, and both these teams will win a lot of games
games before it is over.  BC will learn some patience from this one, I
think, in not feeling that they have to rush the play so much when they
are behind, as that leads to sloppier passing and takes away from the
offense.  On the other hand, if they had been able to put away some of
those early chances, this game could have been totally different.  UNH
would have had to open the game up a bit, and that probably plays to BC's
advantage.

The Wildcats can enjoy this weekend, and their fans will now feel that their
team is indeed one of the Hockey East elite (there were some worries in
some quarters.)  I expect they will compete right to the end of the season,
as long as the goalkeeping stands up.  BC looked good in both weekend games,
but only came out with 2 points.  The freshmen have looked good, and I
think the Eagles will continue to play well.  They have to learn to win
the close ones, especially against tough defensive teams, and try to cut
down on the penalties, which have been a bit high to start the season.  They
also have to show a stronger effort in defending their home ice; all of BC's
3 losses this year have come at Chestnut Hill.  Of course, they have come
against Wisconsin, Yale, and UNH, all of which are tough teams, and all of
which featured very good goaltending efforts.  When BC learns to overcome
that and win those games anyway, then they will truly have the home ice
advantage.

The Eagles can begin defending their home ice on Tuesday, when Merrimack
comes to the Heights for a rematch of Friday night's game.  And I don't
expect that one to be a 6-1 cakewalk like 2 nights ago.  Then BC has a
non-league game against Harvard next Saturday night.
--------------------               ----------------------
Rick McAdoo                        [log in to unmask]
"Volunteer reporter"               A pleased BC fan.  GO EAGLES!