Sorry for the late posts; things have been hectic lately. I know I have to
keep my thousands of loyal subscribers happy ... Yeah, right. :-))
(Box from BC game summary sheet)
Friday, November 22, 2002 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 4, NU 1 HOCKEY EAST GAME
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NORTHEASTERN UNIV. (HE) 1 0 0 - 1 (2-7-2 overall, 1-5-1 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 0 2 2 - 4 (9-1-1 overall, 6-1-0 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
NU 4- 6- 4 -- 14 6 - 12 1 - 4
BC 12-13-12 -- 37 5 - 10 0 - 5
NU - Keni Gibson 12-11-10 - 33 saves/4 goals (60:00)
BC - Tim Kelleher 3- 6- 4 - 13 saves/1 goal (60:00)
Referee - Tim Benedetto
Assistants - Tom Quinn, John Jones
Attendance - 7500
1st Period
NU1 Mike Ryan 9 (Mike Morris, Tim Judy) PPG 5X3 11:02
Penalties
BC - Ben Eaves (obstruction-interference) 10:05
BC - Tony Voce (unsportsmanlike conduct) 10:05
NU - Bryan Nathe (holding) 11:41
2nd Period
BC1 Ben Eaves 4 (Tony Voce) 13:00
BC2 Dave Spina 5 (Chris Collins, Ryan Shannon) 14:07 GWG
Penalties
BC - (too many men) served by Bill Cass 2:48
BC - Peter Harrold (interference) 5:47
NU - Trevor Reschny (hooking) 9:31
NU - Bryan Nathe (hooking) 15:17
3rd Period
BC3 Dave Spina 6 (Ben Eaves, Andrew Alberts) 9:06
BC4 Ryan Shannon 4 (unassisted) 14:21
Penalties
NU - Brian Sullivan (delay of game) 9:59
NU - Tim Judy (delay of game) 15:52
BC - Chris Collins(roughing) 19:52
NU - Bryan Nathe (roughing) 19:52
3 Stars - 1. BC - Dave Spina (2G)
2. BC - Ryan Shannon (1G, 1A)
3. NU - Mike Ryan (1G)
Northeastern University:
F TREVOR RESCHNY, ERIC ORTLIP, MIKE MORRIS
Joe Mastronardi, Jason Guerriero, Mike Ryan
Brian Swiniarski, Jared Mudryk, Scott Selig
Brian Tudrick, Ryan Dudgeon, Jaron Herriman
D BRIAN SULLIVAN, TIM JUDY
Jon Awe, Donny Grover
Chuck Tomes, Bryan Nathe
G KENI GIBSON, Tim Heneroty, Mike Gilhooly
Boston College:
F TONY VOCE, BEN EAVES, RYAN MURPHY
Chris Collins, Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina
Taylor Leahy, Ty Hennes, Justin Dziama
Bill Cass, Ned Havern, A.J. Walker
D J.D. FORREST, PETER HARROLD
Andrew Alberts, Ben Lovejoy
Brett Peterson, John Adams
G TIM KELLEHER, Matti Kaltiainen, Robbie Miller
COMMENTS
--------
Northeastern carried a 1-0 lead after one period Friday night at Boston
College, but it was against the run of play and based on some good work
by goalie Keni Gibson. It seemed a matter of time before the Eagles
domination would produce goals, and that is the way it went, where BC
scored 2 in the second and 2 more in the third to cruise to a 4-1 Hockey
East win. Dave Spina scored 2 goals and Ryan Shannon 1 to give the second
line a 3 goal night to lead the Eagles. Tim Kelleher faced few shots but
made some big saves midway in the 2nd period to hold the fort until his
offense got on the board.
The Huskies got the first shot of the game when Trevor Reschny fired a
quick shot just 12 seconds into the contest, but BC carried most of the play
and ran up a big shot advantage just a few minutes into the game. Spina,
Murphy, and Voce all had chances down low but couldn't solve Gibson. After
9 minutes of action, NU got their next chance on some forecheck pressure,
and Brian Swiniarski's sharp shot from the right circle rang off a post.
Ben Eaves came back on a counter shortly after but had the puck roll off his
stick in front and prevent a point-blank shot. Eaves then took a penalty
on forechecking thereafter, and Voce compounded the problem by a foolish
firing of the puck after the whistle to give Northeastern a full 2-minute
5-on-3 power play. It took a minute to move the puck from point to point,
then feed it low to the left circle to Mike Morris. He held the puck
briefly and then shot a pass across the face of the goal to a pinching
Mike Ryan at the untended right side and he potted the 1-timer for the only
NU goal of the game. Boston College went back to offensive pressure at that
point and carried much of the remaining play in the period, with a Shannon
tip hitting Gibson square in the mask and Eaves stopped on a set of moves
down the slot. Kelleher did his job by making a solid stop of a Morris
shot on an NU counterattack, and Gibson returned the favor when he held a
point-blank shot from the right slot as Spina rocketed it into his body.
The second period started fast, with Eaves barely missing on an angled shot,
then Reschny forced Kelleher to make a big save on a later counter. BC
tried
to crank up the pressure but ended up taking a too many men penalty when
a long pass up the ice was played by a player coming off the bench. Still,
it was BC who had the best chance when Voce moved around the defense on the
right side and stuffed it shorthanded. Gibson looked quickly behind him but
had managed to stop it in his pads for the whistle. After killing that
penalty the Eagles had to kill another one but had little problem with it.
At the 8:20 mark Northeastern had their best chance to add to their lead;
it seemed that if NU could manage to steal a 2nd goal they might be able
to hold on for the upset. After a BC defenseman made a bad decision to try
to block the puck in neutral ice, Jared Mudryk went the other way on a
breakaway. He came in from the right side and tried to shift to the left
and push it through Kelleher, but the puck squirted out to the left side.
Mudryk collected his own rebound and sent a low shot back toward the gaping
net but Kelleher flopped his body up off the ice to stop it again, and
then the next rebound attempt from the slot was fired directly into
Kelleher's
body as he got to his knees. BC came back from that flurry with their own
chances, with Collins firing on a 3-on-2 rush, and Gibson stopping a series
of shots started by an Eaves wrister. NU did a solid job to hold off a
subsequent BC power play, but everyone in the stands was wondering how long
they could keep the Eagles off the board, and it didn't take long after that
to end the wondering. Tony Voce made a one-man rush up the middle and then
down the right side where he drove below the goal line and then pushed a
pass back to the low right circle. Eaves collected it and zipped a quick
wrist shot that flew past Gibson to tie the score at 1. More Eagles
pressure
followed, and Collins and Shannon worked the puck to Spina in front, where
he lifted one past Gibson to give BC the lead just over a minute later.
NU had few chances from this point forward and the second ended with the
Eagles dominating play.
The question for the third period was whether Northeastern could come back
and give themselves a chance in this game or whether BC would put it away.
From the start it was all Boston College, with the Eagles recording
numerous shots in the first minutes of the frame. Forechecking pressure
by the Voce/Eaves/Murphy line kept the puck deep in the NU zone where they
couldn't clear it. Murphy lost his helmet and skated to the bench and
Spina replaced him, just in time to intercept an attempted clear and fire
a shot that was blocked by his own teammate. Eaves recovered it from the
left corner, skated behind the net, and flipped a pass out front where
Spina was left all alone. His high shot made it 3-1 BC and effectively
ended any remaining suspense for the night. Right after that goal Brett
Peterson pinched in and fired one past Gibson where it sat in the crease
behind the goalie until he recovered and dived on it. BC had more
forechecking, carrying all of the play and wearing down the Huskies
defense. Gibson did his part to keep the score close, stopping numerous
chances in net, but eventually Shannon stole a puck in the neutral zone
and skated down the slot. He faked and slipped around a defenseman to
the right, then fired a low wrist shot back to the left where it nestled
in the net just inside the post for the final score. Northeastern, held
to only 2 harmless shots in the period to that point, finally got some
offense in the last 2 minutes, when it didn't matter. Kelleher made the
stops and the Eagles got back on the winning track.
Northeastern did not have enough speed or ability to take the puck off BC
in the corners and along the boards to compete as they needed to in this
game. They were dominated from the start, though the power play goal and
Gibson's play gave them the lead after one. If they could have played
better in the second period and scored again, perhaps it would have been
a different game. But somehow one never had the feeling that they could
do that. It was obvious that it wasn't a matter of motivation or effort,
but a skill and speed differential that made this game seem so one-sided.
Northeastern is capable of playing better than this, but they haven't
been scoring a lot of goals and seem to have a hard time with teams that
can skate well.
Boston College won this game with consistent work and effort, and a strong
showing by the newly formed 2nd line of Collins, Shannon, and Spina. The
top line didn't seem to slow much, either, substituing Ryan Murphy during
Pat Eaves' one-game suspension following Tuesday night's DQ. Murphy has
been playing well and deserved his placement with the top group. Bill Cass
was moved up to 4th-line forward from defense, showing the additional depth
and flexibility that BC has this year compared to last year. A troubling
aspect of BC's game, though, is their power play, which has gotten static
and tentative, moving the puck endlessly around the perimeter and not
getting a lot of prime shots. Early in the season the power play was all
focused down low, now it seems all focused to the points and sides. At
this point they may need to change things up from time to time to keep the
defense off-balance, and to work harder for rebound chances, traditionally
a strength of BC power play units under Coach York.
Northeastern, mired in a 3-game losing streak, finally got untracked at
home Saturday night when they won a tight game over Quinnipiac, 2-1. I'm
sure that the Huskies' fans are not happy at how their season is going,
expecting much more from a group that was supposed to have solid
goaltending and some forward snipers. Defensively they are not as strong
as they need to be, and the forwards haven't produced the way they were
expected to. It doesn't get any easier for them, either, having to make
the long trip to St. Lawrence and Clarkson next weekend. St. Lawrence has
had a rough start to their season, too, though, and Clarkson is down from
their usual strength. So this trip may be a chance to get back on track
for Northeastern before they get back to Hockey East play.
Boston College goes on the road to face an ECAC foe, Dartmouth, next
Tuesday. Dartmouth has surprised a few people early, with a big win
over Cornell last week and riding a 4-game win streak. The Eagles will
want to win this one before getting a week and a half break before a
2-game set with league rival Maine.
Rick McAdoo
"Volunteer reporter"
A content BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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