(Box from BC game summary sheet)
Sunday, February 24, 2002 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 3, NU 1 HOCKEY EAST GAME
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NORTHEASTERN UNIV. (HE) 0 1 0 - 1 (17-14-3 overall, 10-10-2 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 2 0 1 - 3 (18-14-2 overall, 10-11-1 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
NU 8- 7- 9 -- 24 6 - 12 0 - 5
BC 11- 9-14 -- 34 8 - 16 1 - 3
NU - Keni Gibson 9- 9-13 - 31 saves/3 goals (58:46)
BC - Matti Kaltiainen 8- 6- 9 - 23 saves/1 goal (60:00)
Referee - Jeff Bunyon
Assistants - Joe Andrews, Hans Baker
Attendance - 2537
1st Period
BC1 Ben Eaves 11 (J.D. Forrest, Tony Voce) PPG 12:03
BC2 Ales Dolinar 8 (Jeff Giuliano, Ryan Shannon) 12:57 GWG
Penalties
NU - Donny Grover (interference) 1:35
BC - Ales Dolinar (holding) 6:50
NU - Mike Ryan (interference) 11:42
BC - Andrew Alberts (holding) 13:11
BC - Bill Cass (hitting after whistle) 18:26
NU - Jared Mudryk (hitting after whistle) 18:26
NU - Tim Judy (tripping) 19:05
2nd Period
NU1 Mike Ryan 22 (Jim Fahey, Tim Judy) 5:19
Penalties
BC - Bill Cass (hitting after whistle) 7:03
NU - Joe Mastronardi (hitting after whistle) 7:03
BC - Justin Dziama (instigating) 13:03
(served by Ben McManama)
BC - Justin Dziama (hitting after whistle) 13:03
NU - Willie Levesque (hitting after whistle) 13:03
BC - J.D. Forrest (hooking) 16:51
3rd Period
BC3 Ben Eaves 12 (Tony Voce, Andrew Alberts) 18:24
NU Timeout 18:24
Penalties
BC - John Adams (obstruction-hooking) 2:08
3 Stars - 1. BC - Ben Eaves (2G)
2. BC - Ales Dolinar (1G)
3. NU - Mike Ryan (1G)
Northeastern University:
F MIKE RYAN, JASON GUERRIERO, WILLIE LEVESQUE
Eric Ortlip, Chris Lynch, Jaron Herriman
Trevor Reschny, Brian Tudrick, Leon Hayward
Joe Mastronardi, Ryan Dudgeon, Jared Mudryk
D TIM JUDY, JIM FAHEY
Jack Celata, Arik Engbrecht
Donny Grover, Bryan Nathe
G KENI GIBSON, Jason Braun, Mike Gilhooly
Boston College:
F TONY VOCE, BEN EAVES, DAVE SPINA
Ales Dolinar, Ryan Shannon, Jeff Giuliano
Anthony D'Arpino, Ty Hennes, Ryan Murphy
Taylor Leahy, Ned Havern, Justin Dziama
D ANDREW ALBERTS, J.D. FORREST
John Adams, Brett Peterson
Bill Cass, Ben McManama
G MATTI KALTIAINEN, Tim Kelleher, Robbie Miller
COMMENTS
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Boston College completed a weekend sweep of Northeastern with a tough 3-1
win
Sunday afternoon at BC. The game was televised on the Fox Sports New
England
game of the week but due to the simultaneous Olympic gold medal hockey game
the attendance was limited to 2537. (At least BC reported the real count
this time.) Ben Eaves was number one star with a power play goal to open
the scoring and then clinched the game late with his second goal.
BC carried the early play, gaining a power play just a minute and a half
into
the game, but NU killed it well. After a few minutes, the Huskies got their
own power play but also were unable to capitalize. Play was back and forth
for a few minutes, then Mike Ryan took down goalie Kaltiainen as BC was
starting to break out and the Eagles capitalized quickly on the power play.
J.D. Forrest kept the puck in at the right point, dropping it down to Tony
Voce at the circle. He quickly passed it back to Eaves at the center blue
line area, and he fired a flat shot that escaped Keni Gibson for the first
goal. On just the next shift, BC made it a 2-goal lead. Ryan Shannon took
the puck into the zone at the left side, then held up. His pass to the slot
to a breaking Jeff Giuliano was tipped when the defense hit Giuliano, but
the puck was left sitting in the middle. Ales Dolinar, who had been in
front
of the net, retrieved it, spun, and fired a low shot just inside the right
post. Northeastern had to start working harder to get back into the game,
and was able to start pressing the Eagles and generating offense. A hard
rush to the net produced a penalty against BC, and the subsequent power play
gave the Huskies several shots. However, none could get by Kaltiainen. He
also stopped a Ryan slap shot from the slot later in the period, and the
period ended with a 2-0 Eagles lead.
Northeastern started the second period strongly, killing a penalty then
putting on good pressure. Eventually they managed to get their top line on
the ice versus BC's 4th line, and the NU defense cleared the puck with a
high bounce off the boards and into the BC zone. Mike Ryan was ahead of all
players pursuing the puck and he skated in on goal from the right side
alone.
He shifted from the right to the left in front of the net and managed to
slide the puck under the goalie for the NU goal. Both teams had chances the
rest of the period, with NU getting two power plays, but few shots reached
the net. The best chance of the period came when Brian Tudrick skated up
the slot past several BC players and had Kaltiainen down but was unable to
lift the backhand shot and it was smothered. BC had a couple of close in
shots on a busy shift by Ales Dolinar and Giuliano but also could not score.
For much of the third period it seemed inevitable that Northeastern would
get the equalizer. They had an early power play and got one golden chance
but had Chris Lynch ring one off the post from the right side. Continued
NU forechecking and inability of BC to clear the zone led to other good
shots. Jared Mudryk tipped one the flipped over the net, and Kaltiainen
had to flash his glove to deflect a quick one-timer from the slot. Later,
NU had a wide open shot from the slot after a scramble, with the right side
of the net gaping open, only to fan on the shot. BC eventually settled down
and played better, with some up-and-down play. As time grew short, it was
the top line of Voce, Eaves, and Spina that produced the breakthrough. In
the 16th minute, Voce and Eaves both had several chances point-blank and it
seemed one of them had to go in, but somehow Gibson kept the puck out of the
net. After a quick rest, that line came back out and immediately got the
puck deep for more point-blank shots. Voce fired one at an open side of the
net as Gibson dived back, and though it bounced through and the referee
signaled a goal, he then waved it off as play continued and the goal judge
verified it did not go in. Another swipe in front was saved by Gibson but
he was down and out of position when Eaves collected it at the left side and
finally lifted one into the open net, with only 1:36 remaining. NU took a
timeout to try to organize a comeback, but despite several shots none got
through and BC came away with the 3-1 win.
It was clear that Northeastern would play a better game today than they did
in Friday's nightmare, when BC dominated them for a 7-2 win at Northeastern.
That night, all the breaks went the way of the Eagles, but NU helped them
by not playing well. This game was much closer and hard-fought, but again
NU could not get the break to equalize the score, while BC found a way to
put the puck in the net. A lot of that was due to the play of the BC
defense, which had problems at times clearing the zone but did not get
caught
often on odd-man breaks and did a good job clearing the area in front of the
net (most of the time.) Combined with good goaltending both nights and NU
just did not generate enough offense either game. The NU defense had a bad
game Friday and was adequate most of the game today but had breakdowns at
times when they could not control the top 2 lines of the Eagles. That isn't
really unusual, as those are good forwards, but they needed something extra
to win the game today and they couldn't produce it.
The Eagles had to be happy with strong play by the top line of Eaves, Voce,
and Spina, along with a second very strong game by the second line, with
Giuliano, Dolinar, and Shannon. They got good forechecking and decent
shots,
along with good backchecking when necessary. The only difficulty was some
continuing problems breaking the puck out of the defensive end, a problem
that really hurt them last week in the loss at Merrimack. Overall, though,
BC is pleased to be back on the winning track, now having won 5 of 6. The
win today moves them into 6th place ahead of Providence and just a point
behind Northeastern, and 2 points behind UMass-Lowell. They still have an
outside chance at 4th place and home ice for the playoffs, but it is
unlikely, with BC ending the season with 2 games with top team UNH. They
still hope to win enough next weekend, though, to move up to 5th place,
where they would play against Lowell or NU in the first round, rather than
having to go to Maine, UNH, or BU.
Northeastern can finish anywhere from 4th to 6th place, and has a crucial
game this Wednesday at home against UMass-Lowell. Lowell clinches 4th
with a win or NU moves into 4th place if they win, where they can control
there own destiny. Another exciting finish to the Hockey East race this
coming week!
Rick McAdoo
"Volunteer reporter"
A content BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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