Friday, January 9, 1998 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 4, BU 2 HOCKEY EAST GAME
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY 2 0 0 - 2 (5-2-2 HE, 12-3-0 overall)
BOSTON COLLEGE 0 2 2 - 4 (6-4-1 HE, 12-6-2 overall)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
BU 7- 5- 9 -- 21 8 - 16 0 - 3
BC 10- 8-11 -- 29 7 - 14 1 - 4
BU - Michel Larocque 10- 6- 9 - 25 saves/3 goals (59:22)
BC - Scott Clemmensen 5- 5- 9 - 19 saves/2 goals (60:00)
Full box posted to INFO-HOCKEY-L list.
COMMENTS
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Boston College finally got over the hump and beat rival BU in a well-played
game Friday night. The Eagles settled down after surrendering two quick
goals on BU's first 2 shots, and were able to score on a late power play
to clinch the win. The final margin came from an empty-net goal.
The game started on a BC power play, as Boston University was assessed a
bench minor for "violation of game protocol", for coming on the ice too
early prior to the start of the game. This was a reversal of the situation
back on December 7, when BC got the penalty for coming out too late.
(And wouldn't the world like to know what the particulars of the rules
regarding protocol are?) Larocque was forced to make a stellar save on
Jeff Farkas right on the doorstep, and BC got some early pressure. But it
was the Terriers who scored first, when Juha Vuori took a nice pass from
the corner and slid a weak backhand shot thru Clemmensen's legs. BC pushed
up on the attack after the goal, and when a defenseman was trapped deep, BU
got an odd-man rush back the other way. Donatelli came down the right
boards, sent a flat pass to the middle just beyond the defense, and frosh
Keith Emery got his first collegiate goal with a high flip shot. Coach
York took a timeout to settle BC down after the goal at the 3:26 mark. The
Eagles started to play a bit better after that -- Hughes sent a high shot
ringing off the crossbar and play picked up. BC gave the puck away a
few minutes later and BU had a 2-on-1 chance with Chris Drury getting a
clean shot from the right side that was labeled for the high corner.
This time, though, Clemmensen made a great save to keep the score at just
2-0, and BC started to play better from that point forward. The Eagles
had better shots the rest of the period, with Larocque blocking one
point-blank shot by Bellefeuille during a power play.
The second period was played more conservatively, with close checking and
few shots early on. Both teams seemed intent on reducing the amount of
cheap physical play that is often seen in this intense rivalry, and the
game featured many fewer penalties than is the norm for these two. Action
finally heated up during a 4-on-4 midway in the period. First, Drury
made a nice move around the BC defense to set up Degerman for a shot, but
he fired it wide. Seconds later, Brian Gionta was set free up the left
side, and he cut to the middle, drifted further right to the top of the
circle, and fired a low shot that fooled Larocque and got BC on the board.
After an ineffective BU power play, BC increased its pressure and got the
tying goal at 14:16. Reasoner won a faceoff back to Mike Mottau at the
right point, and he slid left and sent a looping shot toward the net. It
deflected off a BU defenseman just enough to slide past Larocque's leg
and into the right side of the net. Things got more energetic after that,
with Reasoner and Gionta having good chances, and then BU's Mike Sylvia
got a breakaway that Clemmensen was able to barely block with his leg.
In the scramble after that save the puck was batted in with a high stick
and the goal was disallowed.
The third period was tense, with play up and down. The Terriers had some
early chances, with Clemmensen again stopping a Sylvia rush and a goal-
mouth pass just missing Drury's stick. Then BC got some momentum and
pressured the BU zone for many minutes. The puck got poked into the net
after a rebound scramble but it was disallowed due to a prior whistle
(both disallowed goals were good calls.) BU's Gillis sent a wild shot
from the right boards that Clemmensen had to just tip wide, and BU got
a power play at 15:09 that generated some good pressure but did not result
in a score. After the power play was up, BU's Sylvia was called for
charging along the center ice boards, and that power play produced the
winning goal for BC. Bellefeuille fed the puck back to the left point,
it went to the right point, back to the left, and then down low back to
Bellefeuille alone below the left circle. He swung to the net and pushed
a hard shot between Larocque's pads, and there was enough of a gap that
the puck trickled through the pads and over the goal line. The crowd,
which had been pretty lively in the period despite the absence of the
students, celebrated heartily. After losing a possible win with a late
BU goal in their last meeting, though, it wasn't clear whether BC would
be able to hang on to the lead. Clemmensen made a couple of saves to
reduce the pressure, and BC's checking line of Masters, Mulhern, and
Pierandri was able to protect the net in the last 40 seconds with BU
having an extra skater. Masters finally was able to skate the puck out
of the BC zone, sent Pierandri down the left side, and his long shot
into the empty net cemented the final 4-2 win.
The BC win set the season series at 1-1-1, and the feeling at BC is that
the Eagles are finally starting to play up to their potential, at least
versus Boston University. Most fans are anticipating another match between
these two teams in the Beanpot final in February (though Harvard and
Northeastern may not cooperate ...) BU, it must be noted, was missing
a few players due to injury/illness, and BC had everyone back from the
World Junior tournament. But in the past BU somehow always found a way to
win. BC has learned how to play against BU, it would seem. Now they have
to learn to play that well against all their competition, rather than
easing up. Their improved defensive play keeps the number of shots that
the goalies have to face to a minimum, and if the Eagles can get any sort
of decent goalkeeping they should win quite a few more games. There is
also the feeling that BC is getting plenty of good shots but not getting
enough goals for the effort. If that changes in the second half so that
the shots go in, BC could be tough to beat. (On the other hand, ...)
BU struggled a bit in this game, with only 12 shots in the first two
periods (and perhaps they were lucky to score on their first two shots.)
It isn't clear who will provide the offense after the big scorers.
However, a solid defense and two great goalies will probably carry them
far into the post-season regardless. It looks like the last half of the
Hockey East season will be very interesting, with almost all teams other
than UMass-Amherst capable of winning on any given night.
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Rick McAdoo [log in to unmask]
"Volunteer reporter" An excited BC fan. GO EAGLES!
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to
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