Sunday, January 12, 1992 at Schneider Arena, Providence, RI
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Boston College Eagles (8-10-1, 5-5-0 HE) 2 2 2 - 6
Providence Friars (13-6-1, 4-3-1 HE) 1 0 4 - 5
FIRST PERIOD BC-PC
1. PC1, Chris Therien 7 (Craig Darby, Mike Boback), 8:47. PPG 0-1
2. BC1, Ryan Haggerty 6 (David Franzosa), 18:45. 1-1
3. BC2, Jack Callahan 8 (Marc Beran), 19:35. 2-1
SECOND PERIOD
4. BC3, Franzosa 12 (Haggerty, Michael Spalla), 7:52. 3-1
5. BC4, Jason Rathbone 2 (Ian Moran), 15:10. 4-1
THIRD PERIOD
6. BC5, Beran 9 (Franzosa), 3:59. 5-1
7. PC2, Chad Quenneville 7 (George Breen), 4:59. 5-2
8. BC6, Beran 10 (Callahan), 5:35. 6-2
9. PC3, Bob Cowan 10 (Gaudreau), 12:59. 6-3
10. PC4, Erik Peterson (Shaun Kane, Cowan), 15:55. 6-4
11. PC5, Breen 6 (Quenneville, Gaudreau), 17:02. 6-5
SHOTS ON GOAL: Boston College 37, Providence 29.
GOALIES: BC, Scott LaGrand (6-8-0, 60:00, 29 shots-24 saves).
PC, Brad Mullahy (L, 45:35), David Berard (~13:30),
combined 37 shots-31 saves with Mullahy allowing all
6 BC goals.
POWER PLAYS: BC 0 of 2, PC 1 of 3.
REFEREE: Steve McBride.
MIKE'S THREE STARS: 1. BC, David Franzosa (1-2--3).
2. BC, Marc Beran (2-1--3).
3. PC, Bob Cowan (1-1--2).
I watched this game on tv tonight so I don't have all the stats, just
what's above; plus, you get to see my three stars since I don't have the
official stars.
BC played a solid 50 minutes in building a 6-2 lead and then held on as
Providence scored three times in the final ten minutes for the 6-5 final.
The Eagles were clearly out to prove something after dropping a
disappointing 3-1 decision to Merrimack Friday night.
This was the final regular season appearance of BC's Len Ceglarski at
Schneider Arena this season, and the Friars presented Ceglarski with an
engraved rocking chair at center ice. Len came out to receive his gift,
sat in the chair, grinned and waved to the crowd which applauded him.
Scott LaGrand continued to look shaky early on as he did against Merrimack,
but he was facing a more powerful offensive team. Still, he was to allow
just one goal through the game's first 45 minutes, and that was a power
play goal. Five seconds into their first opportunity, the Friars beat
LaGrand to make it 1-0 at 8:47. Chris Therien took a cross-ice pass at
the right point off the draw from Craig Darby and his slapper went over
LaGrand's left shoulder as LaGrand was just down too low. The Friars
entered the game with the top power play in the nation (32.2%). They
also had an 11-0-0 record when scoring first, but that streak went by the
boards tonight.
The Eagles clicked twice within 50 seconds late in the period to quickly
take a 2-1 lead into the locker room. At 18:45, Haggerty and Franzosa
came up ice on a 2-on-1 against Rob Gaudreau. Franzosa pulled the puck back
as Gaudreau went down, and he fed Haggerty in front. Haggerty put a quick
fake on Mullahy and slid the puck in the open net. Then, at 19:35, Jack
Callahan took a drop pass from Marc Beran at the left point and his wrist
shot beat Mullahy to the glove side. Mullahy may have been screened by a
falling teammate in front of him.
Gaudreau entered the game with 99 goals, tied for first on the Friars'
all-time list and looking for #100, and he nearly had it early in the
second but his shot rang off the pipe. The Eagles carried a lot of
momentum into the period with those two goals late in the first, and at
7:52 they went up 3-1. Mike Spalla had the puck behind the net and fed
Franzosa in the high slot, and he moved right in untouched and beat
Mullahy. Mullahy wasn't as sharp as he has been, but his defense failed
to control BC in front of him and he was hung out to dry quite a bit.
Jason Rathbone was again allowed to come in and bang in a rebound at 15:10,
and BC carried a 4-1 lead into the third. The Friars have some good, big
defensemen but they simply didn't do their job tonight.
LaGrand again robbed Gaudreau point-blank early on, and at 3:59 the Eagles
seemed to put the nail in the coffin when Beran took a cross-ice feed
from linemate Franzosa and shot a 30-footer through Mullahy's pads. The
Friars made it 5-2 one minute later as LaGrand fell trying to control the
puck behind the net, and George Breen swooped in and threw it to Chad
Quenneville in front for the easy goal. But BC got what proved to be a
very big goal 36 seconds later when Beran split the tired Providence
defense; that proved to be the game-winner. Friar coach Mike McShane
replaced Mullahy at that point with David Berard, who had played only one
game before tonight. Berard came in at 5:35 and held BC scoreless for
the remainder of the game as his team fought back.
Three goals in just over five minutes made it a one-goal game and the
Friars appeared headed for a huge comeback win. At 12:59, Cowan took a
pass from Gaudreau high in the slot and blasted a turn-around slapshot
past LaGrand; it may have been deflected by a BC defenseman. With 4:05
left, Erik Peterson knocked in the rebound of Kane's point shot. Then
with 2:58 left, Quenneville carried the puck into the zone and left it
for the trailing Breen, and Breen's quick low shot along the ice went
through LaGrand's skates although he saw it all the way. That made it
6-5, but BC buckled down and withstood a ferocious assault to escape with
the win.
EPILOGUE
The win moved BC into a four-way tie for first in HE on points although
at 5-5, the Eagles have played more games than Maine, UNH and BU. They
rebounded from the tough loss Friday to play 50 solid minutes and that
turned out to be enough to win. Providence has struggled at home this
year, this being their fifth loss at home (they lost only 3 at Schneider
all of last season). Allowing six goals to an offensively-weak BC team
can't have Coach McShane too happy.
BC hosts Northeastern next Friday and goes to UNH on Saturday, while PC
will host UMass-Lowell Friday and play at Northeastern Saturday. The
Friars have already lost twice at home this year to UML.
|
