(Box from BC game summary sheet) Friday, January 31, 2003 at Kelley Rink, Chestnut Hill, MA BC 9, UMA 0 HOCKEY EAST GAME ------------------------------------------------------------------------ UMASS-AMHERST (HE) 0 0 0 - 0 (14-12-1 overall, 8-10-0 HE) BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 5 2 2 - 9 (16-6-3 overall, 12-4-1 HE) Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play UMA 3- 7- 4 -- 14 9 - 18 0 - 3 BC 14-11- 8 -- 33 4 - 8 3 - 8 UMA- Michael Waidlich 9- x- x - 9 saves/5 goals (20:00) Tim Warner x- 9- 6 - 15 saves/4 goals (40:00) BC - Matti Kaltiainen 3- 7- 0 - 10 saves/0 goals (48:52) Robbie Miller x- x- 4 - 4 saves/0 goals (11:08) Referee - John Gravellese Assistants - Tom Quinn, Tim Low Attendance - 6108 1st Period BC1 Justin Dziama 4 (Andrew Alberts, Anthony D'Arpino) 2:53 GWG BC2 J.D. Forrest 3 (Dave Spina, Ryan Murphy) SHG 12:59 BC3 Ben Eaves 14 (Tony Voce) SHG 13:40 BC4 Tony Voce 12 (Ryan Shannon, Ben Eaves) PPG 16:06 BC5 Ben Eaves 15 (Tony Voce) 4x4 19:32 Penalties UMA- Stephen Jacobs (roughing) 10:09 BC - Anthony D'Arpino (elbowing) 12:35 UMA- Peter Alden (interference) 15:01 UMA- Dustin Demianiuk (roughing) 19:21 BC - Stephen Gionta (roughing) 19:21 2nd Period BC6 Chris Collins 7 (John Adams, Dave Spina) PPG 12:37 BC7 Tony Voce 13 (Ben Eaves, Andrew Alberts) PPG 16:47 Penalties UMA- Greg Mauldin (hitting from behind) 8:37 UMA- bench penalty (too many men) served by Matt Walsh 8:37 UMA- Nick Kuiper (hitting from behind) 11:01 BC - Justin Dziama (roughing) 13:01 BC - Anthony D'Arpino (charging) 13:01 UMA- Dustin Demianiuk (boarding) 15:58 3rd Period BC8 Stephen Gionta 1 (Ben Eaves, Tony Voce) 4:20 BC9 Stephen Gionta 2 (Ben Eaves) 7:42 Penalties UMA- Marvin Degon (interference) 0:51 UMA- Stephen Jacobs (elbowing) 19:22 3 Stars - 1. BC - Ben Eaves (2G, 4A) 2. BC - Tony Voce (2G, 3A) 3. BC - Matti Kaltiainen (0G, 10 saves) University of Massachusetts - Amherst: F CHRIS CAPRARO, MIKE WARNER, TIM TURNER Greg Mauldin, Matt Anderson, Steven Werner Peter Alden, Tim Vitek, James Solon Peter Trovato, Matt Walsh, Stephen Jacobs D Thomas Pock, Marvin Degon SEAN REGAN, NICK KUIPER Dustin Demianiuk, Jeff Lang G MICHAEL WAIDLICH, Tim Warner (Gabe Winer listed but missing due to flu) Boston College F TONY VOCE, BEN EAVES, STEPHEN GIONTA Chris Collins, Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina Ned Havern, Ty Hennes, Ryan Murphy Anthony D'Arpino, A.J. Walker, Justin Dziama D ANDREW ALBERTS, J.D. FORREST John Adams, Peter Harrold Brett Peterson, Bill Cass G MATTI KALTIAINEN, Tim Kelleher, Robbie Miller COMMENTS -------- Boston College rode good luck and dominant special teams play to an easy 9-0 win over UMass Friday night. UMass was undermanned with illness (flu) and did not play well in any case, and BC's top line of Voce, Eaves, and Gionta accounted for 6 goals and 7 assists. Scoring came from all sorts of situations, including 3 power play goals, 2 backbreaking shorthanded goals, and a 4-on-4 tally. Matti Kaltiainen shared the shutout with sophomore Robbie Miller, who saw his first official varsity action in the third period. The first period started slowly and did not give signs of the way this game would go. BC got a fortunate lead early when Justin Dziama collected a rebound in front and slipped one past frosh goalie Mike Waidlich on the far side. (Actually, a BC fan told me after the game that he thought it was actually sent into the net by a UMass defenseman trying to clear the puck, but none of the news reports stated this.) In any case, shots on goal were hard to come by but BC did have the edge in play. Tony Voce missed over the net from point-blank range and UMass was able to kill a subsequent penalty with good work by Waidlich. When BC took its first penalty the roof started to fall on the Minutemen. Early in the penalty kill, Andrew Alberts sent the puck around the boards to Ryan Murphy. The UMA defenseman was slow to pinch down so Murphy had time to slip a pass out of the zone to a breaking Dave Spina. He skated down the left side on a 2-on-1 break with J.D. Forrest. He held the puck until in the left circle, looking like he was going to take the shot himself, when he finally pushed a pass across the slot. Forrest was a bit handcuffed but was able to get the stick on it and one-time it into the open right side of the goal for the 2-0 lead. Less than a minute later BC was able to spring the puck loose in a scramble along the UMass bench and Ben Eaves was off on another 2-on-1 shorthanded break. He went to the right circle and feathered a pass back to the high slot for a trailing Tony Voce. Voce quickly returned the pass to Eaves and he hit the open side from a low angle to make it 3-0 and completely deflate the Minutemen. BC was all over them from that point forward, as the legs and will of UMass were spent. Voce fanned on a point-blank setup from Eaves on a subsequent power play, but collected a loose puck in the slot after Eaves and Shannon worked a give-and-go in front and roofed it for a 4-0 lead. UMass only had 1 shot on goal at this point but did pick it up a bit, getting 2 quick shots and forcing Kaltiainen to save a sharp Steve Werner bid from the right side. BC then picked up the pressure again, with Cass and Spina coming close and Peter Harrold pounding a slap shot off Waidlich's glove and over his shoulder, only to see the defense clear it away. A late matching penalty for a tangle in the slot opened the ice with a 4-on-4 situation. UMass's Marvin Degon tried to hold the puck in the corner of his own zone but Voce poked and prodded and pushed and eventually stole the puck clean, then sped toward the net below the goal line. As he neared the crease he slipped a darting pass to Eaves, parked on the doorstep, and Eaves 1-timed it through the 5-hole to lock the game away. There was no way UMass was going to come back from this deficit; they just didn't have the legs or the spirit. BC was tuning up for the Beanpot and handing out some revenge for a loss to the Minutemen in their previous meeting, and it showed. Tim Warner replaced Waidlich in net for UMass to start the second (though the deficit was NOT the goalie's fault.) UMA did their best to play hard, getting early shots from Thomas Pock, Tim Turner, and Greg Mauldin, but Kaltiainen was up to the task. BC had some chances, too, and had the pressure on around the 8 minute mark when UMass was called for a delayed penalty and also a too many men on ice penalty (after the stoppage you could see the 6 skaters that had been out for half a shift -- this was not a case of the puck hitting a player at the bench as he replaced someone.) BC had a full 2-minute 5-on-3 and controlled play for almost the whole time. Alberts hit a post and had 2 other hard slap shots from the point, one that led to a rebound goal that was disallowed because it came after a whistle to attend to a fallen defender (who had blocked one of the earlier rockets from Alberts' stick.) BC passed the puck around but did not get a good shot and UMass killed the penalties, only to take another penalty 30 seconds later. On this delayed call BC had a 2-on-1 and set up Dave Spina right in front but he fanned on the setup. (Spina had a tough night, falling for no reason several times and managing to miss all his good scoring chances.) Again the Eagles' power play unit controlled the puck, and John Adams took a shot from the right point that was blocked. Chris Collins collected the rebound in close and flipped a high shot over the goalie's glove to make it 6-0. 30 seconds later BC returned the earlier favor and took 2 penalties of their own, giving UMass 2 full minutes of 5-on-3. Their best scoring chance of the night came when Chris Capraro received the puck on a cross-slot feed and had a gaping open right side of the net. However, for some inexplicable reason he chose to pass it back to a player in the crowded slot and the shot never was taken. UMass was unable to score on their remaining shots on the 2-man-advantage. BC got another power play and was fortunate to knock Turner down on a shorthanded drive to the net, then came back the other way and set up an Alberts bomb from the outside right wing. Eaves tipped the shot and it was saved but Voce collected the rebound in front, shifted the puck quickly to the backhand, and lifted it for the 7-0 lead after 2. The third period opened with a glittering save by Warner as he flipped sideways to block a shot from Steve Gionta right in front of the goal. BC then played its 3rd and 4th liners on a power play, given them a rare chance on the man-advantage. UMass killed that but couldn't stop the BC number one line from getting back on the board. Eaves fed it from the right side to Voce in the slot, and his low shot was deflected by Gionta with his back to the goal. The deflected puck skittered along the ice and just inside the right post to give the freshman his first collegiate goal, celebrated lustily by the crowd and his teammates. Play was almost all in the UMass end at this point, and 3 minutes later Gionta got his second of the night. He and Eaves exchanged the puck behind the goal line, Eaves worked his way free of his checker and then dropped the puck back to Gionta. Steve came around to the front and flipped a high shot that deflected off a player and by the goalie. With 11:08 left in the game Coach York substituted Robbie Miller in goal. Miller had only seen action in practices and exhibition games until Friday; this was his first "real" varsity action and the student section went nuts. Every time he made a save (none of them too difficult) there was a big cheer behind him. BC rested the top players from that point forward, there was little action either way, and the only excitement that remained was seeing Mike Warner go down hurt when he was hammered by his own teammate's slap shot. He got up and iced it down on the bench, and seemed to be okay. There was no way to anticipate this result given the way UMass had played on their previous visit to Conte Forum in early January. Having the flu bug hit the team (especially missing top goalie Gabe Winer) didn't help, but I'm not sure it would have mattered in this game. BC wanted the puck more and was ready to play, and UMass could not counter. If they hadn't given up the early shorthanded goals it might have been closer, but those 2 scores just totally deflated the Minutemen. It was very, very obvious that they did not have the energy or the spirit on the bench, and it was clear that there would be no comeback on this night. Boston College hasn't had too many blowouts this year, though they have won most of their games, and this was a pleasant surprise. They used it as a tuneup for Monday's Beanpot matchup with Northeastern, and got all the lines involved in the play. The special teams and top line were dominant in the game, and Eaves and Voce continue their hot streak of late. BC has now won 6 of 7 and hope to continue their strong play with the traditional Beanpot challenge, followed by a difficult trip to Maine next Friday. UMass was unable to recover from Friday's game, dropping a tough one at Providence on Saturday night. That drops them within a game of .500, and they have lost 6 of their last 7. With several tough games upcoming, including a pair with Maine later in the month, they are in danger of dropping out of the race for home playoff ice.