Saturday, January 18, 1997 at Kelley Rink, Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY Terriers 2 2 0 0 - 4 (13-4-5 overall, 11-0-3 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE Eagles 2 2 0 0 - 4 (9-11-3 overall, 5-6-3 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
BU 7 - 10 - 8 - 4 -- 29 17 - 53 3 - 6
BC 5 - 7 - 15 - 4 -- 31 15 - 30 1 - 8
BU - Michel Larocque 3- 5-15- 4 - 27 saves (65:00)
BC - Greg Taylor 5- 8- 8- 4 - 25 saves (65:00)
COMMENTS
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Unlike Friday's tie game, which featured runs by both teams, Saturday's
tie between BC and BU was a close-fought, even game throughout, marred by
numerous late penalties in the 3rd period and overtime as tempers heated
up between these two close rivals. Chris Drury scored his 26th and 27th
goals of the season to gain first star, and was denied several other
good chances by BC goalie Greg Taylor, who continues to bail out his
defense with some point-blank saves. Taylor and BU goalie Michel Larocque
shared third star honors in the game, and BC center Jamie O'Leary gained
the second star with a goal and 2 assists. BU forward Billy Pierce will
miss the next game due to a disqualification following a major spearing
penalty.
First - BC took several early penalties that gave BU the run of play on
power play chances. The Terriers didn't capitalize on the first, but
Chris Drury extended his NCAA-leading scoring totals with a power play
goal on the 2nd penalty. LaCouture moved the puck along the right boards
to Mike Sylvia in the corner; he fired a pass to an unattended Drury
at the left edge of the crease, and Drury lifted it high into the net.
The Eagles came right back, though, and scored 16 seconds later. Freshman
Jeff Farkas collected the puck after a faceoff, moved untouched to the
front of the net, held the puck until Larocque went down, and then slid
the backhand under the goalie's arm. The teams traded power play chances
after that. (BU's Brendan Walsh served a slashing penalty, came out of
the box, sped across the ice, and got a charging penalty just 9 seconds
after the first one expired. You would think he'd learn a lesson from
sitting in the box, but ....) BC got their lone power play goal on this
chance. O'Leary fed a pass to the front of the net, where Callahan could
not collect it, but it slid to the right side and Tony Hutchins was there
to fire it home at short range to give BC a 2-1 lead at 14:02. Drury
struck again at 15:13 to even the score as BC's defense got caught in
center ice and Drury was able to walk in free on the right side. He
moved toward the goal, slid from the right to the left, and stuffed the
low backhand in as Taylor slid across the goalmouth. Play was fairly
even in the period and offered few chances except on the power plays.
Second - The teams traded goals in this period -- first one, then the other,
would score. BC co-captain David Wainwright started the scoring on a
2-on-1 break, as he hammered a slap shot inside the near post from the
right circle at 4:33. Bates came back to score a power play goal at 8:15
after Johnson sent him a long break pass at the BC blue line; he walked
in alone and fired high above Taylor's glove to score. BU pushed hard
and narrowly missed a couple of close-in shots, and BC came back with
O'Leary getting a long score at 10:09. Subsequent penalties provided a
4-on-3 power play for BU. Taylor robbed Bates on a quick shot, but
Kelleher was able to shoot from the outside and score the equalizer at
11:49. That would turn out to be the last goal of the game, as the
2nd half of the contest got defensive, rough, and choppy.
BC had several power play shots go just wide, and Drury had a rebound that
flipped over Taylor but was cleared off the goal line by defenseman Harney
just as it reached the line. A late Bates break down the left side found
him firing a slapper just wide of the right post.
Third - BC had a lot more opportunities in the period due to power plays,
but neither team could score. Caulfield, Farkas, Reasoner, and Mottau
all had early chances either go wide or were stopped by Larocque. Things
started to get ugly at the 10:14 mark, when BU's Donatelli tripped BC
goalie Taylor hard as he was out of the net playing the puck. Taylor
was shaken up but stayed in the game. On the subsequent power play, a
jam in the BU end made tempers rise and BU's Pierce was called for a
spearing major and game DQ. BC was not able to score on the 5-on-3,
and collected their own penalty after a steal by Bates. Taylor then
rose to the occasion by stoning Drury point-blank, stacking the pads on
a LaCouture wrap attempt, and blocking a Walsh stuff shot. Larocque did
his part as well by blocking 2 quick Bellefeuille attempts on a BC
counterattack.
Then the penalty parade started as tempers were high and referee Cole
wanted to send messages to the teams. (In keeping with Cole's third
period rep, though, all the calls were for matching penalties. 15
penalties were called in the last 9 minutes of the game.) Play was
a bit more open as most of it was 4-on-4. BU's Wright and Coleman were
both injured at some point and left the ice. Bellefeuille had 2 shots
blocked by Larocque, and Taylor again robbed Drury on 2 more point-blank
shots to keep the tie.
Overtime - Lots of contact in the overtime resulting in more penalties,
with a tangle of players at almost every whistle. Drury was robbed one
last time right in front by Taylor. Bellefeuille had a speedy burst down
the left side but could only get a weak shot on Larocque, and the teams
ended with the 4-4 tie.
Emotions are always running high in this series, and while the teams and
the fans were rocking, I thought the referees got a bit caught up in the
excitement in the two games. I was hoping that Gravellese (Friday) and
Cole (Saturday) would have been a bit more matter-of-fact and avoided
emotional confrontations with the benches. Both BU's Jack Parker and
BC's Jerry York were screaming at the refs at various times on the
weekend, and lots of gamesmanship and "conferences" were occurring.
BC fans were basically happy with a "split" on the weekend (though two ties
was not the way we thought it would happen.) Two points against BU are
always hard to come by, and the two teams played fairly evenly in both
games. The TV audiences were treated to 2 very entertaining games, and if
these teams meet in the Beanpot final it should provide another hard-fought
contest. BU didn't lose any ground as UNH split as well, and BC now has a
modest 4-game unbeaten streak.
BC will try to gain some ground next weekend with two home games; Friday
versus UMass-Amherst, and a revenge match Saturday against UNH. BU plays
next weekend Friday at UMass-Lowell and then home Saturday against Maine.
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Rick McAdoo [log in to unmask]
"Volunteer reporter" A positive BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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