Following Friday night's easy 7-1 win over Northeastern at Kelley Rink, Jerry York had reason to relax, if only for a day.
"As I've told these guys before, one of the best Saturdays of the year is when you wake up, you've swept the [Hockey East quarterfinal] series in two games, and you know you're carrying your team into the Garden," said the longtime Boston College hockey coach.
York and his Eagles get to return to the TD Banknorth Garden next weekend for the Hockey East semifinals with hopes to bring home their seventh Hockey East title. The championship eluded them last spring, with a 2-1 overtime loss to archrival Boston University in the final.
Last year's team started heating up when it got to the NCAA Tournament and made its way to a national championship game appearance. This year, however, BC is already riding a torrent of momentum as it heads to Causeway Street.
"Our team is playing unquestionably our best hockey of the season," said York.
Friday, needing one win to seal the best-of-three series with seventh-seeded Northeastern, it took a few minutes for the Eagles to get going, but once they did, they quickly put the Huskies away.
Looking to rebound from a 3-0 loss the previous night, Northeastern got on the board first. Huskies sophomore winger Ryan Ginand capitalized on a turnover deep in front of the BC net as he gathered the puck, deked to his left, and planted the puck past Eagles goalie Cory Schneider. At just 2:11 into the game, Northeastern had its first goal, and first lead, of the series.
The fun started for the Eagles offense at 12:42 of the first, when senior forward Joe Rooney evened the score at 1, knocking home a rebound of Benn Ferriero's shot. Shortly thereafter, Andrew Orpik broke to the net, and was taken down by Northeastern's Yale Lewis.
BC went on the power play, and Ferriero's slap shot from out near the blue line tipped off a Northeastern stick and skidded past Huskies goalie Brad Thiessen. This made it the Eagles' eighth straight game with a power-play goal, and the 10th in 11 games. The goal gave BC a lead it would not relinquish.
The Eagles added two more power- play goals in the next three minutes and ten seconds. The first of these goals came from Brock Bradford, who found Ferriero open coming down the middle and went high over a screened Thiessen. In the final minute of the period, BC displayed some breathtaking passing, with the puck touching all five players' tape, the last being Bradford, who slipped it past Thiessen.
When the shavings and snow cleared, it was 4-1, with four BC goals - the last three on the power play, in 7:38 of action.
"Our power-play kill was in the top five in the nation coming in," said Huskies coach Greg Cronin, who led his team to a 10-game improvement in his second season at the helm. "You're bound to get one of these games, and for us, it was in our last game of the year."
The Eagles scored three more times in the second, the last of which came against NU's backup, senior Adam Geragosian. Newly minted defenseman Brian Boyle, covering for the injured Anthony Aiello and Carl Sneep, scored, as did junior Dan Bertram. Freshman Matt Lombardi rounded out the scoring with his first career goal.
"Everybody was being unselfish," said Eagles defenseman Brett Motherwell, who tallied a remarkable four assists. "We were all on the same page, taking what they gave us."
Schneider was excellent in net as usual for BC, recording 21 saves on 22 shots before giving way to senior Joe Pearce.
"They have good leadership," said Cronin on the victors. "As long as they get their defensemen healthy, they are in position to make a run for it."
Motherwell agreed. "We will be ready to roll when we get to the Garden."
BC will continue the march on Friday, taking on [Maine, UMass, or Boston University]JB in the semifinals.
On Thursday, the BC hockey team had taken its first step in the journey back to the TD Banknorth Garden a successful one, cruising past Northeastern, 3-0, in the opening game of a best-of-three series to begin the 2007 Hockey East Tournament.
The No. 8-ranked Eagles entered the series on a high note, having swept Hockey East's best team, No. 3 New Hampshire, in a home-and-home the previous weekend. These wins, 4-1 and 4-2, respectively, helped BC climb to the second seed in the tourney.
Northeastern, meanwhile, came to Kelley Rink for game one on a different note. Though the Huskies went a respectable 4-4-1 in February, they were the clear underdog as the seventh seed in Hockey East with a 9-13-5 conference record.
Due to injuries, team captain and first-line center Boyle filled in as a defenseman, and handled the big adjustment very well. Though experts anticipate that the 6-7 Boyle will play defense at the next level, he had only appeared at the position during occasional penalty kills
"That was key for us, to have him step up and play back there," said York of his team's leader in points. "He was very poised with the puck."
The Eagles got on the board first at 18:21 of the opening period. Deep in his own zone, the moonlighting defenseman Boyle got the puck to speedster Nathan Gerbe, his usual linemate. Gerbe raced down the ice on a 2-on-1 breakaway with winger Bradford to his left.
Gerbe crossed the puck to Bradford, and the sophomore then whipped it past NU's Thiessen for his 13th goal of the year.
"You don't see a full-ice 2-on-1 too often," said Bradford. "He made a great pass over to me before the goalie could get across."
The beginning of the second period brought more trouble for BC defensively and an opportunity for the Huskies, as Eagles senior defenseman Mike Brennan received a five-minute major and game misconduct for hitting from behind. The resilient, patchwork penalty-kill unit, however, held Northeastern scoreless.
"It's definitely one of my rules of hockey," said Huskies coach Cronin. "If you have a five-minute power play, and you don't score, your chances of winning are slim."
"We always get a lot of energy from a penalty kill like that," said York. "That was a big moment."
BC was able to translate that energy into a goal, albeit with a little help. NU's Joe Vitale was called for a holding penalty inside the BC zone. A scuffle ensued, and he and Boyle were hit with roughing penalties as well.
The Eagles took advantage of the open ice, as Ben Smith poked in a rebound of Motherwell's initial shot to make it 2-0. Smith's seventh goal came on the first line, as he took Boyle's usual spot at center.
"It's hard for a freshman to step in there," said York. "Benny has got good hockey IQ and good strength."
The power-play goal marked the seventh-straight contest in which BC has scored on the man-advantage, as well as the ninth of the last 10 games.
Smith's goal put Northeastern in an enormous hole, especially considering the stellar play of Schneider. Making 25 saves, the junior earned his fifth shutout of the year and his 14th of his remarkable career at the Heights, a school record.
Schneider made it look easy all night long, allowing few rebounds and never straying out of position when facing oncoming action.
"Cory was rock-solid tonight," said York.
The Eagles iced it twelve minutes into the third, as Smith ripped a shot off Thiessen's leg pad, and Bradford was waiting to tap the rebound into the open net for his second goal of the night to make it 3-0.
As well as his club played in this opening game of the series, York was undoubtedly restrained in his happiness because of the next night's game and the long grind of tournament play awaiting the Eagles.
"We won the first one," said York, "but we've got to win two."
Be the first to comment on this article!