After blowing out Boston University 6-2 Friday at Kelley Rink, the Boston College men's hockey team trekked down Commonwealth Avenue Saturday night in hopes of sweeping a home-and-home series with their rivals.
Despite the fact that BU coach Jack Parker attempted to shake things up by changing his lines and benching a handful of players, including captain Brian McGuirk, his Terriers were still edged by the Eagles, 4-3, in front of 6,224 fans at Agganis Arena.
Once again, Nathan Gerbe wasted no time as he opened the scoring at 2:06, with a shorthanded goal. The junior forward took a nice pass from Brian Gibbons and beat struggling BU goaltender Brett Bennett.
Throughout the beginning of the first period, the Eagles were clearly outskating their opponents and dominating control of the puck.
It looked as if another blowout was in the making until BC's Andrew Orpik was called for boarding at 9:47, and BU capitalized. Nine seconds into the power play, Kevin Shattenkirk rifled a shot from the point to tie the score.
The Terriers gained momentum from Shattenkirk's goal and began to put some pressure on BC, making it an up-and-down hockey game. They executed a huge penalty kill when they fought off a one-minute and nine-second five-on-three, after Dan McGoff and John McCarthy were sent to the box. BC mounted a strong offensive strike, moving the point in to the top of the faceoff circle and firing away at Bennett. However, the sophomore goaltender was resilient and kept the game tied.
BU continued to ride this momentum and took the lead at 17:53. BC's Kyle Kucharski was whistled for roughing at 17:04. After putting a lot of pressure on goaltender John Muse, Bradon Yip scored to give the Terriers the lead.
The Eagles answered quickly when Ben Smith, on his way to a hat trick, scored on a two-on-one, taking a nice feed from Gerbe.
BU played a strong second period but had nothing to show for it. They outshot BC 18-7, but the lone goal of the period belonged to the Eagles, which came at 12:32 when Smith batted a Gerbe rebound past Bennett.
2008 Woodie Awards
