Atkinson Hat Trick Builds Insurmountable Lead

On a night when many of the skaters on the ice struggled, Boston College's Cam Atkinson showed yet again why he is one of the Eagles' best players.

Despite multiple momentum shifts in Friday night's contest that threw other players' games off balance, Atkinson maintained a steady hand for a full 60-minute effort in the first tilt of BC's Hockey East quarterfinal series against the University of Massachusetts.
The Eagles certainly needed every ounce of his effort in order to squeak by Friday night with a 6-5 victory.

From the first drop of the puck to the last dwindling second, Atkinson made his presence known.

"Cam was outstanding tonight," said BC head coach Jerry York. "He was our leader."

Only 36 seconds into the game, Atkinson fired a shot that ricocheted around before winding up in the net, apparently giving the Eagles a very early 1-0 lead. The goal was then overturned upon review.

That didn't faze Atkinson at all, though. It was merely a sign of things to come.

A few minutes later, the sophomore struck again. He took a great pass from junior Joe Whitney, who tallied three assists on the night, and drilled a shot to the top right corner of the net, past UMass goaltender Paul Dainton's glove.

"Tonight, [Steven Whitney and Joe Whitney] just put it right in my wheelhouse," Atkinson said. "Since they made the perfect passes, it made my job a lot easier."

Momentum then rapidly shifted in the Minutemen's direction, as they took advantage of a 5-on-3 advantage and knotted the game at one. Once again, though, Atkinson was the man who put the Eagles back on top.

With a power play of their own five minutes later, the Eagles set up their offense and worked the puck around the UMass zone, trying to find any soft spots in the Minutemen's defense. Eventually, Steven Whitney took a pass from assistant captain Ben Smith and fired a slapshot that rebounded back toward the center of the ice. Atkinson then hustled for the loose puck and put it home to give his team the lead.

"Just watching [Atkinson] all year, he's been a very, very good player for us," York said. "So this isn't unusual for him."

UMass evened up the score in the opening minutes of the second period, but then BC exploded for a three-goal run, culminating in the completion of Atkinson's hat trick.
With yet another power-play opportunity, the familiar line of Joe Whitney, Brian Gibbons, and Atkinson was on the ice. The trio had already capitalized on its first chance, and sought to do so a second time to extend the team's lead to 5-2.

Joe Whitney gathered up the puck and passed it over to Steven Whitney, who then faked a shot and shifted the puck over to Atkinson, who found the soft spot and was wide open slightly below the blue line. Atkinson then torched a slapshot, giving himself the hat trick and his team the 5-2 lead with 12 minutes left to play in the second period.

"The second power-play goal was an absolute missed assignment," said UMass head coach Don Cahoon. "Clearly it's a play [the defenseman] has to make."

"I tried to find the soft spots," Atkinson said. "We've been working on that in practice a lot, and we watched a little bit of video of the last time we played them, and we realized that there are soft spots open. I was fortunate enough to find them."

UMass would not go quietly, however, and in the final minutes of the second period, Casey Wellman scored his 21st goal of the season to close the gap to 5-3.

Atkinson, of course, had something to say about that.

Only a minute and 40 seconds after UMass notched its third goal of the night, Atkinson recorded his fourth point in the game, with an assist to Steven Whitney. Atkinson passed the puck across the ice, pinpointing the wide open passing lane, then Steven Whitney proceeded to chip the puck in past Dainton's glove to stretch the Eagles' lead to 6-3.

"We're moving the puck around really well from tape to tape, and that just makes it a lot easier," Atkinson said.

Despite the 6-3 lead, Atkinson's assist and Steven Whitney's goal proved to be a game-changing one. UMass scored two goals in the first minute of the third period – only 20 seconds apart – to draw within one goal. The Eagles held off the UMass charge, though, riding the offensive cushion provided almost exclusively by Atkinson.

After the game, despite tallying a hat trick and four points on the night, including an assist on the game-winner, Atkinson pointed to his teammates for the reason for his success.

"The team has been working really hard, day in and day out," he said. "That's been helping me a lot."