Eagles Sweep UNH In Key Home-And-Home

The pucks seem to be bouncing Boston College's way all of a sudden.

For the second night in a row, No. 7 BC defeated the New Hampshire Wildcats in exciting fashion by a score of 3-2. Senior alternate captain Barry Almeida scored a power play goal at 3:27 of overtime to give the Eagles four points on the weekend and their first winning streak since early December.

Despite the weekend sweep, head coach Jerry York left the rink very impressed with the New Hampshire team he saw.

"It's a much different Wildcat team than when we played them back on October 15th," York said. "They're much more dangerous offensively and much tighter defensively. We feel we just played two games that could have gone either way with two evenly matched teams."

For the second straight game, the Eagles started off strong. With just over three minutes gone in the first period, Edwin Shea made a perfect pass to Almeida, who finished the play off with an easy tap in. Almeida's goal was his 15th of the season and drew him very high praise from York.

"He was in the right place at the right time, but he's been that way all year," York said. "He's had a phenomenal senior year for us. He's clearly been our best forward from an offensive and defensive perspective, and it was good to seem him get those goals tonight."

The lead did not last long, however, as the Wildcats tied the game while on the power play barely five minutes later.

With the score tied a one, Chris Kreider scored his second goal of the weekend with a wicked backhanded shot that sent the Eagles into the dressing room with a 2-1 lead.

The second period saw BC on the power play for long stretches, and several pucks just missed hitting the net. It was the Wildcats, however, who managed to break through for the only goal of the frame after Tommy Cross failed to clear the puck and gave it back to New Hampshire. Their possession eventually led to an easy goal off a cross-ice pass that left goalie Parker Milner with no chance. The goal came with just over a minute to go in the period and sent the teams into the second intermission tied at two.

A defensive-minded third period failed to produce much offense, and the teams headed to overtime to decide the game. In the early stages of the extra frame, a questionable tripping call against New Hampshire gave BC a man advantage and a chance to steal two points. The power play looked sloppy early on, but the extended possession finally led to the winner when a rebound from Cross's shot found its way onto Almeida's stick. The senior made no mistake in finishing the play and put the puck into the net for his 16th goal of the season.

"Tommy Cross tried to get the puck on net, and I was in front trying to set a screen," Almeida said. "It ended up bouncing off a shin pad and landed right on my stick. I just tried to get it on net and fortunately it went in."

The Eagles ended the game with a slim 37-33 edge in shot totals. They also managed to slow down a dangerous power play, holding the Wildcats to just 1-for-6 on the man advantage.

Milner also stepped up his game, making 31 saves for his second win of the weekend and his 12th of the season. The Eagles have a week off before starting Beanpot play against cross-town rival Northeastern in a non-conference game.