With senior leadership, BC clinches another title
With a highly decorated freshman class, expectations were high for Boston College this season, and the young Eagles have delivered. But on Sunday, when goals were hard to come by, it was senior captain Eamon Powell who stepped up and found the back of the net in a 1-0 win over
New Hampshire.
With the win, BC (27-5-1, 19-3-1) clinched its 18th Hockey East regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, and that is where the weekend review begins.
■ It seemed fitting that on senior night at Conte Forum, Powell would score the game’s only goal. The upperclassmen have been overshadowed by the scoring prowess of sophomore Cutter Gauthier, and freshmen Gabe Perreault, Will Smith, and Ryan Leonard.
“It’s natural for people to be attracted to the top scorers, but in our locker room, everyone knows how valuable the older guys are,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “They do so many things on and off the ice. They’re so steady, so reliable on the ice.”
The role of the juniors and seniors could take on greater importance as the postseason comes into focus, with scoring at a premium
“It’s the older guys that keep the game grounded, that keep it close, and give us a chance to win,” said Brown.
■ Powell’s goal was a beauty, with the defenseman carrying the puck out of the BC zone and flicking it up to Leonard along the boards at the blue line. Powell took off toward the net and found himself alone when Leonard’s return pass caught him in stride. He was able to finish it off with a backhander over the shoulder of UNH goalie Jakob Hellsten.
“He obviously made a great pass,” said Powell. “I saw Smitty on the back door, but the defenseman was kind of cheating over, so I shoveled something at the net. Luckily, it went in.”
Leonard extended his point streak to 17 games, but Smith had his streak snapped at 18. Perreault, who leads the nation at 1.67 points per game, missed his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury but is expected back for the conference tournament.
■ BC’s win also meant that Steve Metcalf will not have to drive around with the championship trophy rolling around in his trunk for the next week. The Hockey East commissioner was on site for Sunday’s game and presented Powell with the trophy on the ice after the postgame handshake line.
■ Coaches often say there are no moral victories, but it was hard not to come away impressed by UNH’s performance. Three weeks earlier, the Wildcats traveled to Chestnut Hill and were overwhelmed with three early goals and lost, 6-1. They were swept this weekend, dropping a 5-3 affair at home Friday, but overall were a formidable opponent. The previous two weekends saw them sweep Maine and split with UMass.
“I thought it was another good game,” said UNH coach Mike Souza. “I thought it was two good games that we played well enough to win both and didn’t win either. So that’s frustrating in one sense, but I think sometimes in defeat, there’s positives and small victories you can take. I was proud of the way our kids competed against the best team in the country.”
■ The weekend did little to clear the logjam around the teams competing for third place behind BC and Boston University. Two points separate Maine, UMass, and Providence. The Black Bears split a series at Vermont, while Providence split a home-and-home with Merrimack.
UMass managed to get a pair of wins over UMass Lowell on the strength of junior Ryan Ufko’s overtime winners in both contests. Coach Greg Carvel revealed after Saturday
night’s win that Ufko drew up the play for the game-winner during a timeout. Ufko said he got idea from a goal he saw posted by the Buffalo Sabres on social media.
■ UConn and Northeastern split a home-and-home series, with the road team prevailing each night. Matthew Wood notched a hat trick in UConn’s 4-3 win at Matthews Arena Friday.
■ Harvard may have posted only six wins in the regular season, but the Crimson managed to scrape out enough points in overtime and shootouts to capture home ice for the first round of the ECAC playoffs.
The most recent example came in the regular-season finale against Brown when Alex Gaffney’s goal in the final two minutes with the goalie pulled for an extra skater forced overtime.
The Crimson lost the shootout, but came away with another point. Harvard will host Princeton in a single-elimination playoff Friday night.
■ With playoff hockey come the highs and lows of competition, often in the same game. Bentley experienced both ends of the spectrum in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey conference tournament Saturday night, rallying from a twogoal deficit in the third period to pull even with Robert Morris and send the game to overtime. But the Falcons saw their season come to an end whey they allowed a goal with 10.1 seconds remaining in the extra session for the 4-3 loss.
It was a solid debut for firstyear coach Andy Jones, whose squad was picked last in the 11-team league but managed to finish sixth and secure home ice for the first round.
“The comeback, the intent that we play with in the third, I’ve seen it all year from our guys,” said Jones. “That’s why I’m so proud of the group, because we just kept going.”