Boston College
Denver
Top-Ranked Boston College Downs Denver, 6-2
October 15, 2004 | Men's Hockey
Oct. 15, 2004
Junior forward Patrick Eaves registered one goal and three assists to lead top-ranked Boston College to a 6-2 season-opening victory over defending national champion Denver before 5,810 fans in Kelley Rink.
BC freshman Dan Bertram was the game's only multiple-goal scorer, finishing with two goals.
Boston College led 3-0 after one period and never allowed the visiting Pioneers (0-2-0) to close the margin to fewer than two goals. Denver netted one goal in each of the final two periods, but each time the host Eagles answered with a goal of their own.
Eaves opened the scoring with a power-play goal just 4:02 into the game. A hard pass from Peter Harrold found Eaves on the left side of the net. A quick wrist shot got the puck by freshman goalie Peter Mannino for the first goal of the game.
Junior teammate Chris Collins netted a shorthanded goal at 13:34. Collins found himself in the corner while trying to kill a Denver power-play. He fought out to the left side of the net and faked a pass to a charging BC forward. Mannino bit the fake and Collins went top shelf before he could recover.
Dan Bertram finished the period's scoring at 18:18 with a nice outlet from Eaves. Bertram was one on one with Mannino and went over his glove into the top right corner of the net.
Denver freshman Ryan Dingle scored the only goal of the second period at 18:28.
BC senior Ryan Murphy opened the BC lead back to three when he scored at 10:40 in the final period. With assists from Collins and Eaves, Murphy got going on a transition play and went five-hole on the Denver goalie.
Denver seemed to gain momentum in the third as senior Jon Foster answered with three-on-five goal at 14:49. He attempted to pass across the ice, but the pass deflected off of a BC skate. Reacting to the pass, BC goalie Matti Kaltiainen moved left, but the puck got back to Foster and he put it by Kaltiainen.
The Eagles were quick the squash the comeback however. They finished the scoring with a Bertram empty-net goal and a Dave Spina shorthanded tally in the final two minutes.
Both teams were assessed 14 penalties and both finished 1-for-10 on the power play. BC's special-teams gained the advantage with two shorthanded goals.
BC senior Matti Kaltiainen earned his 54th win in net, making 19 stops. Denver freshman Peter Mannino made 21 saves in his collegiate debut.
A notable defensive performance came from junior Peter Harrold, whose +3 rating on the game was matched by only classmate Chris Collins
Boston College returns to action on Tuesday, October 19 when it opens its league play at UMass-Lowell. Game time is 7 p.m. in Tsongas Arena.
