Boston College
Merrimack*
Hockey Downs Merrimack, 4-1
January 04, 2005 | Men's Hockey
Jan. 4, 2005
A two-point night from Chris Collins guided the third-ranked Boston College Eagles (10-3-3, 5-1-3) over Merrimack College (8-13-3, 1-9-1), 4-1, on Tuesday night. The game was played at Lawler Rink in North Andover, Mass. in front of a crowd of 2,306.
Merrimack got on the board first at 8:27. Junior defenseman Rob Lalonde took a slapshot from the point. BC goaltender Matti Kaltiainen deflected the shot with his left blocker. The rebound fell right on the stick of senior Brendan Clark and he got it by Kaltiainen for the first goal of the evening.
BC's best chance of the first came when Ryan Shannon took a breakout pass at BC's blue line. Fighting through the Merrimack defenseman, she shook free and put a wrister on net. The try was gloved by Merrimack goaltender Jim Healey.
BC went into the locker room down 1-0 at the end of the first. The Eagles out-shot the Warriors 8-4 in the first 20 minutes of play.
The Eagles got their first power play of the evening at 4:14 in the second period. The offense opened up and BC created a couple of great shots on net.
The best of which saw Andrew Alberts at the receiving end of two tape-to-tape passes. He ripped a shot from the left slot, but Healey managed to get his blocker on it, preserving his shutout.
Just after the 10-minute mark in the second, BC tied the game with a goal from freshman Matt Greene. Junior Chris Collins took a dish in front of the net from senior Ryan Murphy. His shot on Healey was deflected and the rebound slipped out to the far post. Greene was there to bury the loose puck for his second career goal and his fourth point.
Collins' assist was his fifth of the season and his eighth point while Murphy notched his fifth point of the 2004-05 campaign with the helper.
BC took the lead at 15:55 when freshman Pat Gannon intercepted a pass in the Eagle zone. He dished it to sophomore Justin Greene and he put a nice pass on the stick of freshman Mike Brennan. Brennan pushed down the right side and put a hard wrist shot into the net at the far post.
Tuesday's game at Merrimack was the first time Greene had seen the ice in his one-plus season career. The assist was his first career point. Brennan's goal was his first tally and his second point of the season.
BC out-shot Merrimack 15-4 in the second, making the game's tally 22-9 in favor of the Eagles after 40 minutes of play.
The Eagles extended their lead to two at 4:50 in the third. On the power play, sophomore Joe Rooney wrapped around the net from the left to the right side. He took a short-angle shot and the rebound leaked out toward the far post. Collins was there to bury the puck in the net for his second point of the evening.
BC's offensive attack was relentless through the first half of the last period of regulation, barely allowing the puck to leave the Merrimack zone.
The Eagles padded their lead at the 16:03 mark. On the power play, sophomore Brian Boyle found Shannon in front of the net. Shannon put a wrister through the legs of Healey to make it a 4-1 game.
The goal was BC's second power-play goal of the game and their sixth in the past three games.
Kaltiainen made 17 saves for the Eagles and Healey made 26 in the losing effort.
