Boston College
Maine
Hockey Sweeps Pair At Maine
January 31, 2000 | Men's Hockey
Jan. 31, 2000
Orono, Maine - The Boston College hockey team pulled itself back into the HOCKEY EAST title chase in a big way over the weekend, sweeping a pair of games at the University of Maine on Friday and Saturday.
With the two victories, the Eagles improved their overall record to 16-7-1 while moving to 9-6-1 in HOCKEY EAST play. The sweep moves the club into a third-place tie with Northeastern, six points behind league-leading Boston University.
On Friday, Boston College netted three first-period goals and held on down the stretch for a 3-2 victory. Sophomore forward Ales Dolinar opened the scoring for the Eagles 6:32 into the game, and after the Black Bears tied the game up, junior forward Mike Lephart added a power-play goal at 16:49 before senior forward Jeff Farkas put home the game-winner with 28 seconds left in the opening period. Freshman goalie Tim Kelleher held Maine off the rest of the way, stopping 22 shots on the way to his eighth win of the season.
The following night, Dolinar again opened the scoring, providing the only goal the Eagles would need at 7:29 of the first period. The goal was Dolinar's second shorthanded tally of the season. After a scoreless second period, junior forward Brian Gionta then put the game away with two third-period goals, the first coming at 12:09 and the second just two minutes and 48 seconds later. Junior goaltender Scott Clemmensen did the rest, stopping all 35 Maine shots to give the Eagles a 3-0 shutout victory.
Clemmensen's shutout, which improved his record to 8-4-0, was his second of the season and the seventh of his career, leaving him just one short of the school record held by Jack Fitzgerald (1922-25). The 35 saves tied Clemmensen's career high. His efforts earned him HOCKEY EAST Defensive Player of the Week honors for the week ending Jan. 30.
Dolinar, who finished the weekend with three points (two goals and one assist), was named to the league's weekly Honor Roll along with Gionta, who now has 17 goals on the season, and Kelleher, who leads the league in goaltending. The sweep marked the first time the Eagles had won back-to-back games in Orono since the 1989-90 season.
Boston College will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 4, when they host UMass-Lowell in a 7 p.m. contest at Kelley Rink.
