Boston College Athletics
Eagle Hockey Notebook
March 29, 2000 | Men's Hockey
March 29, 2000
Junior forward Mike Lephart scored the game-tying goal in the final minutes of Boston College's 6-5 overtime win over Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament's first round in Minneapolis, Minn. Now, fresh off a quarterfinal-round win over Wisconsin, he and his teammates are preparing for their third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament's Frozen Four. Below are some comments from Lephart.
On his late-game goals against New Hampshire in the HOCKEY EAST Tournament's semifinal round and against Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament's first round: "If I could really pinpoint it, I'd try to do it all the time. But it's kind of a right-place-at-the-right-time kind of deal, hoping someone pops one in at the end, and, fortunately, for our team's sake, I found the back of the net in two big games."
On his team's two recent goals with goaltender Scott Clemmensen pulled: "We work on that in practice and emphasize 6-on-5 a lot - just kind of getting pucks toward the net. I just happened to be in front of the net one time (against Michigan State) and got a stick on it."
On his third consecutive trip to the Frozen Four: "I think, especially this year, it's even more exciting because of the way we got there. The past two years, the road we took to get there was an uphill battle. To be able to knock off Michigan State,which wasn't a fifth-seeded team the way they played, and to knock off the #1 team two years in a row (North Dakota in 1999, Wisconsin in 2000) is just a battle, a tough way to get through there. It does make it more special this year. Getting there three years is nice. It's a nice accomplishment, but people don't remember the third-place team, the second-place team - we want the national title. We're not really satisfied with just getting there again."
On the keys to the Eagles' late-season success each of the last three years: "Ultimately you want to get better as the season goes on, and we've pretty much kind of done that the last three years. Although being pre-season #1 is tough to stay there -- everyone's definitely gunning for you, and we definitely hit some bumps, but I think a big part is leadership. Captain Mike Mottau and the seniors - Blake (Bellefeuille), KC (Caulfield), Jeff (Farkas) and Tony (Hutchins) - really give our team a boost. You can kind of see the last-breath effort in the seniors there. It definitely sparks the whole team, and everyone just kinds of feeds on that - and the other players at BC are great players with great attitudes. With that, good things are going to happen."
On the team's attitude on the "extra time" before the Frozen Four: "I think a lot of people look at it as a negative aspect to have two weeks off because we've had a lot of momentum, and you'd like to just carry it into the Frozen Four. On the plus side, though, it's a good time to recuperate. Last year, we went to Wisconsin and then right on a plane, right to Anaheim - just kind of bing-bam. Now we can sit back and focus. We have two solid weeks of practice and we can heal any injuries, bumps or bruises. We can concentrate on some tape and really look at the teams, so I think from that point it's an advantage."
On the team's attitude as the semifinal nears: "The nerves really haven't kicked in yet, it's more kind of excitement right now, but I'm sure that once we get down to Providence the nerves will kick in a little bit. It's good to be a little nervous. But I think it's tough to get to the Frozen Four and win it the first time you're there. Look at NHL teams - a lot of them go to the Stanley Cup three or four times before they win the Stanley Cup. And we've seen that in the past with college teams, it's tough to win it, but this will be our third time now. Hopefully, three's a charm, they say. We definitely have the experience. We're confident, but we watched St. Lawrence play BU and we know BU's a great team. We battled BU all year, so we know St. Lawrence is a better team that a lot of people give them credit for, too. That's all we're thinking right now is St. Lawrence."
