Boston College
St. Lawrence (Frozen Four)
Eagles Move One Step Closer
April 06, 2000 | Men's Hockey
April 6, 2000
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Boston College advanced to its second NCAA Championship game in three seasons with a 4-2 victory over St. Lawrence University on Thursday evening at the Providence Civic Center. The Eagles advance to Saturday's final to take on the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota, 2-0 winners over Maine in Thursday's first game.
The Saints took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal from senior Jason Windle (on an assist from Erik Anderson) before the teams traded second-period tallies. In the sixth minute of play of that second stanza, BC's Blake Bellefeille was behind the SLU net with the puck with Saint defender Matt Desrosiers on his hip. Derosiers lost his footing, and Bellefeille came out to SLU goalie Derek Gustafson's right, beating him short-side for the equalizing tally.
St. Lawrence's Charlie Daniels gave the Saints a 2-1 cushion heading into the locker room for the second intermission when he wristed a shot between the pads of BC netminder Scott Clemmensen at the 10:38 mark.
Three minutes into the third period and with both teams a man down, the Eagles got a chance at an equalizer when Jeff Farkas brought the puck into the St. Lawrence zone and fired a shot that was blocked by Gustafson. The rebound came out to freshman defenseman Bill Cass, who slid the puck across the high slot to senior Mike Mottau. Mottau took advantage of the screen and beat Gustafson to his right tie the contest at two.
Both defenses stood tall until the two minute mark, when Farkas picked up the puck at the blueline, eluded a defender to skate into the slot and lifted a shot over the left shoulder of Gustafson for the back-breaking tally. With less than a second remaining on the clock and with Gustafson pulled in favor of an extra skater, BC junior Brian Gionta picked up a loose puck deep in the zone and scored into the empty net.
Boston College puts its 29-11-1 record on the line against North Dakota on Saturday, while the Saints end their season with a 27-8-2 record. St. Lawrence, the only ECAC team to make the Frozen Four since Vermont in 1996, was making a bid to become the first ECAC team to win a national championship since Harvard accomplished the feat in 1989. BC is hoping to end a 51-year title drought, as the Eagles last won the NCAA Ice Hockey Championship in 1949.
Boston College (29-11-1) 0 1 3 -- 4 St. Lawrence (27-8-2) 1 1 0 -- 2Period Time Team Goal Scorer (Assists) 1 16:15 SLU Jason Windle (13) (Erik Anderson)
2 5:40 BC Blake Bellefeille (19) SHG 2 10:38 SLU Charlie Daniels (5) PPG
3 3:04 BC Mike Mottau (6) (Bill Cass, Jeff Farkas) 4x4 3 18:03 BC Jeff Farkas (31) 3 19:59 BC Brian Gionta (33) ENG
Saves: Scott Clemmensen (BC) 8 9 9 26 (60:00) Derek Gustafson (SLU) 9 10 9 28 (58:41)
Attendance: 11,484 (Providence Civic Center)
