Boston College
! UMass-Lowell (HOCKEY EAST Semifinals)
Kobasew Leads Eagles To HOCKEY EAST Championship Game
March 16, 2001 | Men's Hockey
March 16, 2001
Postgame Audio
J. York, B. Gionta, B. Allen, and C. Kobasew
BOSTON - Freshman Chuck Kobasew, the HOCKEY EAST Rookie of the Year, registered his first career hat trick as Boston College defeated UMass-Lowell 5-1 to advance to its fourth straight HOCKEY EAST Championship game. Behind a strong third-period offensive attack, the Eagles scored three goals in the first 5:01 of the period to stretch a 2-1 lead to 5-1 over the River Hawks in the first game of the HOCKEY EAST semifinal round at the FleetCenter.
UMass-Lowell opened the scoring when Tom Rouleau pocketed a cross-ice pass in front of the net on the power play. Kobasew intercepted a clearing pass in front of the net 1:46 later, knotting the score at 1-1 when he ripped a shot past River Hawk keeper Jimi St. John.
Kobasew put the Eagles up at 4:17 of the second period on a 4x3 power-play tally. The River Hawks mounted a furious attack in the second period, throwing 23 shots on Eagles goalkeeper Scott Clemmensen. The senior stopped all 23 shots and took the Eagles into the intermission with a 2-1 lead.
BC came out on the attack after the break and, 29 seconds into the third period, Ben Eaves - scoring his second FleetCenter goal this season - gave the Eagles a 3-1 lead. He collected a long pass down the center of the ice from freshman classmate J.D. Forrest for the tally.
Kobasew gave the Eagles a 4-1 lead on his third goal of the night, a power play goal from Krys Kolanos and Mike Lephart, at 3:17 of the third period. Senior captain Brian Gionta gave BC a four-goal lead with his 32nd goal of the season off a power play at 5:01 of the third.
Boston College improved to 29-8-2 overall with the win. The Eagles will face the winner of the Providence/Maine semifinal at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 17, in the FleetCenter.
NOTES: Boston College is the first team to play in four consecutive title matches since the 1990-93 Maine teams ... Kobasews hat trick marked the second year in a row an Eagle has recorded a hat trick in the FleetCenter. Last year, in the first round of the Beanpot, Kolanos managed the feat ... the last time BC scored three power play goals was Jan. 27 against Maine. In that game, Gionta had his now-famous five-goals-on-five-shots in the first period performance ... in four career games against UMass-Lowell, Kobasew has scored 10 points (six goals and four assists). He also has five goals in three FleetCenter appearances ... BC improved to 23-0 this season when scoring four or more goals.
