Boston College Athletics
Hockey Opens Tournament Title Defense At Maine
March 06, 2002 | Men's Hockey
March 6, 2002
Boston College at Maine
2002 HOCKEY EAST Quarterfinals
Best of three series: Thursday-Saturday, March 7-9
Alfond Arena, Orono, Maine
All games at 7 p.m.
Complete Quarterfinal Game Notes in PDF Format
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TITLE DEFENSE: Boston College enters the 2002 HOCKEY EAST Tournament as defending champions. The Eagles have won three of the last four league tournament titles, reaching the finals in each of the last four years. Last season, as the number one seed, BC defeated Providence 5-3 in the title game. In 2000, BC fell to Maine on a last-second goal by the Black Bears. In 1999, Boston College defeated New Hampshire, 5-4, in overtime to repeat as champions. The previous year, the Eagles topped Maine, 3-2, for their first title since 1990.
THE EAGLES IN BRIEF: The Eagles skate into the quarterfinal round of the HOCKEY EAST Tournament with an 18-16-2 record after compiling a 10-13-1 mark in HOCKEY EAST play. BC earned the tournament's sixth seed.
Last weekend, the Eagles dropped two games to third-ranked New Hampshire, 5-2 at the Whittemore Center and 2-1 at Kelley Rink. The Eagles had won five of their previous six games.
The Eagles' success has been streaky this season. The team has five- , four- and three-game winning streaks to its credit, but also has a six-game losing streak and a four-game winless streak.
AGAINST MAINE: Boston College and Maine have met 73 times with the Eagles holding a 40-29-4 series advantage. The two teams split the three meetings this season, going 1-1-1 against each other. Maine won the first meeting at Alfond Arena on Dec. 7, before the two teams tied the following evening. The Eagles defeated the Black Bears on Feb. 8 at Kelley Rink.
In the first meeting, Maine netted three third-period goals to earn a 5-2 win over the Eagles. Both BC goals came on the power-play. The following evening, Tony Voce scored two goals to lead the team to a 3-3 tie with the Black Bears. In the last meeting, Ben Eaves scored three points - one goal, two assists - in his first game back from injury to lead BC to the 4-3 win.
AGAINST MAINE IN THE HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT: Boston College holds a 4-3 advantage in seven previous HOCKEY EAST Tournament match-ups. The two teams have met in three of the last four HOCKEY EAST Tournaments. In the last meeting - in the 2000 final - Maine edged the Eagles on a last-second goal in the third period. The Eagles defeated the Black Bears in each of the two previous years: 3-2 in the 1998 final and 3-2 in the 1999 semifinals.
DEPLETED DEFENSE: Boston College has two injured members in its standard defensive corps ... sophomore stalwart J.D. Forrest will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a lacerated forearm in Sunday's game against New Hampshire. He sustained the injury when he collided in to the end board with UNH's Sean Collins and was cut by a skate. He suffered tendon and nerve damage in the fall. He underwent surgery to repair the injury on Wednesday, March 6 ... freshman John Adams missed the Eagles' last game and will miss the quarterfinal series after suffering a concussion on Saturday's game at UNH. Adams lost consciousness for a short time after being hit from behind along the boards, but was able to leave the ice under his own power.
FULL SQUAD DOWN AGAIN: Just as the Eagles' got their full 22-man squad back on Saturday against New Hampshire, the team fell short again when John Adams sustained a concussion in the third period. Boston College has only had its full roster available for 11 games this season. With a full roster, BC went 6-4-1.
RECORD HOLDER AND EVERYDAY PLAYER: Senior forward Jeff Giuliano has played in all 164 of BC's games since his arrival at the Heights in the fall of 1998 and now holds the record for consecutive games played at Boston College. He has recorded 40 goals and 74 assists for 114 points. His 164 games played currently ranks him in third place all-time at the Heights, tied with Mike Lephard '01 and Brian Gionta '01. Rob Scuderi '01 holds the record with 169 games played ... Ales Dolinar is currently tied for 10th place on the career games played list with 158 games, tied with Kevin Stevens '87 and Brendan Buckley '99.
"MARCH"ING TO SUCCESS: Since the 1997-98 season, Boston College has compiled a 28-3-1 mark in the month of March. Included is a 7-2-1 mark in regular-season HOCKEY EAST games, a 15-1-0 mark in HOCKEY EAST Tournament games, and a 6-0-0 mark in NCAA Tournament games. Last weekend's sweep at the hands of New Hamsphire were only the team's second and third losses in March in the last five seasons. The only other loss came to Maine in the final of the 2000 HOCKEY EAST Tournament.
Under head coach Jerry York, the program has a total record of 33-8-1 in March (10-4-1 regular season, 17-4-0 HOCKEY EAST Tournament).
HOLDING A LEAD TO CLOSE THE GAME: This season, Boston College is 15-0-1 when holding a lead entering the third period. Conversely, the Eagles are 2-12-1 when trailing entering the final stanza.
KALTIAINEN LOVES "HOME" COOKING: Freshman Matti Kaltiainen has made five starts at Kelley Rink this season and has found tremendous success on the familiar home ice. He is 3-2-0 at home with a 1.41 goals against average and a .944 save percentage. He has only allowed seven goals in five games at home ... his wins came over Providence (4-1 on Nov. 14), No. 7 and previously undefeated Boston University (3-1 on Nov. 17) and No. 13 Northeastern (3-1 on Feb. 24). His only losses were to the Terriers (2-1, Jan. 18) and New Hampshire (2-1, March 3).
VOCE AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS ...: Sophomore Tony Voce is listed among the Division I national leaders in six categories. The following is a list of his ratings as compiled by USCHO.com (as of March 4) and the NCAA (as of March 5).
Overall scoring: Tied for 12th (45 points) Goal scoring: Tied for seventh (24 goals) Shorthanded goals: Tied for fourth (four) Goals per game: Tied for 10th (0.67) Points per game: Eighteenth (1.25) Game-winning goals: Tied for 13th (four)
WHO'S HOT: Sophomore Tony Voce has 12 points in the last nine games (four goals, eight assists) and is a plus-10 during that span ... sophomore Ben Eaves has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in nine games since returning from injury ... senior Jeff Giuliano has eight points (three goals, five assists) in the last seven games ...freshman Dave Spina has scored a goal in four of the last five games ... classmate Ryan Shannon has four assists in the last four games.
DIFFERENCE MAKER: Sophomore Ben Eaves is one of the team's "difference makers." Below is a comparison of the team's performance with Eaves in the lineup and without him.
With Eaves Without Eaves Games 21 15 Record 12-7-2 6-9-0 Since recent his return 5-3-0 HOCKEY EAST record 8-4-1 2-8-0 Goals per game 3.43 2.80 Power-play percentage 22.6 10.5 Tony Voce's production 16-17-33 6-6-12
YOUNGSTERS LEADING THE CHARGE: The freshman and sophomore classes have combined to score 70.1 percent of the Eagles' offense this season ... the freshmen have contributed 34 goals and 57 assists for 91 points ... the sophomore class has combined for 50 goals and 73 assists for 123 points ... the two youngest classes have netted a total of 214 of BC's 305 points.
ROOKIE HONOREES: Boston College freshmen have been honored as HOCKEY EAST Rookies of the Week on six occasions this season, tops in the league. Ned Havern, Matti Kaltiainen (three), Ryan Shannon and Dave Spina has all been tabbed as the conference's best weekly first-year performers this season.
STRENGTH IN FRESHMAN NUMBERS: While not the most heralded class to come to the Heights, Boston College's freshmen have proven to be the glue that has held the team together through the winter. The freshmen have combined to score 29.6 percent of the team's offense. Led by forwards Dave Spina (13-13-26), Ryan Shannon (8-16-24), Ryan Murphy (6-7-13) and Ned Havern (5-5-10), defensemen Andrew Alberts and John Adams, and goaltender Matti Kaltiainen, BC is right back in the thick of the hunt for the HOCKEY EAST Tournament title and a possible bid to the NCAA Tournament.
EAVES AND VOCE FINALISTS FOR WALTER BROWN AWARD: Sophomores Ben Eaves and Tony Voce were recently selected as finalists for the 2002 Walter Brown Award. The award is given annually by the Gridiron Club of Boston to the outstanding American-born college hockey player in New England ... eight of the 12 finalists are from HOCKEY EAST institutions ... Boston College players have won the last three Walter Brown Awards. Brian Gionta (2001) and Mike Mottau (1999 and 2000) were the most recent Eagles to win the award ... Boston College players have won a total of 20 Walter Brown Awards, the most of any school.
SUCCESS AFTER FIRST PERIOD SHUTOUTS: Boston College has a 13-5-0 record this season when not allowing a goal in the first period. Matti Kaltiainen has a 7-3-0 record with his losses at Wisconsin (5-2, Nov. 2), Providence (5-2, Jan. 25) and Boston University (5-3, Feb. 4). Tim Kelleher has a 6-2-0 record after blanking the opponent in the first period. Kelleher's two losses were both to Boston University (2-1, Jan. 18 and 3-1, Jan. 20).
WINS COME THROUGH DEFENSE: This season, 13 of Boston College's 18 wins have come when the defense has held the opposition to one goal or fewer. When allowing one or no goals, BC has defeated Vermont 5-1, Notre Dame 4-1, Wisconsin 3-1, Providence 4-1, Boston University 3-1, Harvard 1-0, Massachusetts 4-0, Miami (Ohio) 5-1, Minnesota-Duluth 5-1, Harvard 4-0, Merrimack (2-1) and Northeastern 3-1.
SENIORS LEADING BY EXAMPLE: BC's senior class - Jeff Giuliano and Ales Dolinar - has been leading the team by example in the second half of the season. In the last 20 games, the duo has combined for 40 points (12 goals, 28 assists). Giuliano has scored eight goals and added 16 assists in 20 games, while Dolinar has scored four goals and collected 12 assists in 19 games.
BAROMETERS OF SUCCESS: Sophomores Ben Eaves and Tony Voce have been barometers of the team's success this season. When either player records a point or scores a goal, the team has had greater success this year.
Eaves Voce Records a point 11-6-2 16-9-2 Scores a goal 8-2-0 10-6-1 Held pointless 1-1-0 2-7-0
FIRST GOAL GO-TO GUY: When the Eagles need to break into the scoring column in a game, freshman Dave Spina has proven to be the go-to guy. Of his 26 points this season, 13 have come on the team's first goal of the game. He has scored the first goal nine times and assisted on four others.
FOUR AS THE "MAGIC NUMBER": Between Nov 30, 1999 and Nov. 30, 2001, Boston College compiled a 44-0-1 record when scoring four or more goals. The streak was snapped this season at New Hampshire on Nov. 30 when the Wildcats won in overtime, 5-4, at the Whittemore Center. Since then, BC has a 7-2-0 record when scoring four or more goals.
GETTING OFFENSIVE WHEN SHORTHANDED: Boston College leads HOCKEY EAST, and is fourth in Division I, with nine shorthanded goals this season ... the Eagles have 54 shots on goal this season when skating a man down ... twice this season BC has netted two shorthanded goals in a game: Nov. 14 vs. Merrimack and Dec. 8 at Maine ... sophomore Tony Voce is tied for fourth in the nation with his four shorthanded goals, while senior Ales Dolinar, junior defenseman Bill Cass, freshman forwards Ryan Murphy and Ryan Shannon and freshman defenseman Andrew Alberts have each netted one shorthanded goal.
MULTIPLE-POINT NORM: Sophomore Ben Eaves has recorded multiple-point efforts in 11 of the 21 games he has played this season. He collected a season-high four points (one goal and three assists) in the team's opening game of the season and has four games with three points ... during his 61-game career, sophomore Ben Eaves has recorded 24 multiple-point efforts ... since February 2001, Eaves has recorded multiple points in 19 of 38 games ... earlier this season, Eaves recorded six multiple-point games in a row, the longest stretch at the Heights since Marty Reasoner did it in seven-straight games from Feb. 9 -March 7, 1998.
SPECIAL TEAMS SNIPER: While sophomore Tony Voce leads the club in power-play goals with six, he has also logged four shorthanded goals, as well as 4x4 and 5x3 goals this season. Overall, he leads the team in special teams scoring with 22 points (7-9-15 on the power play, 4-0-4 shorthanded and 1-1-2 in 4x4 situations).
THE HEAD COACH - JERRY YORK: Head coach Jerry York is in his eighth season at the Heights and this 30th overall as a head coach. He has compiled a 177-115-23 mark (.598 winning percentage) at Boston College and a 644-450-57 (.584 winning percentage) in his career. A 1967 first team All-American for the Eagles, York came to the Heights in 1994 and has returned the program to its elite status. He is one of only two collegiate coaches to lead two different teams to NCAA titles and is the sixth coach to earn 600 career wins. York is currently sixth on the all-time win list.
York began his coaching career at Boston College as a graduate assistant to John "Snooks" Kelley, then was an assistant coach for one season. He then moved to Clarkson to serve as Len Ceglaski's assistant in 1970, before assuming head coaching duties in 1972 when Ceglarski returned to BC. In 1979, York became the head coach at Bowling Green, leading the Falcons to the 1984 national championship.
CONSISTENCY BREEDS SUCCESS: The Boston College coaching staff is in its seventh season working together, guiding the Eagles. Head coach Jerry York arrived at the Heights before the 1994-95 season and brought associate head coach Scott Paluch with him from Bowling Green. That season marked associate head coach Jim Logue's second with the team. A year later, assistant coach Mike Cavanaugh joined the staff. Since the 1997-98 season, Boston College has recorded a 135-57-14 mark (.689 winning percentage). The Eagles won three HOCKEY EAST Tournaments over that span and were the 2001 national champions.
THE AIR: All of Boston College's games can be heard live on 96.9 FM WTKK. Jon Rish calls the play-by-play, while Ken Hodge provides the color commentary. The game can also be accessed live via the Internet at www.bceagles.com.
