Boston College Athletics
Boston College
Michigan State
Men's Hockey Tops Michigan State To Win GLI Title
December 28, 2003 | Men's Hockey
Dec. 28, 2003
Detroit - Ben Eaves scored two goals as second-ranked Boston College defeated Michigan State, 4-3, in front of 15,820 fans at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena to win the title at the 39th Annual Great Lakes Invitational.
At 16:29 of the first, sophomore defenseman Peter Harrold threw the puck into traffic in front of Michigan State goalie Matt Migliacco and junior Ned Havern tipped it out of the air and into the net at 16:29 to put the Eagles on top, 1-0. At 18:13, Eaves gave BC a 2-0 lead after beating three Spartan defenders. Just 41 seconds later, junior Dave Spina scored his first goal since the season opener at Vermont.
The second period saw the Spartans begin to mount a comeback. MSU's Jim Slater snuck the puck into the net at 3:05 of the second. At 10:10 of the period, Spartan freshman defenseman Chris Snavely fired a slapshot over Pearce's glove to pull MSU to within one, a deficit they took into the second intermission.
An impressive save by Pearce on a two-on-one midway through the third allowed the Eagles to maintain their one-goal advantage and eventually open up a two-goal cushion after Eaves' second tally of the night, this one coming at 12:42.
Michigan State got a six-on-five goal with 11 seconds remaining in the third to cut the lead to 4-3, but was unable to gain control on the ensuing faceoff and the Eagles held on for the victory.
Pearce was named tournament MVP and Eaves and junior defenseman Andrew Alberts were named to the all-tournament team.
BC (13-2-3, 6-0-2 Hockey East) will be back in action on January 3 when it travels to Northeastern to take on the Huskies. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
