Boston College
Northeastern*
Men's Hockey Defeats Northeastern, 6-3
February 22, 2003 | Men's Hockey
Feb. 22, 2003
BOSTON - Junior Ben Eaves tallied one goal and two assists as the fifth-ranked men's hockey team defeated Northeastern, 6-3, Saturday night in front of 3,162 at Matthews Arena. The win moves Boston College (21-8-3, 16-5-1 HEA) into sole possession of first place in the HOCKEY EAST standings. The Eagles can clinch the regular season crown with a win over New Hampshire this Friday.
Sophomore Taylor Leahy opened the scoring on his first collegiate goal at 4:51 of the first period. Streaking towards the Northeastern zone, Leahy took a pass from junior Ty Hennes who was positioned on the Husky blue line, and beat Northeastern goalie Mike Gilhooly with a shot to the top right corner. Freshman Ben Lovejoy also registered an assist on the tally.
The Eagles extended their advantage to 2-0 on a Ryan Shannon power-play goal at 13:39 of the first period. Shannon, positioned on the point, took a pass from Eaves in the corner and walked in on Gilhooly for his 12th goal of the season. Sophomore Andrew Alberts also picked up an assist on the goal.
Stephen Gionta gave BC a 3-0 advantage on BC's second power-play tally of the night at 6:46 of the second period. Gionta picked up a rebound off a Peter Harrold shot for his fifth tally of the season. John Adams was also credited with an assist on the goal.
The Eagles extended their lead to four on junior Tony Voce's 17th goal of the season at 7:17 of the second period. The goal - scored on the power-play - was assisted by Eaves and Alberts.
After Northeastern (9-20-3, 4-16-2) cut the lead to 4-2, Eaves put the Eagles up three goals on his 17th tally of the season at 3:42 of the third period.
Freshman Chris Collins closed the scoring for BC only 51 seconds later on his 10th goal of the year.
Matti Kaltiainen made 27 saves in net for BC, while Gilhooly made 25 stops for the Huskies.
The win gives Boston College the season series sweep of the Huskies, going 4-0-0 including three regular season victories and a win in the first round of the Beanpot.
Boston College closes its home regular season schedule Friday, Feb. 28, in a 7 p.m. game against New Hampshire. A win would secure the HOCKEY EAST regular season title for BC, and the first seed in the tournament. The team will also honor its four seniors prior to the start of the game.
