Boston College
Merrimack (Hockey East Quarterfinals)
Men's Hockey Defeats Merrimack, 4-1
March 07, 2003 | Men's Hockey
March 7, 2003
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Sophomore forward Ryan Shannon scored two goals to lead Boston College to a 4-1 victory in the first game of a best-of-three HOCKEY EAST quarterfinal-round series at Kelley Rink.
The game was delayed for nearly 20 minutes with 6:17 remaining in the third period after a collision between BC forward Patrick Eaves and Merrimack goaltender Joe Exter left Exter injured on the ice. Exter was tended to by both teams' trainers as well as two Boston College team doctors. He left the ice on a stretcher and was transported to Boston's Beth Israel Hospital. The severity of his injury is unknown.
Boston College (22-9-4) led 2-0 after one period. Shannon opened the scoring with a power-play tally at 16:28 of the first period and senior captain Ben Eaves doubled the BC lead 90 seconds later.
After playing more than 33 minutes of scoreless hockey and after the injury to the Merrimack netminder, Merrimack (12-17-6) made the score 2-1 on a power-play goal by freshman Brent Gough at 14:58 of the third period.
Boston College's Shannon netted his second goal 18 seconds later to restore the home team's two-goal lead. Sophomore defenseman Andrew Alberts finished the scoring at 18:13. The last two BC goals were score on Merrimack back-up goaltender Casey Guenther.
BC sophomore goaltender Matti Kaltiainen finished with 12 saves. Merrimack's Exter made 29 stops before being injured. Guenther recorded two saves in the final 6:17.
Boston College shared the HOCKEY EAST regular-season title with New Hampshire. The Eagles are the second seed in the conference tournament. Merrimack is the seventh-seeded team.
The two teams will play the second game of the quarterfinal-round series on Saturday, March 8 in BC's Kelley Rink. Game time is 8 p.m.
