Boston College
Providence*
Men's Hockey Ties Providence, 2-2
November 19, 2004 | Men's Hockey
Nov. 19, 2004
A two-point performance by Andrew Alberts led Boston College (4-2-2, 2-0-2) to tie its second game of the season against Hockey East member Providence College (4-5-1, 2-4-1) on Friday night. A crowd of 3,030 packed into the Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I. to see the conference match-up.
The game began to get chippy early in the first. BC and PC traded "hitting after the whistle" penalties when a BC player was boarded hard deep in the Eagle zone. The tone was set for the physical, in-your-face contest.
PC got on the board first. At the 7:50 mark, Friar forward Tom Gallagher picked up a rebound just outside the crease and put it into the bottom left corner of the net, by the foot of BC goaltender Cory Schneider.
Dave Spina, in his first game being centered by Ryan Shannon, netted BC's first of the night to knot the game at one. Shannon put a shot on PC goalie Tyler Sims, but his low wrister was deflected by the freshman. Spina picked up the puck and buried it stick side on Sims. Andrew Alberts was also credited with an assist on the play.
The goal was Spina's fourth of the season and his fourth point. Shannon's assist was his sixth of 2004-05 campaign and his eighth point. Alberts, playing in his third game of the season, notched his first point of the year.
The Eagles went into the first intermission in a 1-1 lock. BC out-shot the Friars 13-8 in the first 20 minutes of play.
The second was quiet for both teams in the first 10 minutes. BC continued to use its speed to keep the puck in the Friars' defensive zone, but missed power-play opportunities preserved the 1-1 stalemate.
Defensive efforts from Alberts and Schneider kept PC out of the net. Alberts was an integral part of the BC penalty kill unit on a team that, recently, has been hurt in special teams situations. Schneider made a snap glove save on a rebound put-back at the 7:30 mark, thwarting PC's best chance of the period.
The second period winded down and the score remained 1-1. Although BC out-shot PC 15-5 in the second, the Eagles could not come out with a goal to show for the effort.
Five minutes into the third, Schneider dazzled the crowd again. A loose puck picked up by a Friar forward gave PC a great scoring chance. However, Schneider made consecutive saves on his initial shot and the subsequent pair of rebounds.
Stephen Gionta gave BC its first lead of the night. Alberts made a dish to Eaves, who slid the puck through the defense to a cutting Gionta. Gionta took the puck and went top shelf, stick side on Sims.
Gionta has put up at least a point in six of BC's eight games this season. The assist was Alberts' second of the evening and Eaves' was his ninth of the season.
With the clock a few ticks under three minutes remaining in regulation, PC tied up the game. Freshman forward Jon Rheault got a clean look, but the puck what poked out by Schneider. Junior Torry Gajda collected the rebound and shot it into the net to tie the game 2-2 and force and an overtime period.
Overtime saw three shots by BC and one by PC. Dan Bertram had the best chance of either team when he followed a Gionta shot on net. Sims made the save on the shot from the left circle and went to cover the puck. The whistle blew, then Bertram, a second too late, poked the puck into the net in vain.
There was no scoring in the extra five minutes and the game ended in a 2-2 lock, BC's third straight game without tallying a win.
BC hosts Holy Cross this Monday night at 7 p.m. at Kelley Rink.
