Boston College Athletics
Boston College
Merrimack*
No. 2 Men's Hockey Ties Merrimack, 4-4
February 05, 2004 | Men's Hockey
Feb. 5, 2004
North Andover, Mass. - The second-ranked Eagles skated to a 4-4 tie with Merrimack in front of 2,078 fans at the Volpe Center on Thursday night. Tony Voce scored two goals for BC to up his team-leading total to 20.
Tony Voce got the Eagles on the board at 12:22 of the first. Sophomore forward Patrick Eaves intercepted a Merrimack pass at his own blue line and found a streaking Voce all alone at center ice. Voce walked in unabated and beat Merrimack goalie Jim Healey to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Merrimack pulled even with a power-play goal from Steve Crusco at 8:41 of the second period, but BC answered right back with a power-play goal of its own at 9:21. Voce was set up on the man-advantage by senior J.D. Forrest and junior Ryan Shannon. After a melee behind the BC net resulted in several penalties, BC went on the power play again and once again converted. This time it was Eaves scoring the goal, as he fired a shot that beat Healey on the near side. Shannon and Forrest again recorded the assists. The Warriors continued to scratch back, though. Marco Rosa scored a power-play tally at 14:30 to make it a 3-2 game. At 15:18, Merrimack tied it up again on Tim Reidy's unassisted goal and the teams went into the second intermission knotted at 3-3.
It took the Eagles (20-3-4, 12-1-4 Hockey East) just 2:23 in the third period to pull ahead again. Ryan Murphy found Ty Hennes in open ice and Hennes beat Healey to put the Eagles ahead, 4-3. Merrimack evened the score again at 9:31, with Reidy collecting a turnover in front of the BC net and scoring his second unassisted goal of the night. The second half of the period saw scoring chances for both teams, but neither were able to capitalize and the game headed into an extra frame. The five-minute overtime period featured some early chances for both squads, but neither team got on the board and the game ended in a 4-4 tie.
Matti Kaltiainen made 22 saves for the Eagles while Healey made a career-high 40 for Merrimack (9-16-4, 4-11-4 Hockey East).
The Eagles will next play on Monday night at the FleetCenter against BU in the title game of the 52nd annual Beanpot. The puck drops at 8 p.m.
