Boston College
Maine*
Hockey Defeats Maine, 4-3
March 04, 2005 | Men's Hockey
March 4, 2005
Sophomore Brian Boyle scored two goals, including the game winner, as Boston College edged Maine, 4-3, before 7,884 fans in a sold-out Kelley Rink. The victory moved the Eagles into a first-place tie with New Hampshire in the Hockey East standings.
Maine (18-11-6, 13-6-4 Hockey East) took the game's first lead when sophomore Michel Leveille notched a goal at 2:52 in the first period. He took the rebound and beat BC goalie Matti Kaltiainen to far post.
Boyle answered with a power-play goal at 12:34 that period. The play started when Patrick Eaves took a shot from the point. The rebound went to Boyle and he netted the goal over the stick of Maine goaltender Jimmy Howard.
Dave Spina gave Boston College (21-6-6, 14-3-6 HE) its first lead of the evening with a goal at 7:21 in the second period. Freshman Mike Brennan got the puck on his stick along the left side and put a short-angle shot on Howard. The netminder made the stop, but the puck leaked through and Spina tapped it in for the goal.
Maine's Greg Moore tied the game, 2-2, at 10:59 in the middle frame.
Boston College recaptured the lead with a goal by Ryan Shannon at 3:17 in the third period. Eaves got the play going when he made a hard rush at Howard. He made the save, but Shannon crashed the net and got the puck over Howard's glove.
The Black Bears responded to their second deficit of the contest with a goal by Travis Ramsey at 7:34 but were unable to answer Boyle's game-winning goal at 14:26.
The reach of the 6'7" Boyle helped when he took the puck from behind the net to score the game-winning wraparound goal. He went from left to right and was able to score the puck inside the far post, out of the reach of Howard.
Tonight was Boyle's second career multi-goal game and Shannon's 11th multi-point game of the season.
Kaltiainen made 23 stops and Maine's Howard recorded 25 saves. The Eagles converted 1-of-5 power-play opportunities and killed Maine's lone power play.
With a victory on Saturday evening against Maine, the host Eagles can clinch the top seed in the Hockey East Tournament. Also, Boston College can capture the Hockey East regular season title outright with a win and New Hampshire loss or tie to Boston University.
