Boston College Athletics
Boston College
13-8-2, 6-5-2HEA
Maine
8-15-1, 3-7-0HEA
Men's Hockey Streak Stopped at Maine, 4-2
January 18, 2015 | Men's Hockey
ORONO, MAINE – Despite a late comeback attempt, No. 17 Boston College had its eight-game unbeaten streak curbed by Maine after enduring a 4-2 setback on Sunday afternoon at Alfond Arena.
After a scoreless opening period, the Black Bears netted a pair five minutes apart midway through the second and never looked back. The Eagles cut the deficit to a goal on two occasions, but UM answered the call each time.
Senior assistant captain Michael Sit scored his first goal of the season while second-year forward Ryan Fitzgerald netted his ninth of the year. Rookie blue liner Noah Hanifin has secured an assist in his third-straight game while Ian McCoshen has assisted in his last two outings.
Sophomore Thatcher Demko surrendered four goals on 30 Maine shots while the Eagles beat UM netminder Sean Romeo twice on 36 shots.
Neither team could find the back of the net to start the first, matching one another’s shot totals at 10.
The Eagles earned a pair of power play opportunities to start the second stanza after back-to-back Malcolm Hayes penalties at 3:12 and 5:39.
Boston College swarmed the Black Bears’ end, but Romeo came up with several crucial stops to thwart the Eagles’ power play bid. Sophomore Chris Calnan made it a 4-on-4 affair after a hooking call at 7:15, but could not counter with the extra skater.
Maine took advantage of a fortuitous bounce midway through the second frame after senior Destry Straight clanged a layup off the left post. Moments after the exchange, Jake Rutt accepted a pass from Devin Shore at the top of the zone and took his chance on Demko. With heavy traffic in front of the Eagles’ net, the puck made its way through Demko’s pads at 11:58 for the 1-0 Black Bear lead.
The Black Bears capitalized off their momentum and doubled the advantage after a successful deflection at 16:11 of the second frame.
Rutt generated the scoring play after hauling in Cam Brown’s pass along the near boards. Liam Pecararo curled around from the crease and stuck his stick out after Rutt flung it towards Demko. The puck kicked off Pecararo’s stick and under the cross bar to make it a 2-0 UM advantage.
Junior Michael Matheson and Brown went off for their respective teams with 11 and 54 seconds off the clock to start the third, respectively.
With the extra real estate, Hanifin broke the play out to Sit in the flank. Sit raced in and triggered a sharp wrister on Romeo. The initial stop was made, but not handled cleanly and Sit stayed with the play. The assistant captain wrangled the puck away from Romeo and managed to slip it past the outstretched goaltender at a difficult angle to cut into Maine’s lead, 2-1, at the 1:57 mark of the third.
The Eagles gained a big power play opportunity at 7:59 after Nolan Vesey was hauled off for hooking, but freshman Alex Tuch was cited for holding at 8:43 and negated the power play.
On the ensuing draw in BC’s end five seconds later, Eric Schurhamer won the faceoff out to Devin Shore in the slot. Shore had plenty of time and beat Demko to make it a 3-1 affair at 8:48.
With a few minutes remaining in regulation, Fitzgerald gave the Eagles hope after redirecting McCoshen’s dish from the right circle. Tuch backhanded the pass to McCoshen at the top of the zone and fired it to the blade of Fitzgerald’s stick. Already in motion, Fitzgerald redirected the disc and deposited to the back of the net to make it 3-2 with 3:58 left to play.
Just over a minute later, Cedric Lacroix dashed the Eagles’ bid at a comeback by scoring in tight on Demko at 17:07 to close out the final, 4-2.
Boston College returns to television on Wednesday night, its third game on NESN in the last four outings. The Eagles welcome Merrimack to Kelley Rink for their first meeting of the season as Tom Caron and Billy Jaffe will be on the call for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
Game Notes
- Boston College is 4-13-3 in its last 20 trips to Orono.
