#1 Boston College soars over Air Force, UMD beats Maine
Sunday, March 25, 2012
It was shaping into a bad prom story. Boston College was getting denied early and often. However, with relentless effort, the Eagles managed to save their big dance.
Just ask junior Chris Kreider. His pair of goals lifted the Eagles to a 2-0 win against Air Force.
The nation’s top-ranked Eagles (30-10-1) rode into the Northeast Regional semifinals with a 15-game winning streak and a red-hot offense.
The Falcons (21-11-7) found a temporary cure for the Eagles’ fast-striking offense: goalie Jason Torf.
Torf kept Air Force in the game for long stretches of time thanks to his solid defensive play, saving 32 goals on the night. But Torf wasn’t doing it alone. The Falcons defense disrupted the Eagles’ puck movement by clogging up Boston College’s shooting lanes and making big stops.
"That is a heck of hockey team in Boston College, and in my opinion, they beat a heck of a hockey team," Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. "Our game plan was to get to the third period with the score close. We were right where we wanted to be."
Kreider helped the Eagles take the lead, 1-0, off a nice feed by Kevin Hayes in the first period.
Even though the Eagles had 9 quality shots on goal in the first, none would fall.
Frustration started to mount in the offensive zone for Boston College halfway through the second period. Eagles sophomore Bill Arnold missed a wide open chance to score after receiving a pass at the left side of the net.
That remained the theme for the rest of the period for both squads.
With 2:55 left in the second, Air Force had a chance to tie the game in its first power play. This time it was the Eagles’ defense that would deny the Falcons, proving its excellent 87.5 percent penalty kill rate was no joke.
And it was on the power play on the other end that would seal the win for Boston College.
Kreider would score again, this time off a Patrick Wey assist, with 1:21 left in the final period.
A minute later, Eagles goalie Parker Milner’s pad save on Scott Holm’s backhander from the slot, would preserve Boston College’s 2-0 victory.
It was the first time Air Force was shut out this season. The Falcons drop to 1-5 all-time in NCAA play.
"I think what was really the key was we really shut them down defensively," said Milner. "All the shots were beyond the dots."
With this win, Boston College’s record going through Worcester improves to 3-0 in getting to a title. The Eagles won in 2001, ’08 and ’10.
Boston College will face defensive-minded national champion Minnesota-Duluth in the regional finals Sunday night at 8 p.m. in the DCU Center.
Minnesota-Duluth storms back to defeat Maine
The game was decided in a matter of minutes. Well, 6 minutes and 41 seconds, that is.
That’s how long it took defending national champions Minnesota-Duluth (25-9-6) to regain the lead with three unanswered goals to defeat Maine, 5-2.
Maine’s (23-14-3) first NCAA tournament appearance since the 2006-2007 season, however, started on a positive note.
Black Bears captain Spencer Abbott, a Hobey Baker candidate and the country’s top scorer, returned to the ice following a concussion he suffered in the Hockey East semifinals.
Abbott started the Bears’ offense off by firing a strike on the power play to help Maine take early the lead, 1-0.
Matt Mangene followed suit, completing a breakaway that occurred when a Bulldogs player dislodged the Maine net. Despite the gaffe, Mangene’s backhanded goal put the Black Bears up two goals.
Then it all came to an end for Maine, despite outshooting Minnesota-Duluth 14-9 in the first period. Maine’s inability to stop Minnesota-Duluth on offense contributed to the team’s collapse midway through the second.
And it was partly due to Bulldogs goaltender Kenny Reiter. After allowing Mangene’s goal, Reiter tightened up, shutting the door on the Black Bears offense the rest of the game.
"He's had a solid year for us, and you need that type of goaltending at this time of year," UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. "You need big saves, you need the timely saves. Hopefully, he can provide us with that tomorrow too."
The Bulldogs’ Jack Connolly, Caleb Herbert and Jake Hendrickson all scored goals in the second period to take a one goal lead. And it didn’t come without some luck either.
With 3:32 left in the second, Herbert’s initial shot was blocked by Maine’s Dan Sullivan. However, the puck bounced straight into the air, then rolled off Sullivan’s right leg, and into the net.
And such was the night for the Bulldogs to complete its timely comeback.
Moments later, Hendrickson would knock in the rebound off Brady Lamb’s missed shot.
Down the stretch, T.J. Brown would add a goal in the third period for the Bulldogs. Hendrickson would score another, this time on an empty net, in the final minute to ice the game.
The Bulldogs had an efficient third period by being aggressive in the offensive zone and protecting the puck. This would severely limit the time Maine would actually have to score any goals and mount any sort of serious comeback.
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