Headlines: BC Beats BU 4-3 in 58th Beanpot Championship
by Brian @ BCI on Feb 8, 2010 11:25 PM EST
1 comment
2/8/2010 - Boston College 4, Boston University 3 - 16-8-2 (11-6-2 Hockey East)
2010 Beanpot Champions! WIN!
It was a very tenuous start for Boston College. The nerves of this young Eagles team were clearly getting the best of them. And when you think about it, that's understandable. While we all know that the Eagles are clearly the more talented team this year, Jerry York's squad had already lost to Boston University twice in 2010. Not to mention one of those losses came on one of the biggest stages of any college hockey player's career - Fenway Park. So the Eagles came out a little shell-shocked to start the game. BC went into the first intermission down 1-0, after Boston University's Kevin Shattenkirk converted a Eagles' turnover in the defensive zone into the first goal of the game at 13:36 of the first period. Shattenkirk capitalized on a bad clearing pass from BC defenseman Philip Samuelsson and went in uncontested.
That's when Jerry York worked his magic. I'm not sure whether York gave a speech or simply played Kenny Power's audio book "You're f-cking out, I'm f-cking in" to his players. Whatever York decided to do or say to this team during the first intermission, simply, worked. BC came out firing on all cylinders in the second period, scoring just a little over a minute into the second period. Stephen Whitney (assisted by Cam Atkinson and Brian Gibbons) scored on the remainder of the 5-on-4 power-play that started the second period. Then at 12:33, defenseman Carl Sneep made it 2-1 with a blistering shot from the point that may have deflected by a BU defender. Sneep's goal was assisted by Matt Price and Matt Lombardi. Finally, Chris Kreider joined in on the scoring by turned a 1-on-1 breakaway into arguably one of the best goals of the years for the Eagles.
I know New York Rangers fans are already salivating over the thought of you playing at the next level, Chris, but ... please stay? How 'bout another year? Kreider has really come on strong of late. Kreider went into the winter break and the World Juniors with just 2 goals in his young BC career. The goal tonight marked Kreider's 5th goal in as many games, bringing his season total to 7.
The Eagles took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission, but the game was far from over, as nothing comes easy for us Superfans.
BC again got on the board 4:22 into the third period, when Barry Almeida turned an odd man rush into the Eagles' fourth goal of the game. Almeida wristed a shot over the blocker side of BU goalie Kieran Millan. After making it 4-1, however, Boston University would respond with two goals in the third period, including a shorthanded goal from BU's David Warsofsky at 9:00. The Terriers would then cut the lead to 1 with just under 3 minutes left in the game, when Colby Cohen scored the power play goal. The teams were skating 6-on-4 as Jack Parker had pulled Kieran Millan during the BU man advantage.
BU would again pull Millan with a little over 90 seconds left in the game, and BC held off a flurry of BU shots to secure the victory. BU's Nick Bonino had the best shot at tying the game when, with just 19 seconds left, he swatted at the puck twice, only to be denied by Muse's left pad.
With the victory, BC wins its 15th Beanpot Championship and second in the last three seasons.
Gibbons Point Streak. With an assist on Stephen Whitney's goal to tie the game at 1, Brian Gibbons extends his consecutive points streak to 11 games. The 11 game point scoring streak dates back to January 1 in the opening round game of the Denver Cup vs. St. Lawrence.
Good things come in 3s. Could winning the Beanpot be a sign of better things to come for the Eagles? For the past two seasons, the winner of the Beanpot has gone on to win the Hockey East Tournament and then the NCAA National Championship. BC pulled off the "Beanpot-Hockey East-NCAA" hat trick in 2008, while BU pulled off the feat last season.
H/T Superfans. Big ups to the Boston College faithful for being loud and bringing it all night. The Superfans cheers were loud and audible all night on the NESN telecast. Several classic cheers could be heard while watching the game on NESN, including:
"Sucks to BU!"
"Safety school ..."
"Why so quiet?"
"BU football"
"We can't hear you!"
"It's all your fault!"
All classics. Between the awesome cheers and fans singing to the band's cover of Coldplay's Viva la Vida, the Superfans were in full-force tonight.
Next up. The Eagles have the week off before playing a home-and-home against UMass-Lowell this weekend. The new year hasn't been kind to the River Hawks. Lowell went into the holiday break with a 10-4-1, but has gone only 4-6-1 in 2010, including a current three game losing streak to Northeastern, BU and Merrimack. Lowell currently sits in a three-way tie for 5th place with Boston University and Vermont in the Hockey East standings. In the first game of the season series, Lowell defeat the Eagles 3-1 at Tsongas Arena back on January 23 (the Eagles last loss).
The Eagles will be looking to gain ground on New Hampshire as the Wildcats only play one game this weekend (Friday vs. Providence). BC is currently 3 points behind first place UNH.
Go Eagles!
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Game Thread: BC vs. BU (Beanpot Championship)
by Brian @ BCI on Feb 8, 2010 6:00 PM EST
35 comments
vs. 
#10 Boston College (15-8-2, 11-6-2 Hockey East) vs. Boston University Terriers (11-11-3, 8-9-2 Hockey East)
Time: 8:00 EST
Date: Monday, Feb. 8, 2010
Place: TD Garden (capacity 17,565), Boston, Ma.
TV: NESN (DirecTV Channel 628)
Radio: 98.5 FM The Sports Hub
Last Time Out: Boston College defeated Massachusetts 7-1 to move to 15-8-2 (11-6-2 Hockey East) on the season. BU is coming off a 3-2 victory at UMass Lowell.
Series: The Beanpot final marks the 250th time these two programs will face one another. Boston University leads the all-time series 125-107-17.
Last Meeting: Boston Univeristy 5, Boston College 4 (OT) (Jan. 22, 2010)
Last Meeting in Beanpot: Boston College 4, Boston University 3 (OT) (56th Beanpot Semifinal #2) (Feb. 4, 2008)
Boston University's Leading Scorers: Jr. Nick Bonino (6-17-23), Jr. Kevin Shattenkirk (3-17-20)
Boston University's Leading Goaltender: So. Kieran Millan (9-10-0, 3.12 GAA, .885 SV%)
Bring the Beanpot back to the Heights! Leave your thoughts on the game below.
Go Eagles!
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Headlines: UMass No Match for BC, Onto the Beanpot Final
by Brian @ BCI on Feb 8, 2010 1:47 PM EST
0 comments
2/5/2010 - Boston College 7, Massachusetts 1 - 15-8-2 (11-6-2 Hockey East)
"It was a game that could have been a lot closer, but all of the sudden every break imaginable, every shot we had, any scoring chance went into the net. It was a crazy game to coach; it happens once in a coach’s lifetime that every bounce goes your way." - Jerry York
Sometimes, it seems, the puck just bounces your way.
Boston College is hitting their stride just at the right time of the season. The Eagles used a four goal first period and a three goal second period to blow the game wide open, and take a very important game from the Minutemen in front of a sold-out Mullins Center crowd. BC has outscored opponents 18-3 in their last three games, and 10-1 in the first period.
The Eagles push their record to 15-8-2 and 11-6-2 in Hockey East and take sole possession of second place in the Hockey East standings. BC also gained ground on the league-leading New Hampshire Wildcats, who were swept by Maine up at Alfond Arena this weekend. The Eagles are now 3 points back of first place with a game at hand.
Brothers Whitney. Joe Whitney scored twice in the first period, while the younger Stephen Whitney tallied a goal and two assists in the 7-1 victory over UMass.
Atkinson-Gibbons-Whitney Line. Cam Atkinson continued his point storing streak, scoring a goal and 2 assists in the win. Atkinson now has 3 goals and 4 assists in his last three games, sparking the Eagles' three game winning streak. Brian Gibbons tallied 4 assists in the victory, extending his point scoring streak to a team-best 10 games. The three linemates accounted for 9 points on Friday night (3-6-9). The nine points brings their seven-game point total to 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists).
Pairwise Update. With the victory, Boston College jumps up to a tie for 5th with Bemidji State in the latest (often controversial) Pairwise rankings. BC is the highest ranked team from Hockey East, with Maine jumping up to 7th after their weekend sweep of UNH. If the Eagles can keep things rolling tonight against BU, they will likely continue to rise in rankings. Above BC are a trio of WCHA programs - Denver, Wisconsin and St. Cloud State - along with consensus #1 Miami of Ohio. It's hard to really glean anything useful from the PWR rankings with four weeks left in the regular season, so just know that if the season ended today, BC would be solidly in the NCAA tournament's field of 16 with or without the automatic bid given to the Hockey East Tournament champion.
Camp Randall Hockey Classic. Living in Chicago, I got the opportunity to make the short trip to Madison this weekend to attend the Camp Randall Hockey Classic outdoor hockey game between Michigan and Wisconsin. I like to think I'm one of the few people on the planet that attended both outdoor collegiate hockey games this season. Look for a post later this week (say, tomorrow-ish?) comparing my Frozen Fenway experience to the outdoor game at Camp Randall.
Beanpot. Next up for the Eagles is the BU Invitational Championship between BC and BU. Fortunately for BC, York has the Eagles playing their best hockey of the year going into the 58th edition of the Beanpot. The bad news for BC is that Jack Parker also has BU playing their best hockey of the year. After the defending National Champions' season was on life support going into the holiday break, Boston U. has rattled off 7 wins in 9 games to start 2010 and, just like BC, goes into the Beanpot final riding a 3 game winning streak. Tonight's game marks the 250th meeting between the last two NCAA National Champions. BU leads the all-time series 125-107-17.
Join us for a Beanpot Championship game thread later tonight. The game will be televised on NESN. Coverage begins at 7:30pm ET.
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[After the game] I was telling our athletic director, Kevin White, I said it felt like a baseball manager. You’re up 2-1, bottom of the sixth, second and third, nobody out, you don’t score. Bottom of the seventh, bases loaded, nobody out, you don’t score. All of a sudden you get to the eighth and ninth inning, it’s still 2-1. And that’s what happened in that ballgame. When we had that 10-point lead, we went to the line a lot, we had a couple of inside things that [we] didn’t score on. That’s why I’m proud of my guys, [because] they had the toughness at the end to still win. They inbounded the ball well, we never turned it over against the press, and then Nolan and Jon hit four big free throws. And then Zoubek made the play of the game in closing out on Trapani and taking him off the 3 where he had to put the ball on the floor because obviously he’s a heck of a shooter. So, for Brian to do that — we made winning plays to win. I just felt that we played better than the score.
- Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's thoughts after his team's 66-63 win over Boston College
BC’s final shot a fitting end (WEEI The BC Blog)
Headlines: BC Falls Just Short, Loses to Duke 66-63
by Brian @ BCI on Feb 8, 2010 12:53 PM EST
5 comments
Brian: The Eagles showed everyone on Saturday afternoon that they shouldn’t be counted out the rest of the season. Despite the 66-63 setback to Duke, BC crawled back from a 10 point halftime deficit to cut the lead to 1 with only a few seconds left.
Let’s start by dissecting the Eagles’ final possession. After Jon Scheyer hit two free throws to push the Duke lead to 3, Skinner decided not to call a timeout. Instead, Reggie Jackson brought the ball up the court, struggled to get an open look, and when he finally found Joe Trapani, it was too late. Trapani's three point attempt fell short with time expiring, and the Blue Devils escaped Conte Forum with a win. From Skinner:
"We had already called the play so we knew what we wanted," Skinner said. "So I didn’t want to give them a chance to set their defense because I knew what defense they had. I didn’t want them to be able to make a substitution. We had four shooters on the floor plus a rebounder, which we wanted. I was comfortable with my situation and what we needed to do. We ran it. We just didn’t run it efficiently."
Do you agree with Skinner’s decision to not call a timeout, and do you think that the shot clock malfunction was partly to blame for the Trapani miss?
Jeff: I like Skinner's decision to not call a timeout. The Blue Devils could have created a lot of trouble for us to just get the ball in. However, I wish BC would've gone for the quick score instead of holding for the final shot. Whether that had been a 2 or a 3 and then fouled again if they had made a 2 point field goal and leave the possibility for Duke to only hit one free throw with about 6 or 7 seconds left.
Brian: Which player were you most impressed with on Saturday? Who did you expect a little more out of?
Jeff: I suppose Rakim Sanders impressed me the most because my expectations for him this season have plummeted. He played better on defense then he has so far this season. He was also able to create his own shots on offense several times.
To answer your second question, Reggie Jackson would be the player I would've liked to see produce more. He has been a big game player throughout his short career. But on Saturday he had only eight points and was 3-9 from the field and 0-3 from 3 before hitting the big three point shot to make it a single possession game at the end.
Brian: The Eagles have a quick two day turnaround before they travel to Winston-Salem to take on the 16-5 Demon Deacons. Wake Forest is coming off a 64-61 winner over Virginia in overtime on Saturday. Do you like the Eagles chances to upset the Deacs?
Jeff: I absolutely like the Eagles chances after playing Duke (the best team in the league) and Florida State (possibly the second best team) in their last two games with chances to win both games. The Eagles are playing well enough lately to beat anyone in the league but they just need to hit a few more shots at some crucial times during the game to turn these L's into W's. The Eagles could still turn things around and rattle off several consecutive victories at some point but it might be all for naught at this point. We are getting closer and closer to the point where mathematically, BC's sole chance of making the NCAA Tournament will be by winning the ACC Tournament.
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2009-2010 Boston College Men's Basketball: Duke Game Thread
by Brian @ BCI on Feb 6, 2010 2:06 PM EST
67 comments
vs.
Duke Blue Devils (18-4, 6-2 ACC) at Boston College Eagles (12-10, 3-5 ACC)
Time: 2:00 EST
Date: Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010
Place: Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Ma.
TV: ESPN
The Line: Boston College +8.5
Last Time Out: Boston College lost to Florida State 61-57 to fall to 12-10 (3-5 ACC) on the season.
Series: Duke leads the all-time series 11-2.
Last Meeting: Duke 79, Boston College 59 (Jan. 13, 2010)
Last Meeting at Conte Forum: Boston College 80, Duke 74 (Feb. 15, 2009)
Trends: Duke is a mere 1-4 in road games this season, while BC is 8-5 at home. BC has lost 5 of its last 7 games.
Duke's 2008-2009 Record: 28-6 (11-5 ACC), Regional Semifinal NCAA Tournament loss to Villanova
Probable Starters:
- G - Jon Scheyer (Sr.) - 6'5", 190 lbs., Northbrook, Il. - 18.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG
- G - Nolan Smith (Jr.) - 6'2", 185 lbs., Upper Marlboro, Md. - 18.0 PPG, 2.6 RPG
- F - Kyle Singler (Jr.) - 6'8", 230 lbs., Medford, Or. - 16.8 PPG, 7.1 RPG
- F - Lance Thomas (Sr.) - 6'8", 225 lbs., Scotch Plains, N.J. - 5.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG
- F - Miles Plumlee (So.) - 6'10", 240 lbs., Warsaw, In. - 6.8 PPG, 5.9 RPG
The 9th ranked Duke Blue Devils look to put a stop to their road woes as they face our Boston College Eagles today. Duke is just 1-4 in road games this season, with their one win coming at Clemson back on January 23. BC is coming off a 61-57 loss to Florida State, a game in which they went to the free throw line 4 times (a school record low).
The last time out against Duke, BC was held to 43 percent shooting from the floor, including 1 for 10 shooting from 3. Rakim Sanders was held to 3 points on 1 of 8 shooting, while Joe Trapani was held to eight points. No starter finished in double figures. Reggie Jackson (20 points, 3 rebounds) provided the only spark for BC off the bench. The Eagles are clearly playing better basketball than they were back on January 13, but will it be enough to get them past the Blue Devils?
Leave your pre-, in- or post-game thoughts below.
Go Eagles!
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BC Hosts No. 9 Duke at Conte Forum Today
by Brian @ BCI on Feb 6, 2010 1:15 AM EST
1 comment
Jeff: There are a lot of things we do not know about this BC Eagles basketball team. However, we do know that this core of players has played better this year and last year in games televised on ESPN and against teams with Duke and North Carolina written across their jerseys. I think because of this, more so than the improvement the team has shown, BC has a chance tomorrow. Do you agree?
Brian: Not sure I agree. Sure, BC has been playing better and beat both Duke and North Carolina last year. But don’t forget that Duke is playing better, too. Duke just dismantled a Georgia Tech team that beat them the first time around. While it was great for BC to beat Duke for the first time in 25 years, I’m not expecting a repeat performance. The Eagles have been too inconsistent this year, and have let too many close games slip away for me to say that BC has a good chance today. Do they have a chance? Absolutely. But I don’t think just because their uniforms say Duke and Mike Krzyzewski will be roaming the sidelines that the Eagles have any more of a chance than they normally would.
Jeff: Do you think the Eagles can win their three remaining home games if they can get past Duke to finish the season with a nice 6-2 home record? Our remaining home games against Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia are clearly games against the bottom of the league in terms of RPI. Currently RPI standings look something like:
Duke (7)
Georgia Tech (22)
Florida State (27)
Clemson (28)
Wake Forest (29)
Marlyand (40)
Virginia (58)
Virginia Tech (63)
UNC (69)
Miami (80)
NC State (99)
Brian: I think regardless of the outcome of the Duke game, I like the Eagles in all 3 of their remaining home games. With UNC losing on Thursday night - their sixth loss in eight games, pushing their record to 13-9 overall - the wheels have all but completely come off the Tar Heels bandwagon. College basketball fans should get used to the idea of the defending National Champions being left out of the Big Dance. BC proved they could play with Virginia Tech on the road at Cassell. Finally, while the Cavaliers 5-2 ACC record looks impressive at face value, we will catch UVA just at the right time. The Cavaliers starts a tough stretch of games this Saturday that includes Wake Forest, at Maryland, at Virginia Tech, FSU, at Clemson, at Miami, and Duke. After they navigate that stretch of games, they then travel to Chestnut Hill. The Eagles may very well catch the ‘Hoos on a 4, 5 or 6 game slide, and as a result, I like BC’s chances to beat Virginia.
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Tuesday, Feb 9, 2010, 7:00 PM EST
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Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
(updated 2.8.2010 at 2:55 AM EST)
| Conf | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
| Duke Blue Devils | 7 | 2 | 19 | 4 |
|
Maryland Terrapins
|
6 | 2 | 16 | 6 |
|
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
|
6 | 3 | 16 | 5 |
|
Virginia Tech Hokies
|
5 | 3 | 18 | 4 |
| Virginia Cavaliers | 5 | 3 | 14 | 7 |
|
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
|
5 | 4 | 17 | 6 |
|
Florida St. Seminoles
|
5 | 4 | 17 | 6 |
|
Clemson Tigers
|
4 | 5 | 16 | 7 |
|
Boston College Eagles
|
3 | 6 | 12 | 11 |
|
North Carolina Tar Heels
|
2 | 6 | 13 | 10 |
|
Miami Hurricanes
|
2 | 7 | 16 | 7 |
|
N.C. State Wolfpack
|
2 | 7 | 14 | 10 |
Eagles Basketball Schedule
Next 5 Games
|
@
Wake Forest
|
Tue 02/09 | 7:00 PM EST |
|
@
Florida St.
|
Sun 02/14 | 7:30 PM EST |
|
North Carolina
|
Sat 02/20 | 12:00 PM EST |
|
Virginia Tech
|
Wed 02/24 | 7:00 PM EST |
|
@
Georgia Tech
|
Sat 02/27 | 12:00 PM EST |
Last 5 Games
| Duke | Sat 02/06 | L 63 - 66 |
|
Florida St.
|
Sat 01/30 | L 57 - 61 |
|
Clemson
|
Tue 01/26 | W 75 - 69 |
|
@
Virginia Tech
|
Sat 01/23 | L 62 - 63 |
|
@
Miami
|
Tue 01/19 | W 79 - 75 |
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