You couldn't have scripted a stranger game, that's for sure.
The Eagles built up a 9-4 lead midway through the third period and slowly watched as Yale scored 3 unanswered to cut the lead to 2. Fortunately, that was all the scoring in this one as the Eagles advance to 2010 Frozen Four at Ford Field in Detroit.
Cam Atkinson led the scoring with a hat trick and an assist, while linemate Joe Whitney notched 2 goals and 2 assists. BC's first line of Atkinson-Whitney-Gibbons registered over half of the Eagles points on the night (10 of 19).
While a few of the 7 Yale goals couldn't be helped, John Muse could be described as shaky at his best. His play was very inconsistent, allowing Yale to capitalize on a few long rebounds, much like he gave up in the Alaska game. The more disturbing trend has to be Muse's performance over his last three games. His 1 goal given up in the first round against Alaska is the only thing keeping his GAA below 6 in his last 3 starts (4.66). Muse did have some timely stops and finished the night stopping 32 of 39 Bulldog shots. He improves to 17-8-2 on the year and a perfect 6-0-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
Other than a incredibly bizarre shorthanded goal from Carl Sneep, the Eagles again couldn't get anything going on special teams. BC went through the Northeast Regional going 0-for-10 on the power play, and gave up 3 power play goals this afternoon.
York's squad will be making their 22nd Frozen Four appearance overall and their fourth in the last five years. BC will face the winner of Michigan/Miami (currently in progress) on Thursday, April 8 in the National Semifinal.
Here's the game by the numbers:
- 170 - The number of feet Carl Sneep's zone clearing slapshot traveled before taking a strange carom and getting past Yale goalie Ryan Rondeau
- 39 - "Yale Beats Boston College 39-39." Both the Eagles and Bulldogs registered 39 shots on the night
- 16 - Both the total number of goals scored on the night (the most combined goals in NCAA regional game history), as well as the number of combined penalties
- +14 - BC's first line of Atkinson-Gibbons-Whitney finished with a combined +14 plus/minus, including a game-high +5 from both Cam Atkinson and Joe Whitney
- 9 - Jerry York and the Eagles will be making their ninth appearance in the Frozen Four in the last 13 seasons
- 6 - Yale's Mark Arcobello registered 6 points on the night (3 goals, 3 assists) but still only managed to finish with a E plus/minus
- 3 - As in a hat trick (BC's Cam Atkinson and Yale's Mark Arcobello), the number of goalies Yale used (Ryan Rondeau, Billy Blase and Jeff Malcolm) or the number of times Yale converted on the man advantage
- 2 - Jimmy Hayes had the shift of his career, scoring two goals in the same shift, including the game-winning goal at 6:53 of the third period