Tuesday’s Beanpot Championship game was basically one big heart attack. The Eagles trailed into the third period before Daryl Watts tied it late and Toni Ann Miano played the hero in overtime. It was plenty of excitement for one week.
Friday afternoon’s game against Maine was the perfect follow-up to Tuesday’s insanity. The Eagles were on cruise control almost from the drop of the puck, earning them a quality 5-0 win over 10th ranked Maine, and earning fans of the team a bit of a breather for once.
Boston College Goal #1 (GWG): 14:22 of the 1st period
Caitrin Lonergan (Bridget McCarthy, Daryl Watts)
BC 1, UMO 0
Maine started out playing pretty well, tallying the first 6 shots of the game, but their chances weren’t particularly threatening and the Eagles weren’t exactly getting run out of the building. Once the Eagles found their legs, though, it was a methodical march to victory.
Caitrin Lonergan got the Eagles on the board last in the first period with a good individual effort into the attacking zone. McCarthy’s pass up across the red line put Lonergan on the move, and Lonergan just took the puck to the net. There are two Maine defenders available to defend against Lonergan, but Lonergan just goes to the soft spot between them before cutting across and shooting the puck from what ends up being a good scoring area, scoring the goal and making it 1-0 Eagles.
Boston College Goal #2: 19:59.3 of the 1st period
Delaney Belinskas (Daryl Watts, Toni Ann Miano)
BC 2, UMO 0
Maine was still one shot away from tying the game... until the very last second of the period. Daryl Watts broke into the Black Bear end with the puck — a bit like Lonergan, although this time Maine doesn’t quite leave the same lane to the net. Watts still manages to get to the top of the slot for a good shot that Maine goaltender Carly Jackson stops, but the rebound ends up on the stick of Delaney Belinskas.
Belinskas pops the puck back in on net as the clock winds down, and it trickles past Jackson just before the period ends to put BC up 2-0.
Boston College Goal #3: 1:25 of the 2nd period
Daryl Watts (Caitrin Lonergan, Molly Slowe)
BC 3, UMO 0
That goal put Maine in a pretty big hole, and Watts put the nail in the coffin right at the beginning of the second period.
As Caitrin Lonergan gets possession of the puck in the BC end, Watts streaks out all the way from the faceoff dot into the neutral zone and completely roasts both Maine defenders in the process. Watts is gone after starting a good 25 feet south of the defense.
But the play doesn’t go anywhere without the tape to tape pass from Lonergan. Her pass is right on the money, hitting Watts in stride and allowing Watts to keep her advantage on the defenders. She goes forehand to backhand to beat Jackson, and it’s 3-0 BC.
Boston College Goal #4: 15:45 of the 2nd period
Makenna Newkirk (Kenzie Kent, Toni Ann Miano)
BC 4, UMO 0
The Eagles continued their run on cruise control and found goal number four before the end of the second.
Miano takes the initial shot from up top into traffic, but the puck is blocked and winds up right back on her stick. Miano sends the puck back where it came from and this time it makes it at least part of the way to its intended destination. The puck bounces off two Black Bear sticks which do indeed manage to keep the puck away from Carly Jackson, but Kenzie Kent is the first player to control it.
As the puck is coming in, Maine collapses in on the net, which normally isn’t a bad idea, but it really doesn’t work out in this case. While Kenzie controls the puck, Makenna Newkirk fills the vacuum in the slot left by the collapsing Maine defenders, and she’s got all the space in the world. Kent’s got the vision to find her, and Newkirk only has to casually throw the puck past Jackson and the pile of humanity in front of her to make it 4-0.
Boston College Goal #5: 5:11 of the 3rd period
Toni Ann Miano (Willow Corson)
BC 5, UMO 0
The Eagles weren’t quite done yet, though. Miano and Corson wrap up the scoring with a goal of their own early in the third period.
Miano starts the breakout from her own blue line and dishes to Corson heading into the attacking end. Corson’s able to skate in, but what makes this play is Miano fighting through traffic to get through the defense — which you can really see on the secondary replay.
The Black Bears failed to contain Miano at all, and she’s behind everyone when Corson sends the puck back to her. All Miano has to do is stick the one timer through new Maine goaltender Loryn Porter, making it 5-0 Eagles and wrapping up the scoring.
Maine never threatened the game, although they did have a few good scoring opportunities that Katie Burt took care of. Burt has played out of her mind over the second half of the season, and certainly earned herself a clean sheet in this one.
The last game of the regular season is Saturday at 2pm, also at Maine. The Eagles need to win out to have a shot at a top two Pairwise position, which would be really beneficial for BC’s postseason hopes.