Wow

It was a surprise, and yet it wasn't a surprise, all at the same time.

When Middlemarch tickets went on sale, the date - March 21 - gave me pause, as I knew it was the night of Hockey East finals. I thought, however, that there was no way BC would be at the Garden (but I was still going to skip the dance to go see the final, regardless of who was in it).

How silly of me.

BC is back at the Garden again after a fantastic 60 minute all-around performance tonight at UNH, topping the Wildcats 1-0 on an early Matt Price goal.

John Muse was simply brilliant in net, bailing BC out on a few scrums during UNH power plays, making two big stops in the final minute, and making some high glove saves, too. If Muse gets back going the way he did in the tournament last year, then we could be on the verge of a serious run.

I liked BC's toughness, responding quickly and swiftly to UNH players running Muse, throwing some good hits, and being defensively stout when they had to be.

With the results of tonight's games (Lowell sweeps UVM, NU and BU are both sent to Game 3s with UMass and Maine, respectively), BC just needs one upset tomorrow night to avoid the Red Menace on the semifinals.

Scenarios -

BU and Northeastern advance:

BU vs BC - 5 PM
UML vs Northeastern - 8 PM

BU wins, NU loses

BU vs UMass - 5 PM
UML vs BC - 8 PM

BU loses, NU wins

NU vs Maine - 5 PM
UML vs BC - 8 PM

BU loses, NU loses

UML vs Maine - 5 PM
BC vs UMass - 8 PM

The traveling fan support for BC was incredible tonight. There weren't many of us but we were all loud and into the game - and having the BC pep band in the house made a huge difference. Kudos to every BC fan who came out - I'm very proud to be an Eagle tonight.

The women's hockey team's season came to an end this afternoon in Minnesota but the lady Eagles can hold their heads up high after a 4-3 loss to the Gophers. BC fell behind 3-0 and 4-1 early but battled back to make it close, and BC fans in attendance have described it as BC's best effort ever. I buy it, from the parts I saw on video. Sadly, without Stack or Schaus it could be a rough transition next year, but the pieces are in place for BC to become a powerful program in women's hockey.