Hanging on to hope

1 down, 11 to go? 

BC hockey looked as impressive as they have in a long time, destroying Providence 5-1 and lighting the lamp 7 times (two goals were disallowed... one correctly, one incorrectly).

Petrecki had a monster game. I would have named him as one of the 3 stars. Absolutely destroying people all night, but never took himself out of the play. He even made a few hits that directly led to transition opportunities on offense.

I still think the rest of the defensive corps is shaky (see: PC's 2-on-0) and the PP needs work, but the forwards looked GOOD tonight. Lit the lamp 7 times even though only 6 were goals and only 5 counted. Crisp, clean passes. Strong on the puck, getting it in deep, making things happen.

I LOVE seeing Almeida and Atkinson on the same line. They did that against Maine and burned them all weekend. Hope to see them stay together the rest of the year, don't care who the 3rd guy is. 

Whitney had his best game in a while. One play that really stands out in my memory - Whitney was in the corner, Providence was skating the puck out of their defensive zone, and Whit chased him down and knocked the puck off his stick and hummed it back in deep. Good strong play. He's playing with a fire that wasn't there before.

And how can you not love Kucharski? What a story, the guy's a beast. Does my neighbors in Saugus proud and makes up for the fact that that hack Lawrence is from there.

We'll see what happens tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the trip.

Burnt out

UNH 4, BC 2 

Keeping it short and sweet: they turned it on late, but fell just short. I feel that may be the story of the season, too.

I'm encouraged by the good play in the final 15 minutes, but disappointed that it took them that long to seem to be interested in the game.

Giving up a goal with 4 seconds left in the first period came back to bite them.

*

BC women's hockey 1, Providence 1 (PC wins shootout, 1-0)

I hate senior days. They're a reminder that I'm getting old. I'm really going to miss this senior class, as they provided a lot of the memories that I've treasured during my time at the Heights. 

(Photo credit: Melissa Wade, USCHO.com + Hockeyphotography.com)

*

I'm going to be taking a blogging hiatus for a week, as I feel like I need to take a week-long sports hiatus as well. I'm experiencing a little burnout, and things just aren't as fun for me as they usually are [even with the teams that are winning]. I feel half-detatched from every game I'm at and feel like I need a break. I'd try to do a Lent-like break, except the big tournaments are coming up... but I'll probably do a long one at some point this summer.

But for now, coinciding with a week in which I have 3 midterm exams, I'll be taking a hiatus until Friday night's game against Providence [except for my EagleInsider stories... I do not need a break from making money]. No games, and no incessant checking of the blogs and of scores 'til then.

Women's hockey clinches first-round bye

BC earns the #2 seed  in the Hockey East tournament with an impressive 5-1 win at Providence. Allie Thunstrom scored two, with one goal each by Mary Restuccia, Kelli Stack, and Maggie Taverna.

Thunstrom was absolutely electric, playing perhaps her best game since her one-person rally last year in Minnesota. She scored just 14 seconds into the game, batting in a rebound off a shot by Stack. 

Later in the period, with the score 2-0, she scored a brilliant goal, breaking in down the right side on a 2-on-1 with Restuccia. Restuccia was well-covered. Allie faked a pass to her, getting the goalie to decommit from the shot slightly, then ripped a quick wrister past her.

Providence's  Schneider Arena

The Hockey East quarterfinals will be next weekend and the Eagles will be able to sit home and watch, along with #1 seed UNH. The semifinals and finals will be the weekend of March 7-8 at UNH.

BC hosts PC  today in the regular season finale - still a meaningful game in terms of national rankings.

The men's hockey team picked up another loss in Durham last night... make it stop?

In better news, the baseball team started the year with an 8-7 win at Stetson.

Cry UNCle

UNC 92, BC WBB 68.

I actually knew the game was lost pretty early on, even when BC jumped out to a good-sized early lead.

The Eagles were off to a furious start, leading 18-6 a few minutes into the game. But even while BC was dominating, forcing turnover after turnover and playing lockdown defense, the Eagles' shooting was ice cold. Swords didn't record her first point until halfway through the first frame, and the usually dead-on Mickel Picco, after swishing a 3 on the opening possession, kept clanging shot after shot, and even airballed one. 

BC had a chance to really bury UNC early, and they didn't take full advantage of it.

Then, UNC went on an itty-bitty 84-50 run the rest of the way.

The Eagles are still in decent shape to make the NCAA tournament, but they're absolutely going to have to beat both Virginia and NC State, while making a respectable showing on the road against Maryland. Then they must win their first ACC tournament game. Anything less will leave BC on the wrong side of the bubble.

BC travels  to UVA on Sunday at 5 PM.

It's Thursday already...

and the women's basketball team takes on UNC tonight. To read about the women's basketball team, check out the EagleInsider women's hoops notes column by my colleage Diana Nearhos (BC '11).

My hockey weekend preview is up at EI as the men battle UNH this weekend in a home-and-home.

Grant has posted part 2 of what will be a long series of retrospective videos from last year's national championship team. Here, he presents highlights from the best game I've ever attended in person - BC's 5-4, 3 OT win over UNH in last year's Hockey East semifinals.

Baseball??

It's kind of a slow week in BC athletics, but this weekend makes up for it with three truckloads of action. One of this weekend's events: the start of BC baseball season. 

Yes, baseball. It's freezing outside, but it's nice and warm in Deland, Florida, where the baseball team heads this weekend for a 4-game set with Stetson University.

If you're interested in BC baseball, read EagleInsider.com on Friday  for my season preview interview with catcher Tony Sanchez.

Photo credit: BCEagles.com

Women's basketball notches win #18

It took a few weeks, but the women's basketball team picked up their 18th win of the season last night, beating Miami 71-64 on the road in Coral Gables. They're now 18-7 and 6-4 in the ACC. 

Carolyn Swords and Stefanie Murphy dominated again for BC, both notching double-doubles. Swords had 24 points to lead BC, while Corey Rusin continued her senior-year resurgence with 13 points off the bench.

Although the women don't have the two elite wins that the men have, they're actually in better shape as far as the NCAA bubble goes, as they sit in the mid-30s in RPI. This is most likely due to the fact that they don't have a Harvard or a St. Louis-type loss on their resume.

They can really do wonders for their prospects on Thursday night when they host UNC at Conte Forum in the "Think Pink" Breast Cancer Awareness game.  All fans wearing something pink receive free admission. BC will be asking for optional donations to breast cancer research at the door. 

Of course, all students receive free admission to every game anyway. So if you're a BC student and you're not doing anything on Thursday, be there.

BC finally bests Duke

...wow. Every now and then, it feels like we're at a legitimate big time athletics school. Those moments are fleeting, but my God, they sure are gratifying.

The Eagles have now defeated every team in the ACC since joining the league.

I don't hate Duke the way some (most?) people do, but I still hate that weasel Paulus from his tussle with Hinnant in the 2006 ACC championship game. To see him suck it up on the court at Conte was great.

The refs were characteristically bad, but that's to be expected against Duke. Really not surprising at all.

Joe Trapani was a monster tonight. And how can you not love Reggie Jackson? His 3 with about 8 minutes left was one of the top 5 key plays of the game.

Storming the court was fun, and it was especially good to see Gene DeFilippo personally clearing people out of the courtside seats and moving chairs out of the way to give students a lane to run onto the court. A few mouthbreathers from TeamOps tried to hold students back, which really only made things more dangerous as they were getting trampled from all sides.

Women's hockey team one win from first-round bye in Hockey East tournament

While the men's hockey team's slide continued with a 4-4 tie at UMass-Lowell, the women brightened Saturday with an exciting 4-3 shootout win over Boston University. 

With the win, BC now just needs to split its final series against Providence next weekend to lock down the #2 seed in the Hockey East playoffs. 6 teams make the tournament, and the top 2 receive byes into the semifinals, which will be held at UNH's Whittemore Center on March 7-8.

BC controlled much of the game, but a few defensive breakdowns let BU back in it. Then the Eagles seemed to really hit a wall late in the 3rd and in OT, and barely crawled into the shootout. Once they did, BC was able to hand BU its first shootout loss of the year.

GWG animation:

W...T...F

In moments of hyperbole, I've often described games as the 'best ever' or the 'worst ever.' But I can't honestly begin to think of something that could possibly be more painful, more embarrassing, and more depressing that could happen in a sporting event than watching BC hockey lose to UMass-Lowell 6-0.

The Northeastern game was one thing. This was another matter entirely. Crucial Hockey East points were on the line against a team with maybe one player who could even crack BC's roster. And we got annihalated.

Add that to sitting in the dismal worst atmosphere in major D-1 college hockey [even before the game started to suck], and you have a recipe for a long and miserable night.

The only good news from yesterday was that I acquired DVDs of all of last year's Beanpot, Hockey East and NCAA games. I may or may not have pounded alcohol and watched the UNH 3-ot game at my friend's apartment last night. Good times...

The best part about this acquisition is that our big moments can now go on Youtube. Enjoy reliving the title game - and especially enjoy 5:59 :)

PHOTOS: The women's Beanpot game-winning goal

Thunstrom breaks down the right side...

Finding an open Kelli Stack...

Who sees the light...

And buries it!


The end result:

Photos by Mike Lee

BC women win 3rd Beanpot in 4 years

PHOTOS BY:

Melissa Wade [uscho.com, hockeyphotography.com]

BC 1, Harvard 0

SOG Harvard 40, BC 23

Those two stats tell a lot of the story, but not all of it. This was an intense, fun, thrilling game from start to finish, and each and every BC player should be incredibly proud of her effort tonight.

Molly Schaus has to be in the discussion for best goalie in the NCAA. 40 saves - including a number of highway robberies. She made one impossible sprawling save in the 3rd period to preserve the lead.

Defense played hard and did a good job weathering the Harvard storm. The first period was basically like a giant BC penalty kill. The Eagles did a good job winning races to the puck, dumping it out when necessary, and preventing rebound opportunities.

The Crimson, who for whatever reason elect to roll 2 lines despite having a full roster, began to wear themselves out in the 2nd and early in the 3rd, especially since they were on the PK a lot - tons of dumb penalties. Their chances got weaker and the shot disparity closed.

On a BC penalty kill with 9 minutes left, Allie Thunstrom picked off a D-to-D pass and broke in two-on-one w/ Kelli Stack. Stack slowed down and stayed a few feet behind the play, and right when Thunstrom was coming up to the goal line, she slid it over to Stack to her left. They had the goalie moving left-to-right and Stack ripped it inside the far post for the only goal.

Just awesome.

We flew back as quickly as possible and were able to catch the last 9 minutes of the basketball game - i.e., we were just in time for the late-game meltdown. My goodness, we need people who can rebound.

CONGRATS EAGLES!

BU takes back Beanpot; BC snags 3rd

Benn Ferriero scored two goals, including one with 40 seconds left, to lift BC to a 4-3 win over Harvard in the Beanpot consolation game, sending BC fans into a state of........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. It was a particularly lackluster edition of a game that is designed for lacklusteriness. 

The Eagles are now 4-1-1 in their last 6.  Is a run coming?

BU took back the Beanpot with a 5-2 win over Northeastern, courtesy of three shorthanded goals. I infiltrated the NU DogHouse during this game, and experienced first-hand a real student section experience for the first time in my collegiate life. It was nice, but it would have been nicer if NU had won.

As it were, failure continues to dominate the NU Beanpot experience. I have a feeling that they are about to have an epic meltdown and lose their perch from the top of Hockey East.

Women's Beanpot final tonight - BC vs. Harvard. Bring it home, Eagles!

Hockey teams grind out wins

It's all about the two points.

The men's hockey team defeated UMass on Friday night in a dry, defensive struggle that saw both teams play the trap fairly often. Benn Ferriero hummed in a power play goal less than five minutes into the game; from there, BC went on the defensive and grinded out a conference win.

The penalty kill stood strong in the second period, when BC picked up 6 straight minutes of penalties including a large chunk of 5-on-3.

Paul Carey went from healthy scratch to a crucial part of the power play. Only BC hockey.

It was great to see John Muse pick up a shutout after his misadventures on Monday. Hopefully, this helps restore his confidence.

5 PM Monday... see ya there.

As for the women -

They beat Maine 2-0 at Conte. The first two periods were awful. BC just about constantly had the puck, but did nothing with it, mostly pouring in their shots from the perimeter. They found another gear in the third and picked up two goals to slip away with a victory.

A win's a win, but the Eagles continue to play down to bad competition, which could bite them if they're not careful. Also, BC's transition game can be painful to watch sometimes. They often force plays that aren't there, driving it into traffic up the middle when there are lanes available up the boards.

UMaine's goalie, Genevieve Turgeon, deserves a lot of credit. BC could have easily poured in 4 or 5 goals in the 3rd period, but Turgeon made a number of great sprawling saves to keep the Eagles out. BC also hit a post and a crossbar in pursuit of the elusive winning goal, which didn't come until the halfway mark in the 3rd period.

For all the grousing, if the season ended today, the men and women would both be in NCAAs. For that, I am grateful.

Rough night for WBB

The women's basketball team lost to #15 FSU 64-53 - and in the process, they may have lost Carolyn Swords for a time. Swords was injured by a blow to the face during a scrum for a rebound and fell to the floor bleeding. She is undergoing x-rays to determine whether or not she broke her nose. Yeeesh...

Mickel Picco extended her 3-pointer streak to 30 games, but she struggled on the night as she is recovering from a bad illness that hospitalized her two nights ago.

Let's hope they can rest up as they have a big game on Monday night against Maryland.

BC is now 17-6 (5-3 ACC).

All Hail Melissa Wade

Melissa Wade, whose unreal hockey photos grace HockeyPhotography.com and USCHO.com, took another gem at Tuesday night's women's Beanpot.

Last night's men's basketball win was an important one, as it's now the type of game that BC "should" win. If the Eagles win all the rest of the games that they "should" win now, based on their record, they'll be dancing in March.

Tonight, the women's basketball team hunts for their 18th win in a huge game against Florida State. I'll be covering the action for EagleInsider.com and will post a link to my story when it's up.

Two days on

Monday night was, plain and simple, an NU tidal wave. In the stands, on the ice - Boston College was blown out of the water, and I was ashamed. It was the worst loss for BC at the Garden during York's tenure. It seems like this team has serious problems, extending beyond the normal slump.

I'll post lots of photos and pics after the final & consolation game.

The women's team won their Beanpot game against NU, 3-1.

The men's basketball team is off to a great start against UVA, up 42-22 at halftime - wow.

Reason to be excited.

The men's basketball team is relevant again, after an outstanding, thrilling win on Saturday thanks to a sick put-back by Rakim Sanders with 0.4 to play.

The women's basketball team plays @ Duke tonight with a chance to make a real statement. The Eagles are 17-4 and knocking on the door of national prominence. A win over Duke would go a long way.

And tonight is one of the best nights of the entire year - Beanpot Monday #1. Satan vs. Harvard at 5 PM, BC vs. Northeastern at 8 PM. Get fired up!