Overtime win sends BC back to Frozen Four
WORCESTER - When you're talking about Boston College, there is no such thing as down and out.
Behind by a pair of goals? No issue. Allow the tying goal midway through the third? No sweat. Getting run out of the rink in overtime? Got it covered.
The experienced Eagles have proven their resiliency for so long, it basically has turned into a given. Last night, they punched their ticket to the NCAA Frozen Four for the third consecutive year with a 4-3 overtime victory over Miami University to win the Northeast Regional in front of 5,911 at the DCU Center. They will play North Dakota in the semifinals in Denver April 10.
It was the third time in as many years BC knocked off Miami in the regionals, but the Eagles had a much harder time than in the past, when they had blanked the RedHawks by a combined 9-0 score. It took an acrobatic goal at 12:12 of OT by freshman Joe Whitney, converting a rebound of a Dan Bertram shot, to lift the team to the next rung on the playoff ladder.
"I thought tonight's game was a real good battle," said coach Jerry York. "They had us down, 2-0, they were controlling the game, and then we just caught fire in a bottle."
BC faced a deficit just 1:30 into the action. With the teams skating four aside, junior defenseman Alex Martinez walked out of the left corner and fired a shot from the circle that freshman goalie John Muse (34 saves) stopped. But the netminder gave up a fat rebound that sophomore right wing Jarod Palmer buried from deep in the slot for the 1-0 lead.
It got worse at 8:32 of the second when senior center Nino Musitelli converted on a centering pass that eluded Muse and increased the Miami lead to a deuce. It looked even worse when Eagles captain Mike Brennan was called for his second penalty of the game.
"It looked like the ref had it out for me," said Brennan, who seemed to be at least semi-kidding. "It doesn't feel good being in the box, especially in a tight game like that, you want to get some momentum going. I was just praying they didn't go up, 3-0. Our [penalty killing] was fantastic. I couldn't ask for any more from them."
What BC desperately needed was offense, and after Miami had rendered it dormant for the first half of the game, it came in a flurry with the Eagles scoring three times in 1 minute 58 seconds to go ahead.
The first came at 16:48 of the second with freshman defenseman Nick Petrecki putting his team on the board with a shot from the low slot. The next was at 17:02, set up by another first-year player. Center Brian Gibbons dished a pass to junior left wing Nathan Gerbe, and he rapped a shot past junior goalie Jeff Zatkoff (38 saves) from outside the left post to tie it. The next shift proved crucial. Muse made an outstanding save on Miami freshman right wing Tommy Wingels during a two-on-one break with 1:30 left. Bertram pushed the puck the other way, starting a BC two-on-one break. Bertram found sophomore right wing Ben Smith with the pass in front and Smith gave the Eagles a 3-2 lead at 18:46.
BC went into the third period buoyed, but the RedHawks didn't fold. Miami's senior captain, Ryan Jones, beat Muse at 9:02 and it was on to overtime.
When the Eagles looked out of synch, York and his staff called a timeout with 10:37 left in the extra session.
"The OT itself, I thought Miami clearly had the better chances and the better of the play," said York, referring to Miami's 10-4 shot advantage. "My assistant coaches were talking to me on the bench and said, 'We'd better call a timeout here.' So, we called the timeout and just kind of reassured the kids [saying], 'Let's not think about Denver and the chance to go to the Frozen Four. Let's try to win a hockey game.' I thought at that point, we were sitting back and we weren't the aggressor. Our mood all year has been to be the aggressor of teams and we were back on our heels there."
Less than three minutes later, it was over.
"I think our motto is, 'You can bend but you don't want to break, ever,' " said Brennan. "They were getting great chances, but Johnny Muse was our backstop. When he has confidence, we have confidence. It's a great feeling and hope we keep this feeling going."
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