BC youngsters hitting stride
The youth on the Boston College blue line -- four freshmen and one sophomore skate with senior captain Peter Harrold -- has led to some growing pains this year, as the defense-first Eagles, who allowed 23.7 shots per game in 2004-05, have allowed 27.6 per outing this season.
But as evidenced by their performances Friday in an 8-3 thumping of Providence at Conte Forum, the baby-faced defensemen are clamping down defensively and contributing to the attack at just the right time.
Rookie Brett Motherwell, who scored his first career goal against Boston University last month and has been quarterbacking BC's top power-play unit, netted his second goal of the season Friday. Fellow freshman Anthony Aiello notched an assist on Brock Bradford's winning goal when he hit the forward with a long-distance tape-to-tape pass in the second period. And sophomore Mike Brennan notched a career-best three assists Friday, also recording a helper on Bradford's second-period goal.
''It's just important because it's hard to play three against five," said BC coach Jerry York, who always has encouraged his defensemen to pinch at the blue line and jump into the play. ''We've got our defensemen joining rushes and making plays . . . I think that helps our team.
''They're gaining more confidence."
In last Monday's 5-2 first-round win against Northeastern, Harrold scored when he settled the puck at the blue line, stickhandled along the right-side boards, and cut through the crease to tuck a backhander between Doug Jewer's legs.
''Peter Harrold has it in him and he's shown that over and over," York said. ''The other five defensemen are improving in that area. We spend a lot of time on defense, but you've got to have a balance between offense and defense. You can't win with just defense and you can't win with just offense, either.
''As much time as we spend on defense, we're trying to get the offense clicking."
Eyes on prize
BU coach Jack Parker admitted concern on how his team would play Friday against UMass in between the Beanpot's first and second rounds. The two times BU has lost the Beanpot buffer game in the last 11 years, the Terriers also have fallen short in the championship.
''I'm always concerned about the game before the Beanpot," Parker said. ''People seem to talk about the next game being the Beanpot instead of the important league game in between, whether it's the press, students on campus, or parents. When they're asking about tickets, they're not asking for tickets for Friday but Monday. We try to low-key the Beanpot as much as we can. The players don't need help getting jacked up for it."
Parker's concern was for naught, as BU recorded a 3-0 home win, thanks to two goals by Kenny Roche and a 19-save shutout by John Curry (15-6-2, 2.18 goals-against average, .925 save percentage).
Parker also was happy the Terriers looked much improved on faceoffs, an area in which they fell apart in the third period of their first-round game against Harvard; the Crimson had a 25-6 shot advantage in that period.
''[Harvard] won every single faceoff in the last five minutes, and after they won them, we never covered anybody," Parker said. ''So they were getting two or three flurries on each shot. I love the way we played for 55 minutes. We played better [against UMass]. But each faceoff wasn't as intense in that situation."
Laliberte may play
Parker said top-line wing John Laliberte, sidelined for the last six games with a sprained left knee, could play tonight. If not, Eric Thomassian will remain on the right wing alongside Brad Zancanaro and David Van der Gulik . . . As the home team, BU will have the last change. While BC's top line of Chris Collins (goal, three assists), Brian Boyle (goal, three assists), and Stephen Gionta (hat trick, one assist) totaled 12 points Friday, Parker wasn't sure which of his trios he'd match against the Eagles' threesome. ''We always try to match our best line against their best line," Parker said. ''The question is who is our best line? In some ways, it's nice to have the Zancanaro line because Zancanaro and Van der Gulik are so good defensively against Boyle's line. By the same token, [Pete] MacArthur's line is going so well. That being said, I'm not going to spend too much time worrying about matchups." . . . Point-and-clickers can log on to www.nesn.com to vote for the Beanpot MVP. Fans' votes will make up a percentage of the final tally . . . All four Beanpot participants are coming off Friday wins. Harvard recorded a 5-4 overtime victory over Princeton with Kevin Du recording a hat trick, and Northeastern beat UMass-Lowell, 6-4.
