Oct. 26, 2001
Chestnut Hill, Mass. – The Boston College Eagles exploded for four third-period goals to erase a 1-0 Notre Dame lead on the way to a 4-1 win at Kelley Rink on Friday night in front of a sell-out crowd of 7,884.
On the night the Eagles raised their 2001 NCAA Championship banner, it looked like Irish freshman goaltender Morgan Cey would steal the show.
For two periods the six-foot, three-inch freshman nursed a 1-0 Notre Dame lead, making 24 of his career-high 35 saves, until the Eagles took advantage of Irish defensive mistakes to score three goals with Cey in the net and an empty-netter with nine seconds left for the 4-1 win.
“I’m really disappointed with the way we played to night,” said Irish coach Dave Poulin. “Our goalie played well. He kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win. That’s the way he’s played in every game this year.”
Notre Dame took advantage of an early Boston College penalty to score a power play goal at 4:42 of the first period. David Inman’s centering pass from the right wing corner was redirected on goal by Connor Dunlop. BC goaltender Tim Kelleher made the save but Aaron Gill was on the left side of the goal to push the rebound into the net for his third goal of the season.
Cey and the Irish penalty killers held the Eagles at bay the remainder of the period as the Irish were outshot 11-5 in the period and killed off three penalties.
The second period was all Cey as the Eagles outshot the Irish by a 13-4 margin. “We were very fortunate to be ahead 1-0 after two periods. Morgan’s (Cey) play was the reason for that,” said Poulin.
In the third period, Boston College score twice in the first 3:10 of the period. Jeff Giuliano fired a backhander from in close on Cey. The Wilkie, Sask. native made the first save, but left wing David Spina was there to tuck the rebound under Cey’s pads to tie the game at 1:38.
The Eagles took advantage of a costly error by the Notre Dame defense for the game-winning goal at 3:10 when Ales Dolinar scooped up a loose puck in front of the net and one-timed it past Cey for his second goal of the year.
Giuliano made it 3-1 at 10:34 when he walked the puck out of the right wing corner and snapped a wrister over Cey’s glove hand and under the crossbar for his third goal of the year.
Ben Eaves capped the scoring with his third goal of the year into an empty net with just nine ticks left on the clock for the final 4-1 verdict.
“We were outworked tonight and that disappoints me,” said Poulin following the loss. “We had individual breakdowns that cost us in the third period. We have to work harder. We can’t get beat in the one-on-one battles like we did tonight.”
The loss dropped the Irish to 0-4-1 for their worst start since 1992-93 when they started the year at 0-8-0. The win snapped an 0-3-1 winless streak for Boston College as the Eagles are now 2-3-1 on the season.
Notre Dame returns to action on Saturday night when the Irish travel across Boston to face the Northeastern Huskies who tied New Hampshire 2-2 on Friday in a 7:05 p.m. (6:05 p.m. South Bend time) game at Matthews Arena.
Notes: Cey’s 35-save game was a career-best for the freshman goaltender in his five games with the Irish. His previous best was 32 which he turned in on Oct. 20 at Ohio State.
After killing off four Boston College man-advantages on Friday, the Irish have now killed off 11 consecutive opponent man-advantages and have given up just two power play goals on 26 chances this season.
The Irish are now 0-6-1 in their last seven games versus Boston College and have not beaten the Eagles since Dec. 28, 1994 at Kelley Rink.
Game Summary: 1 2 3 FNotre Dame (0-4-1) 1 0 0 1Boston College (2-3-1) 0 0 4 4
Scoring
First Period: ND: Aaron Gill 3 (Connor Dunlop, David Inman), PPG, 4:42.
ND: 4 for 8 minutes, BC: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes, BC: 3 for 6 minutes.
Third Period: BC: David Spina 3 (Jeff Giuliano, Ryan Shannon), 1:38, BC: Ales Dolinar 2 (Ty Hennes), 3:10, BC: Giuliano 3 (Spina, Andrew Alberts), 10:34, BC: Ben Eaves 3 (unassisted), ENG, 19:50.
Penalties: ND: 0 for 0 minutes, BC: 1 for 2 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 5 - 4 - 8 - 17Boston College 11 - 13 - 15 - 39
Goaltender Saves:ND - Morgan Cey (59:06) 11 - 13 - 11 - 35BC - Tim Kelleher (60:00) 4 - 4 - 8 - 16
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 5BC: 0 for 4
Attendance: 7,884 (sellout)