Nov. 9, 2012
Chestnut Hill. Mass. – Two of college hockey’s most talented teams met on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd of 7,884 at Boston College’s Kelley Rink with the Eagles prevailing in the defensive struggle with Notre Dame, 3-1.
BC’s Johnny Gaudreau scored a pair of goals with Pat Mullane getting the third as the Eagles scored twice in the second period and once in the third (empty net goal) on the way to the win. Freshman left wing Thomas DiPauli scored the lone Irish goal with just over 11 minutes left in the game.
The two teams combined to take just 42 shots in the game with Notre Dame firing a season-low 20 on Boston College goaltender Parker Milner while the Eagles mustered just 22 on Irish netminder Steven Summerhays. Both goaltenders finished with 19 saves on the night.
The win extends the top-ranked Eagles winning streak to seven straight and gives them a 7-1-0 record. The Irish, ranked #8/#7 fall to 6-3-0 on the season. The contest was the seventh straight for Notre Dame against a ranked team dating back to Oct. 18 and the Irish are 4-3-0 in those games.
The Irish came out and had a strong first period, outshooting the Eagles by a 9-4 margin, but failed to get a shot past Milner in the Boston College goal.
The second period saw the Eagles take advantage of a couple of Irish letdowns to score a pair of goals. Using their speed, Boston College broke the tie at 4:41 of the second period when Mullane scored on a breakaway.
Defenseman Patrick Wey threaded the needle with a pass at center ice that Mullane took in stride and split the Irish defense. He moved in on Summerhays and deked him to the ice before sliding a backhander through his pads to make it 1-0. The goal was Mullane’s fifth of the season.
Boston College would make it 2-0 at 16:30 of the middle stanza when Gaudreau scored his first of the night, holding the puck on a 2-on-1 before snapping a shot under the cross bar over Summerhays for his fifth of the season. Defenseman Michael Matheson put Gaudreau and Patrick Brown in on the 2-on-l in transition at the Irish blueline.
“We were playing tentative in the second period and that’s not how we play,” said Irish head coach Jeff Jackson.
“When we are playing well, we are playing on or toes and in the second period we were tentative. You can’t play the game that way. It’s a read and react game and you have to play it on the ice.”
The Irish were out shot in the second stanza by a 12-2 margin.
The Notre Dame offense got back in the game in the third period and put pressure on Milner, but the senior stood tall, especially on three power-play attempts by the Irish where he stopped three different scoring bids in close.
Notre Dame finally broke through on Milner at the 7:10 mark when DiPauli scored his second of the season off a scramble in front of the BC goal to make it a 2-1 game.
This time, the Irish used their speed and the transition game to get on the scoreboard. Freshman center Steven Fogarty kept the puck in at the Boston College blue line and moved it ahead to Schneider who drove hard to the goal. Milner stopped his shot but DiPauli crashed in late to jam the puck through the goaltender’s pads. The officials reviewed the goal but it stood and the Irish were back in the game.
That would be as close as they would get as Milner protected the one-goal lead until the final seconds when Notre Dame got Summerhays off for a sixth attacker. Gaudreau picked up his second goal of the night when he fired into an empty goal at 19:47 to seal the 3-1 win.
“I thought (Parker) Milner played very well tonight,” said Jackson.
“He made some big saves when they needed them, especially down the stretch. But, I thought our guy (Steven Summerhays) played well too.”
Boston College came into the game with the top power play in the nation (10-for-25, 40.0%) and the Irish held them scoreless, killing off all six power-play chances. Notre Dame was 0-for-5 with the man-advantage.
The Irish return to CCHA action next week when they travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to face Michigan on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 15-16 at Yost Arena. Game time both nights is 7:35 p.m.
** IRISH NOTES **
** The last time four times that Notre Dame has played Boston College when they were ranked No. 1, the Irish have beaten them. Those times came in 2003 (at BC, 1-0), 2004 (at ND, 3-2), 2006 (at BC, 7-1) and in 2010 (at ND, 2-1).
** Prior to tonight’s game, the fewest shots the Irish had in a game was 26 against Nebraska-Omaha on Oct. 13. Notre Dame had just 20 tonight. The two shots in the second period was the fewest in a period for the Irish this season. The previous low was six in the second period of the game versus Nebraska-Omaha.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#8/#7 Notre Dame (6-3-0) 0 0 1 - 1#1/#1 Boston College (7-1-0) 0 2 1 - 3
Scoring First Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 2 for 4 minutes; BC: 2 for 4 minutes.
Second Period: BC: Pat Mullane 4 (Patrick Wey), 4:41; BC: Johnny Gaudreau 5 (Michael Matheson), 16:30.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; BC: 2 for 4 minutes.
Third Period: ND: Thomas DiPauli 2 (Peter Schneider, Steven Fogarty), 8:29; BC: Gaudreau 6 (Bill Arnold), ENG,19:47.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; BC: 3 for 6 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 9 - 2 - 9 - 20Boston College 4 - 12 - 6 - 22
Goaltender Saves:ND: Steven Summerhays (59:47) 4 - 10 - 5 - 19BC: Parker Milner (60:00) 9 - 2 - 8 - 19
Power Plays:ND: 0 for 5BC: 0 for 6
Attendance: 7,884 (sellout)