November 6, 1998
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The No. 7-ranked University of Notre Dame hockey team used three second-period goals to claim a 5-2 lead before seeing the hosts and No. 1-ranked Boston College rally for three goals in a three-minute span and a 5-5 tie, in non-conference action Friday in front of a spirited crowd of 7,770 at the Conte Forum.
Notre Dame (6-1-1), which plays at Northeastern on Saturday night, received goals from five different players while seeing its renewed power play account for three goals. The Irish held a 32-28 edge in shots but failed to light the lamp in the final 30 minutes of the game.
The members of the Irish first forward line-junior center Ben Simon, senior left wing Aniket Dhadphale and senior right wing Brian Urick-accounted for the first three Notre Dame goals, with sophomore left wing Dan Carlson and sophomore right wing Matt Van Arkel rounding out the scoring.
Boston College (4-0-1) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead before overcoming deficits of 3-1 and 5-2, with senior left wing Andy Powers capping the game-tying rally midway through the final period. Second-year BC goalie Scott Clemmensen made nine third-period saves and two in overtime, after giving up five goals in the game’s first 34 minutes.
BC junior left wing Jeff Farkas opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season at 5:28 of the first period, converting the Eagles’ first power-play chance of the night.
The Irish tied the game on the power play later in the period, when Urick sent a tape-to-tape lead pass for Simon, who skated in from the right side and nudged a backhanded shot on net for his fourth goal of the game. Clemmensen batted the shot but BC sophomore defenseman Bobby Allen tipped the puck back into the net for a 1-1 game (12:35).
Notre Dame took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, with Urick and Simon working hard to dig the puck out of the left corner before Dhadphale wristed a low shot from the top of the left circle inside the far right post (17:51) for his fifth goal of the season and 48th of his career.
Urick pushed the Irish to a 3-1 lead in the opening moments of the second period, converting a tough-angle shot from the left side that tucked between Clemmensen’s right pads and the near post (0:18) for his team-leading seventh goal of the season and 48th of his career.
Controversy surrounded BC’s goal midway through the second period, when junior left wing Tony Hutchins skated in from the right side and nudged a power-play shot on net. Karr made the save and appeared to cover the puck, with the whistle sounding for a faceoff. But Hutchins then knocked the rebound into the right side and was credited with his first goal of the season (9:58).
With the crowd worked into a frenzy, the Irish calmly retook control of the game, converting a pair of power-play goals in a 14-second span. Crisp passes from junior defenseman Tyson Fraser and Urick set up a bullet 5-on-3 shot from Carlson, a rising one-timer from the top of the right circle that tucked above Clemmensen’s glove and under the crossbar for Carlson’s second goal of the season (14:09).
Fourteen seconds later, senior defenseman Benoit Cotnoir’s pass set up a 2-on-1 rush by freshman center David Inman and Van Arkel. Inman skated in from the left and slid the puck across the slot for Van Arkel, who one-timed a shot into the right side of the net for his third goal of the season and a 5-2 Irish lead (14:23).
BC senior center Chris Masters played a key role in the Eagles comeback, which included repeated transition chances in the middle of the third period. Masters knocked home a rebounded shot by sophomore defenseman Rob Scuderi at the 6:33 mark for his second goal of the season before beating Karr less than two minutes later on a rising glove-side shot from between the circles (8:20).
Powers capped the flurry with his fourth goal of the season, a shot from the right side of the crease that popped into the air and took a tough bounce past Karr (9:31).
A furious final 10 seconds saw the Eagles with four chances at the game-winning goal, after an untimely Irish turnover in their own end. Farkas uncorked a hard shot that was blocked by the Irish defense and Hutchins followed with a shot from the slot that Karr batted away. Farkas then had a clean look from between the circles but misfired wide. With the gameclock nearly expired, the puck bounced high into the crease area and Farkas swatted at the puck at shoulder-height. But the puck flew over the crossbar and the excitable crowd was treated to five more minutes of action.
Urick’s goal and two assists leave him two points shy of becoming the 27th Notre Dame player to total 50 goals and 50 assists in his career (48G-50A).
#7 NOTRE DAME (6-1-1) 2 3 0 0 - 5#1 BOSTON COLLEGE (4-0-1) 1 1 3 0 - 51st - BC 1. Farkas 7 (Bellefeuille, Mottau), PP, 5:28; ND 1. Simon 4(unassisted), PP, 12:35; ND 2. Dhadphale 5 (Simon, Urick) 17:51. 2nd - ND 3. Urick 7 (Dhadphale, Clark) 0:18; BC 2. Hutchins 1 (unassisted), PP,9:58; ND 4. Carlson 2 (Urick, Fraser), 5-3, 14:09; ND 5. Van Arkel 3(Inman, Cotnoir), PP, 14:23. 3rd - BC 3. Masters 2 (Scuderi, Caulfield)6:33; BC 4. Masters 3 (Hutchins) 8:20; BC 5. Powers 4 (Gionta, Giuliano)9:31. OT - No Scoring.
SHOTS: ND 9-12-9-2/32, BC 9-9-10-0/28.SAVES: ND (Karr) 8-8-7-0/23, BC (Clemmensen) 7-9-9-2/27.POWER PLAY: ND 3-for-7, BC 2-for-7.PENALTIES