Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Boston College
BGSU Drops Hearbreaker to #6 Boston College, 6-5
December 27, 2002 | Ice Hockey
Dec. 27, 2002
Minneapolis, Minn. - Bowling Green jumped out to a 3-0 lead over #6-ranked Boston College in the Dodge Holiday Classic opener before dropping a heartbreaker to the Eagles, 6-5. BGSU scored three goals within a 5:34 span in the first period, while BC scored the final three goals of the game over a 3:17 span in the third period.
"When it got to 3-0, I thought we had a couple of chances to extend the lead," said BGSU coach Scott Paluch. "It was a tough college hockey game. You've got to make plays down the stretch, though. I think we played a pretty good hockey game. For a stretch of eight or nine minutes in the second period BC took control of the game."
BC held a 9-1 shot advantage early in the game, but that's when the Falcons' offense kicked into another gear. BGSU's first shot attempt of the game came off the stick of sophomore Colen Pappas, who was appearing in his first game this season for the Falcons after serving a fall semester suspension. Their second shot attempt of the game put the Brown and Orange on the scoreboard.
Junior Mark Wires got a cross-ice pass from defenseman Kevin Bieksa and drove the net, wristing a shot top-shelf past BC goalie Tim Kelleher at 3:12 of the first period for a 1-0 Falcon lead. It was Wires' team-leading sixth goal of the season and broke a four-game pointless streak for him. The assist was Bieksa's team-leading eighth on the year.
The Falcons added to their lead just over three minutes later when senior Tyler Knight scored a power-play goal at 6:53. Junior D'Arcy McConvey and freshman Brett Pilkington assisted on the goal. BGSU's third goal of the game came at 8:46 of the first period and again came off the stick of Knight. His even-strength goal was assisted by McConvey and Wires, giving the Falcons a 3-0 lead nearly halfway through the first period. The two goals for the assistant captain was a career-high.
BGSU outshot the Eagles 18-11 in the first period. After BGSU's third goal and a Boston College timeout, starting goalie Tim Kelleher was pulled in favor of Matti Kaltiainen.
BC broke into the scoring column at 13:47 of the second period with a power-play goal by RYAN Murphy. Another goal, this time by captain Ben Eaves, made it a one-goal game (3-2) at 16:26 of the second period. BC held a 20-11 shot advantage in the second period.
The wild, six-goal third period began in BGSU's favor when McConvey scored his first power-play goal of the season just :22 seconds into the final stanza. Bieksa and Chris Pedota assisted on the goal to give BGSU a 4-2 advantage. It marked Bieksa's third multiple-assist game this season while it was Pedota's third assist of the year.
BC responded less than one minute later with a goal from John Adams at 1:06 to cut the Falcon lead to 4-3. Sophomore Steve Brudzewski built the BGSU lead back to two goals, 5-3, at 9:03 with his fifth goal of the season. Freshman Mike Falk assisted on the goal.
Again, the Eagles responded less than one minute later. This time it was defenseman Peter Harrold who scored at 9:41 to reduce the Falcon lead back to one, 5-4. However, Boston College went on to add two more goals at 12:48 (Dave Spina, PPG) and 13:24 (Murphy) to take a 6-5 lead. The Falcons pulled goalie Jordan Sigalet at 18:50, but failed to score the sixth and game-tying goal.
Sigalet ended with 37 saves in 58:50 of action, including 18 in the second period. Kaltiainen ended with 27 saves in 48:46 of work. Kelleher had eight saves in 11:14 of action.
"Sigalet was tremendous early to help us build that lead," said Paluch. "His play really gave us a chance.
"Our effort's been consistent all year. Our next step is to make the plays to win these type of games."
BGSU drops to 3-11-1 overall while #6 Boston College improves to 10-3-3. The first-round loss in the Dodge Holiday Classic is the first for Bowling Green in three trips to what was formerly known as the Mariucci Classic. BGSU had advanced to the championship game each of the two previous appearances. The Falcons will play Yale, a 7-3 loser to #7 Minnesota, Saturday night at 5 p.m. (EST).
