University of Massachusets Athletics
LIVE GAME BLOG: UMass at No. 12 Boston College
February 06, 2009 | Hockey
Feb. 6, 2009
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Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to tonight's live game blog from Conte Forum as the UMass hockey team takes on No. 12 Boston College at 7 PM. The Minutemen are looking to take the season series from the Eagles in the decisive rubber-match. Home ice is still possible for UMass, but a win tonight is key to keeping that hope alive! Don't forget to go ahead and buy tickets for tomorrow night against UMass Lowell at the Mullins Center - that game is going to be HUGE! We need to pack the house to help the Minutemen win that series as well this weekend!
9:10 PM: The final second tick off the board and your final score is Boston College 2, UMass 0. The Eagles win the series this season 2-1. Thanks for checking out the blog tonight and we will see you at the Mullins Center tomorrow night against UMass Lowell.
9:08 PM: Dainton is pulled for the extra skater. UMass is unable to muster any shots and with 20.1 seconds left, Brock Bradford clears the puck sending into the empty net at the other end of the rink - 2-0 Boston College.
9:05 PM: 1:26 left in the game and BC is whistled for a penalty. UMass call timeout. The penalty is on Kyle Kucharski for holding. Let's see if the Minutemen can set up some magic!
9:01 PM: UMass kills off the penalty and we are back to even strength. Just under 5 minutes to go in the game with BC still holding onto the 1-0 lead.
8:55 PM: Scott Crowder goes to the box for holding with just under 10 minutes left in the third period. Ironic, but this is the third straight penalty on UMass in this period.
8:50 PM: UMass kills of the second penalty and we are back to 5x5 hockey. Still 1-0 for Boston College with 11 minutes left in the third period.
8:47 PM: Is this the second period in reverse? Martin Nolet is sent to the box for slashing with 14:53 left in the third period.
8:42 PM: With 18:02 left in the third period, Topher Bevis is whistled for roughing giving BC the first power play of the period.
8:23 PM: After two periods, it's still 1-0 Boston College. Since the three straight BC penalties, the rest of the period was clean. For the second period, UMass outshot BC 15-to-5 and the Minutemen won 16-of-20 faceoffs. With the three penalties against BC overlapping, UMass was 0-for-3 on the power play. So far for the game, UMass holds a 19-to-13 shot advantage, is 26-of-41 on the faceoffs and is 0-for-4 on the power play.
8:11 PM: After all that, it still remains 1-0 Boston College as we are back to full strength.
8:08 PM: Another penalty on Boston College as Benn Ferriero is called for tripping. UMass will get a short 5x3 power play and needs to find a way to score as the Eagles are bunching up the crease. Effectively, UMass has been on a six-minute continuous power play.
8:05 PM: Nick Petrecki draws a penalty for cross checking with four seconds left on the first power play.
8:02 PM: Jimmy Hayes of Boston College is whistled for charging giving UMass the first power play of the second period.
7:59 PM: Back underway here at Conte, still 1-0 Boston College with about 14 minutes left in the second period. The infamous Segaloff Sisters, Farrah and Fawn, blessed us with their presence so we had to do some catching up.
7:37 PM: End of the first period and Boston College is still holding onto a 1-0 lead. BC holds an 8-to-4 edge in shots and a slim 11-for-21 edge in faceoffs. UMass was 0-for-1 on the power play, while BC was 1-for-2.
7:31 PM: 3 minutes left in the first period and still 1-0 Boston College.
7:22 PM: UMass kills off the penalty and we are back to 5x5 hockey.
7:17 PM: T.J. Syner is called for holding while on the power play, so now we have 4x4 hockey until Bradford's penalty expires and then BC will have an abbreviated power play. Fans are still trickling into the building - no where near the energy of the Mullins Center!
7:15 PM: Boston College is called for a penalty now as Brock Bradford is sent to the box for cross checking. A power play goal now would be excellent to get us tied back up.
7:11 PM: Benn Ferriero makes it 1-0 Boston College with a one-timer from the slot. It's a power play goal.
7:09 PM: UMass takes the first penalty of the night with 18:20 remaining in the first period. Brian Keane is whistled for hooking.
7:07 PM: And we're underway here in Conte...
6:43 PM: Both teams are on the ice finishing their warm-ups. UMass is wearing the road Maroon uniforms with white trim and maroon helmets. Boston College is wearing the home White jersey's with red and gold trim, red shorts, and red helmets.
Your starters for UMass tonight are Alex Berry (left wing), Cory Quirk (center), James Marcou (right wing), Martin Nolet (left defense), Justin Braun (right defense) and Paul Dainton in goal. This will be Dainton's sixth straight start in goal. He has a 2-2-1 record in those games with a 2.37 GAA and a .919 save percentage.
5:47 pm: The team arrived at the rink a little after 5 PM today. After an earlier than normal practice yesterday, UMass hopped in the bus and came over to Boston to get a good night's rest before tonight's game. The team had a pre-game skate this morning and then back to the hotel for some rest, a pregame meal, and, of course, some homework for class before coming over for the game.
Of special note tonight, Paul Dainton will play in his 50th career game tonight. If you missed it this week, James Marcou was named to a 57th Annual Walter Brown Semi-Finalist for the second straight year as one of the top American-born hockey players in New England and Casey Wellman was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Week and Rookie of the Month for January. James is closing in on the scoring title for the year, while Casey currently leads all Rookie Scorers in the conference.
The team is getting together now for its final meeting of the day and to go over some film before getting ready for warm-ups on the ice. We've got to go down to do some pre-game radio interviews with the coaches and then we will be back with the starting lineups for tonight.
