The Boston College men's hockey team continued to roll this weekend, collecting its fifth and sixth consecutive victories in a whitewashing of the No. 3-ranked New Hampshire Wildcats. New Hampshire, which had already claimed the Hockey East title, gave an effort of a team that had nothing to play for.
Following Friday night's 4-1 victory in Durham, N.C., the Eagles had already jumped BU and climbed to No. 2 in the Hockey East standings. But the Eagles came out Saturday night with more urgency - and it showed. Early this winter, the BC squad's chances of reaching the NCAA Tournament were slim. After winning eight of their last nine games, however, the Eagles are now a lock for the national tournament, save for a major catastrophe.
In both games against UNH, the Eagles took the lead and never trailed the Wildcats. In Saturday night's affair, sophomore Benn Ferriero put the Eagles on the board as the first period came to a close, notching his 17th goal of the year. Ferriero corralled the rebound from a Tim Filangieri drive that freshman netminder Brian Foster couldn't control, then beat the outstretched Foster with just 20 seconds remaining on the clock.
Goals in the last minute give a team a huge boost going into the dressing room at the break, and for the second night in a row, the Eagles had all the momentum they would need.
Ferriero struck again early in the second period after Joe Chalebois was banished to the box for slashing. Eleven seconds into the power play, Ferriero threw the puck toward the net from left point that deflected off the leg of New Hampshire's Jamie Fristche and past the helpless Foster. The tally was Ferreiro's 18th of the season and his team-leading fifth multi-goal game of the '06-'07 campaign.
UNH would close the gap when Craig Switzer capitalized on the power play at 7:01 of the second period.
The Wildcats wouldn't get any closer, as Cory Schneider stood tall in net, stopping 16 UNH shots in the second period and 39 shots for the game.
Spring Break
