BC scores in final 25 seconds to tie Bears

loading...

ORONO – Boston College senior right winger John Joyce had only one thought as his Eagles pressed for an equalizing goal against the University of Maine in the final 30 seconds of play: get open in front of the net.

Joyce got open and banged home the tying goal with 25 seconds left to give the Eagles a 4-4 Hockey East tie at the Alfond Arena here Friday night.

Maine is now now 12-8-1 overall and 7-3-1 in Hockey East. BC is 9-9-2, 3-7-2. BC had lost its last seven games against Maine.

The two teams battle again tonight at 7.

Both teams had good chances in overtime but neither could put the puck behind Maine’s Blair Marsh or BC goalie Greg Taylor.

Speedy senior defenseman Michael Spalla set up the tying goal as he chased down a Jack Callahan chip pass in the right-wing corner and threw the puck to the front of the net.

“I knew John was going to the net and I didn’t have a good shooting angle,” said Spalla, whose centering pass glanced off Marsh’s stick to Joyce.

“I figured Mike would get the puck on net,” said Joyce. “We’ve been working on going to the net. There were two guys on me and I tried to lose them. They turned to look for a second, I got open and the puck came right to my stick.”

Marsh said, “I didn’t want to turn my stick over because I was afraid it would bank in off it. I didn’t see the guy coming down the slot. It surprised me. It was a bang-bang play. I should have kept the puck from going in front of the net.”

“We’ve got to stay with our men,” said Maine senior left wing Cal Ingraham.

Boston College overcame four one-goal deficits to force the overtime.

Dave MacIsaac and Ingraham gave Maine a pair of one-goal leads in the first period but Ryan Haggerty and Ron Canavan equalized for BC.

Pat Tardiff gave Maine a 3-2 lead in the second period but Joyce tied it with a fluke goal at the 16:10 mark.

Maine’s Marcel Pineau had given Maine a 4-3 lead earlier in the third period when Tardif’s wraparound attempt rebounded to him in the low slot and he slid a backhander between Taylor’s legs.

Neither team generated much offense in the first period but Maine scored on two of its three shots on goal to manufacture its leads.

MacIsaac staked Maine to a 1-0 lead with a one-timer from the midpoint off a Wayne Conlan pass but Haggerty answered 1:14 later when Marsh kicked the rebound of a Peter Masters drive onto his stick and he touched it in around Marsh.

Ingraham re-established the lead at the 13:30 mark on a breakaway off a Brad Purdie feed as BC’s Taylor tried to pokecheck the puck only to have Ingraham’s backhander hit his stick and roll behind him.

Canavan tied it 2:53 later when a bouncing puck through center ice landed on his stick for a clean break-in down the right side and he converted with a 14-foot wrist shot inside the far post.

BC had 11 shots in the first period despite the fact the Eagles played a conservative 2-1-2 forecheck system.

BC always had one forward high in the offensive zone to neutralize Maine’s speed and transition game.

In the second period, the Bears were able to capitalize on their speed advantage to generate a territorial edge that they maintained for most of the final 45 minutes. Maine outshot BC 28-15 from the second period on.

Tardif supplied the Bears with a 3-2 lead at the 13:41 mark as Conlan beat Spalla wide down the right-wing side and shoveled in front to Tardif, who jammed it home.

But BC got a gift-wrapped tying goal when Marsh got tangled up behind his net, fanned on a clearing attempt and had the puck squirt in front and John Joyce tapped it into the open net.

Marsh was clearly irate with his blunder.

“We had worked so hard to get the lead and then I let that one in and it changed the momentum of the game,” said Marsh. “I’ve got to learn from my mistakes.”

“When you’ve got a lead with 30 seconds left, it should be a win, especially for this program,” said Tardif. “We played pretty well after the first period but we can’t afford to let up. We’ve got to play well for the full 60 minutes. We don’t have the offense we had last year.”

“We let them back into the game,” said Maine senior defenseman Jason Weinrich. “We should have buried them when we had the chance.”

Maine had a Conlan goal disallowed in the third period when it was ruled that Barry Clukey crashed into Taylor, earning Clukey a penalty.

“It was good for us to come back the way we did, especially up here,” said BC Coach Steve Cedorchuk. “This team has determination.”

Maine outshot BC 31-26.

Eagles 4, Black Bears 4 (OT)

Maine 2 1 1 0 – 4 Boston College 2 1 1 0 – 4

First period – 1. Maine, MacIsaac 2 (Clukey, Conlan), 11:28; 2. BC, Haggerty 9 (Masters), 12:42; 3. Maine, Ingraham 4 (Purdie), 13:30; 4. BC, Canavan 7 (unassisted), 16:23. Penalties – BC, Masters, high sticking, 9:07; Maine, Mahoney, hitting after the whistle, 16:52

Second period – 5. Maine, Tardif 11 (Conlan, Pineau), 13:41; 6. BC, Joyce 10 (Connolly), 16:10. Penalties – BC, Haggerty, interference, 1:13; BC, Chase, roughing, 4:41; Maine, Pineau, 4:41; BC, Buckley, hitting from behind, 4:51; BC, Connolly, hitting after the whistle, 7:37; Maine, Mahoney, hitting after the whistle, 7:37; Maine, Mahoney, hitting after the whistle, 12:08; BC, G. Callahan, hitting after the whistle, 12:08

Third period – 7. Maine, Pineau 4 (Tardif), 3:06; 8. B.C., Joyce 11 (Spalla) 19:35; Penalties – B.C., Joyce, late hit, 3:11; Maine, Cardinal, late hit, 3:11; B.C., Wainwright, holding, 5:14; Maine, Clukey, charging-roughing, 7:26; B.C., B. Callahan, roughing, 7:26; Maine, Mahoney, hooking, 11:19; B.C., Wainwright, holding, 14:53

Overtime – no scoring; Penalties – none.

Shots on goal: Maine 11-6-7-4 – 28; B.C. 3-12-12-2 – 29

Goaltenders: Maine, Blair Marsh; B.C., Greg Taylor

Attendance: 5,251