BC ends Merrimack dream> Eagles await semifinal winner of UMaine vs. UMass-Lowell

BOSTON – The eighth-seeded Merrimack College Warriors were the darlings of the Hockey East Tournament.

But Boston College ended the Warriors’ impossible dream in the second period of their Hockey East semifinal at the FleetCenter Friday night 7-2.

The second-seeded Eagles, who entered the game riding the wave of a 10-game unbeaten streak (8-0-2), scored three times in a span of 4:06 to snap a 2-2 tie and eliminate the upstart Warriors.

BC, now 25-8-5, will face the Maine vs. UMass-Lowell winner in Saturday’s 8 p.m. championship game. Merrimack, which stunned top seed Boston University in the quarterfinals, finished at 11-26-1. Merrimack coach Ron Anderson, who has not had his contract renewed, finished his 15-year career at 255-249-24.

BC sophomore right wing Kevin Caulfield, who came into the game with 10 goals in 73 career games, had the first and third goals of the decisive second-period flurry.

Caulfield scored his first one with 5:01 remaining in the period off the rebound of a Mike Mottau shot from the high slot. Caulfield, parked to the left of Merrimack goalie Tom Welby, fought off a check by Drew Hale and lifted the rebound over Welby from a difficult angle.

Then came the turning point.

With the Eagles on the power play, the Warriors appeared to have a golden opportunity at a breakaway when they poked the puck free at the blue line.

A Warrior was hauled down but no penalty was called and, seconds later, Marty Reasoner scored on the power play. He wheeled out of the corner to Welby’s left and snapped a 14-footer over Welby’s glove into the short side.

Caulfield finished off the flurry on a three-on-one, roofing an 8-footer over Welby off a Chris Masters pass.

Andy Powers and Mike Mottau added third-period goals for the faster and deeper Eagles, who outshot Merrimack 49-24 including a 38-18 margin over the final two periods.

Jeff Farkas and Brian Gionta scored first-period goals for BC but Sandy Cohen answered twice for the Warriors.

Women’s hockey

New Hampshire 4, Minnesota 1

BOSTON – New Hampshire, hoping to make a big year for women’s hockey even bigger for itself, reached the finals of the first national college championships with a 4-1 win over Minnesota on Friday night.

Brown faced Northeastern in the other semifinal of the tournament, scheduled to capitalize on the sport’s Olympic debut for women.

The first game showcased the sport’s present – a strong New Hampshire team and a small crowd – and the future. Minnesota, with 15 freshmen, figures to make inroads into what, until this year, has been an exclusively Eastern varsity sport in Division 1.

New Hampshire (30-5-3) took a 2-0 lead on goals in the first period by Brandy Fisher and the second by Kali Wilson. Sara Cross made it 3-0 just 54 seconds into the third before Ambria Thomas scored at 1:39 for Minnesota (21-6-3). Winny Brodt ended the scoring at 7:44.

Earlier in the day, Fisher received the first Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the nation’s top college player.

At 11:07 of the first period, she got her 42nd goal of the season, tops in the nation. She lifted a five-footer over goalie Erica Killewald after taking a pass from behind the net from Samantha Holmes.

It was Fisher’s school-record 129th career goal. The only others with at least 100 goals in New Hampshire history are Kathy Bryant with 110, and Karen Bye, a member of the U.S. gold-medal team, with 100.

With about 300 spectators in Harvard’s chilly Bright Arena, the Wildcats outshot Minnesota 37-12. They earned the berth as ECAC regular-season champions but were upset in the post-season tournament finals by Brown.

Of the 13 colleges playing Division 1 hockey and eligible for the tournament, only Minnesota isn’t in the ECAC.

The tournament is being staged by the American Women’s College Hockey Alliance, a program of USA Hockey funded by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the NCAA.

The NCAA requires 40 varsity teams before it will hold a national championship, about 10 more than now play women’s hockey.