BC Pulls Away From Harvard In Third

Photo by Steve Babineau

0:00 - 3rd	1	2	3	Final
Harvard (4-4-2)	0	1	0	1
Boston College (8-4-1)	1	1	3	5

Scoring Summary
1st - 13:50	Andrew Orpik (Boston College)
2nd - 10:03	PP - Matt McCollem (Harvard)
2nd - 19:34	Brock Bradford (Boston College)
3rd - 02:19	Cam Atkinson (Boston College)
3rd - 05:01	Matt Price (Boston College)
3rd - 16:19	Andrew Orpik (Boston College)

Harvard	Boston College
G: Matt McCollem - 1 A: Alex Killorn - 1 Sh: 2 Players (#15, #39 - 4) Sv: Matt Hoyle - 31	G: Andrew Orpik - 2 A: Matt Lombardi - 2 Sh: Brock Bradford - 6 Sv: John Muse - 18

TEAM STATISTICS	Harvard	Boston College
Power Plays	1 for 9	0 for 5
Shorthanded Goals	0	0
Penalties (min)	8 (16)	12 (24)
Shots on Goal	19	36
Face Offs Won	43	28

full stats

Boxscore

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.-No. 5 Boston College scored three goals in a six-minute stretch spanning the second intermission to pull away to a 5-1 win against the Harvard men's hockey team in front of a sellout, holiday-weekend crowd Friday afternoon at Conte Forum.

Brock Bradford scored with 26 seconds left in the second period to break a 1-1 tie caused by a goal from Harvard sophomore Matt McCollem. Freshman Matt Hoyle made 31 saves for the Crimson (4-4-2), while John Muse stopped 18 shots for the Eagles (8-4-1). Harvard held a 43-28 edge in faceoffs.

The teams took turns on the power play in the first half of the first period, but neither was able to dent the twine. Harvard had its best chance of the period after its first man advantage ended, when a deflection by freshman Daniel Moriarty of an Alex Biega shot forced a pad save by Muse.

Another BC power play soon followed, and the Eagles had a few scoring opportunities. Hoyle made a pair of nice saves on Brock Bradford, one when the BC captain was alone on the left side and another at the end of a flurry in front. In between those shots, Ben Ferriero had a chance but hit the right side of the net with his shot.

The Eagles broke through at even strength at 13:50 of the opening frame. After Nick Petrecki knocked down a Harvard shot, Matt Lombardi moved the puck ahead to Andrew Orpik. He sped down the left side, pulled up at the goal line and stuffed the puck past Hoyle. The Crimson's freshman goalie made 14 saves in the period, holding Boston College to a 1-0 lead at the intermission despite a 15-4 edge in shots for the Eagles. Harvard had a 20-7 advantage in faceoff wins.

Harvard looked to tie on a man advantage early in the second period, but Muse stopped sophomore Michael Biega on the right post. After the power play ended, Killorn nearly tucked a shot past Muse on the left side, but the BC goalie kept it out to maintain the Eagles' 1-0 lead.

The equalizer came at 10:03 of the second, when Killorn knocked down a clearing attempt and got the puck to McCollem. The sophomore scored his third goal of the season on a backhander from the slot.

Boston College regained the lead just 26 seconds before the second intermission.

Playing four-on-four, Brian Gibbons won the puck behind the Harvard net and passed it to Bradford, alone in the slot, for a one-timer and Bradford's 13th goal in 13 games this season. The Eagles outshot the Crimson, 11-7, in the second period.

The Eagles doubled the margin just 2:19 into the final frame. Cam Atkinsson took a pass from Matt Price as he crossed the Harvard blue line and roofed a wrist shot on the rush for a 3-1 lead. Lombardi nearly added a fourth tally minutes later, but Hoyle got his right leg across to close a previously open net.

Hoyle and Harvard survived another flurry soon thereafter, but Price made it 4-1 at 5:01. With a crowd in front of Hoyle fighting for the puck, Price got to it and banged it home. Muse kept the Crimson from getting back in the game by making a tough pad stop on Harvard senior Jimmy Fraser and then withstanding a 50-second two-man advantage for the Crimson. Orpik put the game away with his second goal at 16:19.

The Crimson returns home next weekend to host perennial Western power North Dakota for two games.