SPORTS The Heights
Monday, January 30, 2012
B1
Monday, January 30, 2012
Eagles sweep UNH in key home-and-home Men’s hockey completes the weekend sweep with Almeida’s OT tally By Steven Principi Heights Staff
The pucks seem to be bouncing Boston College’s way all of a sudden. For the secBoston College 3 ond night in a New Hampshire 2 row, No. 7 B C defeated the New Hampshire Wildcats in exciting fashion by a score of 3-2. Senior alternate captain Barry Almeida scored a power play goal at 3:27 of overtime to give the Eagles four points on the weekend and their first winning streak since early December. Despite the weekend sweep, head coach Jerry York left the rink very impressed with the New Hampshire team he saw. “It’s a much different Wildcat team
than when we played them back on October 15th,” York said. “They’re much more dangerous offensively and much tighter defensively. We feel we just played two games that could have gone either way with two evenly matched teams.” For the second straight game, the Eagles started off strong. With just over three minutes gone in the first period, Edwin Shea made a perfect pass to Almeida, who finished the play off with an easy tap in. Almeida’s goal was his 15th of the season and drew him very high praise from York. “He was in the right place at the right time, but he’s been that way all year,” York said. “He’s had a phenomenal senior year for us. He’s clearly been our best forward from an offensive and defensive perspective, and it was good to seem him get those goals tonight.” The lead did not last long, however, as the Wildcats tied the game while on the power play barely five minutes later. With the score tied a one, Chris Kreider scored his second goal of the week-
end with a wicked backhanded shot that sent the Eagles into the dressing room with a 2-1 lead. The second period saw BC on the power play for long stretches, and several pucks just missed hitting the net. It was the Wildcats, however, who managed to break through for the only goal of the frame after Tommy Cross failed to clear the puck and gave it back to New Hampshire. Their possession eventually led to an easy goal off a cross-ice pass that left goalie Parker Milner with no chance. The goal came with just over a minute to go in the period and sent the teams into the second intermission tied at two. A defensive-minded third period failed to produce much offense, and the teams headed to overtime to decide the game. In the early stages of the extra frame, a questionable tripping call against New Hampshire gave BC a man advantage and a chance to steal two points. The power play looked sloppy early on,
See Weekend Sweep, B4
graham beck / heights editor
Barry Almeida (second from right) scored the game-winner in OT on Saturday night at UNH.
A delayed ‘State of BC Athletics’
incomplete once again By Jack Garvey For The Heights
In its game against Miami yesterday afternoon at Conte Fo76 rum, the Miami key stat Boston College 54 f o r t h e young Boston College Eagles was size, or rather, their lack of it. It was evident from a quick glance at the court during warm-ups that the Eagles were going to be physically overmatched throughout the game, and that proved to be the case as the Hurricanes dismantled BC in the final seven minutes, coming away with the 76-54 win. Miami started two players larger than 6-foot-10 in forward Kenny Kadji and center Reggie Johnson. Height was not going to be the only factor in the mismatch down low, but overall size in general, as forward Ryan Anderson and center Dennis Clifford were giving up 77 pounds between them to these two ’Canes. Despite the mismatch in size, BC opened up the game playing active, energized defense, limiting Miami’s offensive attack. Every time the Hurricanes tried to go down low and let Johnson back down on Clifford, a double-team would immediately fall upon him, forcing him to kick out to teammates on the perimeter for contested jump shots. These doubleteams, along with many Miami players insisting on shooting bad 3-pointers early in the shot clock,
led to the Hurricanes shooting 16 3-pointers in the first half, making only four of them. Meanwhile for the Eagles, guard Matt Humphrey was playing with the kind of energy and hustle that helps keep overmatched teams in games. He was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the first half for nine points, in addition to blocking two shots and adjusting countless others with quick feet and active hands. Humphrey’s play, as well as good jump shooting from guards Jordan Daniels and Gabe Moton, largely contributed to BC finding itself down only three points at halftime despite being clearly overmatched in size, length, and athleticism. Signs of trouble, however, were clearly present in the first half stat sheet. Miami led BC in all hustle stats, including points off turnovers, second-chance points, and fast-break points. The most troubling stat was Miami’s 18 points in the paint to BC’s eight. Despite the double teams, the Hurricanes’ big men were still getting what they wanted down low and were disrupting nearly every BC shot attempt in the paint. Clifford struggled to keep pace with Miami’s big men, going scoreless in the first half with only two rebounds and three turnovers. Taking care of the ball would be an issue all game long, and the first half was certainly no excep-
Greg Joyce I know I’m about a week late on this one, but before we get into the craziness of February and March in college sports, I guess there is no better time to have a bit of a “State of BC Athletics”: -And just like that, with two simple sweeps, No. 7 BC is back atop the Hockey East standings in a tie with Boston University. The Terriers were swept this weekend by Maine (who does that?), and the Eagles lucked out with a sweep of New Hampshire, knotting up the Comm. Ave. rivals with 25 points apiece. You think they’re just trying to make things that much more dramatic for a potential Beanpot championship matchup two weeks from today? OK, I know I’m getting way ahead of myself, but this weekend’s sweep was exactly what BC needed. Four points are four points, no matter how you get them, especially in late January in the Hockey East. Even if both wins came in the final minutes of regulation or overtime and against the University of No Hardware (UNH). You know why the Eagles were able to squeak out a win on Friday night? The Gold Out, of course! But in all seriousness, Friday night’s sellout at Kelley Rink was exactly what this team needed to get reenergized for a big push with the regular season slowly winding down. Well done, Superfans. If only that many people could show up to a men’s basketball game … -Which leads me to my next point. I’m not going to bash the student section (or lack thereof) for its recent attendance woes at Conte, although I have to think Donahue’s Disciples must be getting a little lonely at each game. But here’s an idea for the ticket masterminds in athletics: Why have a student section behind each net if neither is going to be even a quarter full? There might have been a combined 50
See Frustrating Loss, B3
graham beck / heights editor
See State of BC, B3
BC falls at home to Miami
Beanpot begins Tuesday
The loss becomes the eighth straight ACC defeat for the Eagles
By Greg Joyce
By Kim Schroer For The Heights
The Boston College women’s basketball team extended its losing streak to eight 88 games on SunMiami day, as the Miami Boston College 57 Hurricanes dominated the Eagles 88-57 at Conte Forum to keep BC winless in the ACC. Tessah Holt led the Eagles with 12 points, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Eagles from falling to 5-16 on the season. The Hurricanes cruised to a 17-3 lead after six minutes of play and never looked back. Senior Shenise Johnson led the way for the Hurricanes, scoring 16 of her 22
points in the opening half to give Miami a 48-27 halftime lead. The Eagles came out fighting in the second half, but eight straight points from Miami junior Stefanie Yderstrom gave the Hurricanes a 57-28 lead that put the game out of reach. The visitors stifled the Eagles’ offense with an aggressive pressure defense, forcing 15 BC turnovers that led to 25 first-half points for Miami. The Eagles finished the game with 29 turnovers while shooting just 36 percent from the field. BC also struggled to keep Miami off the boards. The Hurricanes dominated the glass, outrebounding the Eagles 50-29 while collecting 23 offensive rebounds. In addition, Miami finished with 15 secondchance points in the first half. Head coach Sylvia Crawley was visibly upset about her team’s failure to box out. “We’ve got to do a better job at transi-
See Women’s Basketball, B2
i nside S ports this issue
Sports Editor
graham beck / heights editor
Alyssa Fressle notched nine points in the loss.
Almeida shining in final season
As a senior alternate captain, Barry Almeida is second on the team in points...............B4
It’s Beanpot time in Boston. The No. 4 Boston College women’s hockey team will take the ice on Tuesday night at Walter Brown Arena in the first round of the annual tournament, facing a familiar foe in the No. 6 Northeastern Huskies. The Eagles and the Huskies are tied in a heated race at the top of the Hockey East standings, but Tuesday night’s game is technically a non-conference matchup, meaning the game will have no effect on the standings. Nonetheless, the first-round contest will be important for national rankings, as well as serving as a springboard for the home stretch of the regular season. “It’s one of those things that is obviously a unique experience to have a championship [toward the end] of the season,”
Eagles in Super Bowl XLVI
Who is the right team to root for when considering BC’s ties to the big game?................................B2
said head coach Katie King Crowley. “It’s an especially exciting time for all four teams involved. You’re starting to kick it into gear here for the playoffs and for the end of the year. “We still try to take one game at a time and focus on the team that we have next, and that’s what we’ll continue to do. But the Beanpot is obviously a fun time, and everybody wants to be named that best team in Boston, and that’s something that our kids really look forward to every year.” The last time the two teams laced up against each other was nearly two weeks ago, when they skated to a 1-1 draw. With the teams having gone neck and neck all season, the Beanpot opener will carry a little extra meaning this time around. “It means a lot right now,” said senior captain Mary Restuccia. “We just tied
See Beanpot Preview, B5
Quote of the Week..........................B2 Numbers to Know......................B2