BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
CHESTNUT HILL, MA – UCONN’s Kevin O’Neil scored 22 seconds after Boston College dramatically tied the game at 19:28 to give the Huskies an improbable 5-4 road win over the #18 ranked Eagles at Kelley Rink on Saturday.
“I’m really proud of the effort of our guys tonight, from beginning to end. We got down two goals and we (eventually) tied it up. Then, in the third period, we tie it up (again) on the power play. We worked on (the power play) all week for a big goal,” UCONN Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh said. “They tied it, and we showed great resolve and mental toughness to get that winning goal and win in regulation. “It was a great win. A fun game to be a part of.”
An thrilled Cavanaugh sees the Huskies record improve to 9-7-0 (6-4-0 HEA) with their first-ever win at BC Kelley Rink, where Cavanaugh as a BC assistant, patrolled many a night.
GAME WINNER
Two transfers from Yale University were heavily involved, one for each team on the game-winner.
BC’s Jack St. Ivany, who transferred last year in the second semester of his junior year, came up the left side of the ice and tried to chip the puck off the wall at center ice against O’Neil.
A grad transfer this year, O’Neil noticed St. Ivany cheating a little and compensated by getting himself in a solid position. O’Neil intercepted the puck then marched in onside into the BC’s end of the ice.
O’Neil with Carter Turnbull came down the middle of the ice. He looked to pass to the British Columbia native but, with his options closing instead elected to send a wicked wrist shot to the blocker-side high on Eric Dop. The shot sailed past his right shoulder to give UCONN the win in a wild third period that featured three lead changes and five goals.
REACTION
“I was definitely looking to find Carter at first. I thought we had a mini two-on-one. Luckily, the D with Drew Helleson, who was stretched out down on the ice, and (Mark McLaughlin and Nikita Nesterenko) took him away. So I just had to shoot it and it worked out,” O’Neil said in securing one of the biggest and most exciting wins in UCONN’s young history in Hockey East.
“The whole play happened because we had good structure in the neutral zone, and we got a semi-two-on-one out of it,” remarked Cavanaugh.
O’Neill’s only other big collegiate career goal was at Ingalls Rink in New Haven on February 24, 2018. During his freshmen year, O’Neil scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Harvard.
CAVANUGH RALLIES THE TROOPS
Cavanaugh needed to rally his team after UCONN was deflated after Boston College’s Patrick Giles tied it at 19:08 with a spectacular effort.
“They (BC) were celebrating like they had won the game, so I let our players know this is what we practice for. This is a great situation to show how mentally tough we are. While they think the game might be over, it’s far from over,” Cavanaugh stated. “We just make a play and let’s see if we can go win this in regulation.”
Kelley Rink became very subdued where pandemonium had reigned just seconds earlier.
GILES PLAY
Giles’ play was a remarkable individual effort.
The play started with Giles getting the puck on the left-wing side just after UCONN had swung the emotional pendulum in their favor. Giles motored away from Marc Gatcomb (the Gunn School) and past defenseman Ryan Wheeler.
He effectively fought off Wheeler’s last-ditch defensive effort and his shot beat Darion Hanson to tie the game at 19:06. The emotion made it seem as if BC had won the game, and not just tied it. O’Neil had other ideas.
CAVANAUGH ADJUSTS
Cavanaugh played a hunch and countered by adjusting and sending out O’Neil, Jachym Kondelik, and Turnbull onto the ice.
“I thought they were three of our best forwards all night long. They made the play and they won us the game,” UCONN’s bench chief stated.
UCONN GETS A LEAD
The Huskies had taken the lead four minutes earlier on a ticky-tacky penalty to BC’s Murray Kuntar for goalie interference. Kuntar was pushed down by John Spetz, but had no way to stop his momentum and took out Hanson and his goal cage.
Despite the fact that Kuntar’s protests referee Peter Schlittenhardt’s call stood at 14:26.
On the ensuing man-advantage, Ryan Tverberg was at the top of the left-wing circle. He used the US Olympic bound Helleson as a screen, and zipped his shot at a screened Dop, He had Kondelik, using all of his 6’6 frame to block out the shot. The puck glanced off the shaft of his stick and went into the net at 14:56 for his fifth goal of the year.
Giles swiped a neutral zone pass off the boards by UCONN’s Carter Berber, and fed Colby Ambrosio. He raced down the left-wing and tallied his sixth goal of the season at 7:34 with a shot going low to the far side.
ROLLER COASTER RIDE AHEAD
The roller coaster ride had just started.
UCONN took the lead at 1:03 of the third period. Artem Schlaine was in front of Gop, and got his third goal as he somehow got a piece of a left point rocket of a shot by Spetz.
Trailing 2-0, UCONN got back into the game as Turnbull ended his personal goal-scoring drought taking a rink wide cross-ice pass from Vladimir Firstov.
Turnbull zoomed past BC defenseman Justin Wells on the right-wing, went around the net and delivered ona left-wing wraparound for just his third goal of the season. Helleson was occupied battling Jonny Evans on the doorstep.
“He was fantastic. That’s why he was on the ice with 50-seconds left in the game,” Cavanaugh emphatically said.
At the end of the second period, BC had a shorthanded rush. Mitchell Warren flew past Gatcomb, and with five seconds left in the period. Hanson stood his ground and made, what proved to be, a critical pad save, keeping things knotted at two.
FIRST PERIOD
The Eagles came out flying early in the game and scored the period’s only goal while maintaining a vise-like defense the entire period.
Mike Posma plastered Roman Kinal on the opening shift in the left-wing lower circle. He freed the puck up to Casey Carreau, who snapped a right-handed laser over Hanson’s glove. The goal was his second of the season and came at 1:50.
The Huskies had only one shot on goal through the first ten-minutes of the battle including a power play.
The best Huskies pounded Dop, a Bowling Green transfer, late in the period. While shorthanded, Dop stopped Turnbull on a left-wing rush, and then Gatcomb’s attempted wraparound went through the crease. Dop then turned aside Turnbull’s blind back swipe that connected with the puck as the first-period buzzer sounded.
NOTES
Former Husky captain David Drake was released from his PTO by the Rochester Americans (AHL). He returns to the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL) from where he was traded.
The BU Terriers, a UCONN opponent, have lost NHL first-round pick Tyler Boucher, the son of former NHL’er Brian Boucher. He turned professional when he signed an ELC (entry-level contract) with the Ottawa Senators. In turn, Boucher signed a major junior deal with the local Ottawa 67’s (OHL) where he will be under the watchful eyes of the Senators.
