A five-goal outburst in the third period elevated No. 14 Boston College over RIT, 6-0, in the championship game of the Dodge Holiday Classic.
Nate Gerbe gave the Eagles a two-goal lead three minutes into the third on a breakaway. Gerbe caught a pass from Anthony Aiello at center ice and skated in on Louis Menard.
“I saw a little opening and Anthony Aiello made a brilliant pass on my tape. I saw some room five hole and beat him there,” explained Gerbe.
“When it was 2-0, I don’t want to say it was over, but it was an uphill battle,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson.
The game got out of hand for the Tigers at 10:01 of the third when Boston College took a 3-0 lead on a goal that Pat Gannon poked through Menard’s pads.
A scrum broke out after the goal as all five skaters on each team paired up. Three players ended up in the box for roughing from each squad, but RIT drew an extra roughing minor.
Dan Bertram proceeded to score on the ensuing power play. Ben Smith added a fifth goal on the power play at 10:57 and the rout was on.
The only thing in doubt was whether John Muse would earn his first career regulation-length shutout.
“We were 1-0 going into the third. John Muse kept it there,” said Boston College coach Jerry York on his goaltender’s effort.
Carl Sneep got the final goal for Boston College with less than a minute left with a shot from the point off a face-off.
RIT came out with an aggressive forecheck to start the game. The Tigers managed to bottle BC up in its defensive zone for the opening five minutes.
BC found a little room when Brent Patry was called for holding at 6:58. The Eagles managed to put three shots on net during the power play. More importantly, they started to break through the RIT forecheck, evening out momentum.
Joe Whitney put Boston College up 1-0 at 17:27 of the first on a power-play goal, a screened tip that Menard had no chance to stop.
Utilizing their speed and forecheck, the Eagles took control of the game in the second. Their aggressive skating drew three penalties as they expanded their shot advantage to 25-16.
RIT scoring chances — though infrequent — were of very high quality. Andrew Favot shot over an open net as Eagle goaltender John Muse was down about four minutes into the second period. Sean Murphy tipped the puck just wide with a minute left in the period while RIT was on the power play.
“I thought the first period was the best,” said Wilson. “I am really proud of our guys. We still have a lot to learn and playing teams like Boston College will teach you lessons.”
“We are starting to score a lot of goals,” said York. Boston College outscored its opponents 14-2 on the weekend and have won five straight games by a combined total of 31-9.
The Eagles play next Sunday at Clarkson while RIT heads to Holy Cross for a Friday/Saturday series.
