Halfway through the third period of Friday afternoon’s Great Lakes Invitational Tournament consolation match between Boston College and Michigan Tech, the third-ranked Eagles, a prohibitive favorite entering the tournament, appeared to be in danger of suffering a second straight loss after an opening round defeat by Michigan.<\/p>\n
Two key plays in the last half of the final period tipped the balance of the game in Boston College’s direction allowing them to escape with a narrow 2-1 victory.<\/p>\n
At 10:50 of the third, Boston College defenseman Brian Dumoulin supplied the first key moment with a strong individual effort to score what would eventually prove to be the winning goal.<\/p>\n
Michigan Tech pressured Boston College offensively late in the game. In the second crucial circumstance, Huskies forward Blake Pietila appeared to have tied the game on a rebound with 28.9 seconds left in regulation time. On review, however, the officials ruled that the puck was directed back to Pietila by Jordan Baker with a stick just slightly higher than allowable, negating the potential tying goal.<\/p>\n
Dumoulin’s winning effort was partially the result of a point of emphasis from a Boston College practice session.<\/p>\n
“During practice, Coach (Jerry York) has been stressing our defensive gaps,” started Dumoulin. “I felt like I had a good one there. I was the puck going cross-ice and I was able to stop, waiting for a few guys to get onside.<\/p>\n
“I just took it wide and I think our whole team and everyone in the stands thought I was going to pass. That’s when I decided to shoot and luckily, it went in.”<\/p>\n
On the Michigan Tech goal overruled on review, Baker wasn’t sure the replay official got it right, but took the high road in describing his disallowed stick action.<\/p>\n
“Obviously, it’s excitement,” Baker said of his first reaction to the apparent goal. “It’s a tough break, unfortunately. I didn’t think it was a high stick. It hit me and went right to Blake, but you have to trust the replay officials.”<\/p>\n
Until the third period excitement, the only effective offense occurred with Boston College on the power play and Michigan Tech on the penalty kill.<\/p>\n
Chris Kreider had opened the scoring early on a quick power-play goal at 4:04 of the first period. Kreider only needed six seconds of the power play advantage to find the back of the net on a one-timer off Johnny Gaudreau’s pass from behind the net.<\/p>\n
Michigan Tech knotted the score, 1-1, late in the opening period, again with Boston College on the power play when Dennis Rix whistled a seemingly innocent slapshot from the right point that eluded Parker Milner in the Boston College cage.<\/p>\n
Offensive malaise is not uncommon in tourney consolation games.<\/p>\n
“It’s a short turnaround, no question.” said Michigan Tech coach Mel Pearson, addressing the difficulty of playing a third place game. “We played a pretty good game against Michigan State (on Thursday). If you’re competitive and you’re a player or a coach, you don’t like to lose and take every loss hard.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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