Coming in as a top seed, everyone was expecting that Boston College to have no trouble putting the Tigers away. Instead, the Tigers came out exactly like they should have against the experienced BC offense, and they kept attacked after the Eagles went up 1-0 just 19 seconds into the matchup.
The Tigers never let up on the Eagles, and netminder Joe Howe made some unbelievable saves in net (and also had a helping hand with the posts) and finished the night with 39 stops.
Muse stopped 22 in the loss, and Milner added six saves of his own.
Third Period, 00:08, CC 8-4: Brian Gibbons spends the final seconds of his college hockey career in the penalty box, and the Tigers capitalize for one last goal.
Picking off a lazy pass in the neutral zone, Dakota Eveland skates in for a 1-on-1 attack on Milner, and shoots in the upper left corner for the 8-4 lead.
Third Period, 6:21, CC 7-4: Boston College is finally playing their game, but is it too late?
The quick and crafty offense strikes again with three rapid passes across the ice, ending with Barry Almeida firing the puck high over the shoulder of Joe Howe.
With the way Howe is playing tonight, this is the way BC needs to take advantage, with their skilled and experienced offensive attack. Unfortunately, it may be too late for the Eagles, but there are still five minutes in this one — and the Eagles seem to have found their stride.
Third Period, 11:45, CC 7-3: This is why Cam Atkinson can not be left open in the slot. The fiery forward connected with a quick pass from Brian Gibbons and blasted the puck into the upper corner. Howe has been making some incredible saves tonight, but he had absolutely no chance on that one.
That play is exactly what BC needed earlier in this matchup, as it will be extremely tough for this team to make up the four-goal deficit with eight minutes to play.
Third Period, 15:34, CC 7-2: Even if Boston College wanted to creep back in this one, Joe Howe is making it very, very difficult.
The Tigers' netminder has been outstanding to start the third period, denying some very legitimate chances by the Eagles. He's even playing out into traffic, poking the puck away from one BC forward, and then diving out into chaos to trap it. Keep bowing, CC fans.
Third Period, 20:00, CC 7-2: Parker Milner takes to the net for BC, as John Muse will finish this one sitting on the bench. Could it be the final game of his career?
End of Second Period, CC 7-2: The Eagles have a lot of work to do if they want to come back in this one. Five goals down with one period left — this will be a tough one to recover from.
Second Period, 2:27, CC 7-2: The Tigers have just opened this game wide open, netting their seventh goal of the nigth in the second period. This is the most goals Muse has allowed this season.
William Rapuzzi scored the seventh goal for CC, assisted by Tim Hall.
Second Period, 4:26, CC 6-2: Let's just say the Tigers' special teams are on fire tonight. They just netted their second shorthanded goal of the night with just over four minutes to play in the second period.
Alexander Krushelnys scored the shorty, his sixth goal of the season. He was assisted by Civitarese — who netted the first short hander of the night.
Second Period, 6:00, CC 5-2: The Schwartz-Schultz power play unit is not one you want to mess with. Jaden Schwartz nets his second of the game on the Tigers' power play opportunity, extending their lead to 5-2 in the second period.
BC's experienced goaltender John Muse has not allowed five or more goals since Feb. 14 in a 7-6 victory over Northeastern.
Second Period, 9:21, CC 4-2: The Eagles will try to claw their way back into this one, and the goal by Paul Carey definitely helps regain their momentum.
Carey's 13th tally of the season was assisted by Brian Gibbons and Kevin Hayes.
BC will need to depend on their experienced upper classmen to get this one back. Players like Gibbons and Carey have experience in falling behind, and they'll need a solid mental game to pull even with the Tigers.
Second Period, 13:29, CC 4-1: As much credit that is deserved to the Colorado College offense, their solid defense is shutting the Eagles' down. You can tell this team prepared for the skilled BC attack, and they're covering all their bases in their defensive zone.
CC goaltender Joe Howe is also playing exceptional in net for the Tigers, as he has six saves in the second period already.
Second Period, 17:49, CC 4-1: CC looks to continue their momentum aagainst the Eagles, as Steven Whitney takes the penalty for tripping early in the second period.
End of First, CC 4-1: BC clearly has plenty to talk about in the locker room, as they trail by three after the first period.
There's still plenty of hockey to play, but that's a tough deficit to overcome. However, if there's ever a team that knows how to battle with an offensive edge — it's BC.
First Period, 1:12, CC 4-1: BC had a solid opportunity to head into the locker room with some confidence as they went into a power play with 1:30 left in the first. Instead, Colorado College scores a shorthanded goal.
David Civitarese came away with the shorthanded tally, intercepting the puck in the BC offensive zone and carrying it up ice toward Muse.
Civitarese deked to fake out the Eagles' seasoned netminder and slipped the puck through the five hole to extend the Tigers' lead to 4-1.
First Period, 4:10, CC 3-1: The Eagles had a chance to regroup with a power play after Cam Atkinson's oh-so-close goal, but they remain at 3-1 behind Colorado College.
First Period, 8:24, CC 3-1: Time to bow to your goalie, Tigers fans.
Joe Howe makes an unbelievable save as Cam Atkinson had a wide open net to shoot on. Somehow, the Tigers' netminder made the outstanding reach to keep the Eagles at bay.
First Period, 11:58, CC 3-1: The BC Eagles look like they're skating in quick sand, and it's hurting them, as the Tigers just scored another one.
The Schwartz brothers are on fire, as Rylan nets the third one, with a quick conversion on a pass from his brother.
First Period, 12:13, CC 2-1: The Schwartz and Schultz line strike again as Jaden Schwartz picks up a rebound in front of the net and buries it past John Muse.
Jaden's brother, Rylan, and Schultz pick up assists on the play.
First Period, 13:46, 1-1: The quick Colorado offense evens things up just minutes later as Steven Schultz notches a power play goal for the Tigers.
BC's Pat Mullane was called for tripping the goalie, giving the Tigers the man advantage and Schultz quickly capitalized on the play.
First Period, 19:41, BC 1-0: Well that didnt' take long.
The Eagles strike quickly with the game-opening goal just 19 seconds into the first period. Jimmy Hayes scored for the taleneted BC squad, with assists coming from Pat Mullane and Chris Kreider.
Impressive considering this is Kreider's first game since March 4. He really did spark some confidence in this team.
8:55 p.m.: The Eagles get a significant boost as sophomore forward Chris Kreider has been cleared to play after undergoing jaw surgery in early March.
Kreider suffered a broken jaw against New Hampshire on Mar. 4, but he practiced in full gear with the Eagles this week and head coach Jerry York says he's good to go.
Kreider will add a significant boost to the already potent Eagles' offense. The sophomore has 11 goals and 12 assists in 31 games.
Basically, if the Eagles stick to their game and keep the Tigers contained, they should have no problem advancing to the next round.
8:00 p.m.: There's more than one NCAA Tournament going on in March, as Men's Division I hockey play kicks off on Friday.
The 16-team tournament boasts three Hockey East programs in Boston College, New Hampshire and Merrimack. The Eagles take the ice first on Friday night, facing off against Colorado College in the western bracket.
The Eagles are 15-1-1 in their last 17 games, but the slate is clean now that they're in tournament play. The Hockey East champions are defending the national championship in this year's tournament and they're looking to capture back-to-back titles.
The Eagles have been one of the top-ranked programs in the country all season long, and the experienced squad loves the pressure that comes with that status.
Keep up with all the action, the puck drops at 9:30 p.m.
