Third period, 3:39, Boston College 7-1: The final score won't indicate how tight this game was for 45 minutes, but it will certainly indicate how disinterested Miami was in the final 15 minutes. Ben Smith kicked the extra point for BC, which has 16 goals in its last two games.
Third period, 8:15, Boston College 6-1: Miami is embarrassing itself now. The RedHawks have completely given up, and the Eagles have three goals in 95 seconds. Paul Carey capitalized to earn the Eagles' most recent tally.
Third period, 9:16, Boston College 5-1: Miami saw its season flash before its eyes and took the next shift off. Patch Alber's slapper floated through traffic and found the Miami net, and it was Alber's first career goal. Say goodnight, folks. It'll be a rematch of the 2006 national championship on Saturday night.
Third period, 9:50, Boston College 4-1: Cam Atkinson showed some Barry Sanders-esque shiftiness, moving horizontally through the Miami zone and backhanding a shot past Cody Reichard. That should just about do it.
Third period, 12:30, Boston College 3-1: The announced attendance is 34,954, which set a world record for the most fans to ever witness an indoor hockey game.
Third period, 14:41, Boston College 3-1: This is really dangerous for BC. Joe Hartman took a shot from the right point that appeared to deflect off of BC defenseman Tommy Cross and into the net. That was anything but a comfortable three-goal lead for the Eagles, and Miami is going to go hard during these last 15 minutes.
Third period, 16:21, Boston College 3-0: Miami goalie Cody Reichard has been outstanding, stopping all 11 shots BC has thrown at him, and he's made about four or five phenomenal saves. Miami has rotated between Reichard and Connor Knapp this season, and coach Rico Blasi will always second-guess the decision to start Knapp for this game.
Third period, 19:59, Boston College 3-0: After blocking seven shots in the first period, Miami only blocked one in the second, and that's a pretty telling stat. BC struggled badly to generate some offensive rhythm in the opening 20 minutes, but it was able to play a more wide-open game in the second period. It also looks like Carl Sneep has escaped a penalty for shooting after the whistle.
End of second period, Boston College 3-0: Carl Sneep took a slap shot well after the buzzer at the end of the period, and it incited a dust-up between the teams. That should be a penalty on Sneep, but the officials haven't made an indication yet.
Second period, 1:37, Boston College 3-0: Cameron Schilling was tagged for slashing, and Boston College has another power play. Obviously, that's a poor job by Schilling, and the RedHawks will lose the momentum they've built in the last 10 minutes.
Second period, 3:36, Boston College 3-0: As much as I've praised BC for this performance, the Eagles are by no means three goals better than Miami right now. The RedHawks have continued attacking, and if they can put one past John Muse, it could make for an intense third period. These last three minutes are very critical for both teams.
Second period, 5:18, Boston College 3-0: The Eagles killed off Brian Gibbons' penalty, and Joe Whitney and Tommy Wingels each received minors shortly after. The teams are back to four-on-four for a couple minutes.
Second period, 7:52, Boston College 3-0: Brian Gibbons was called for slashing, and Miami has a chance to make some noise here. The RedHawks have tilted the ice in their favor since Cody Reichard entered the game, and a power-play notch might make things pretty tight going forward.
Second period, 13:01, Boston College 3-0: Expanding more on that last point, I've been really interested to see Boston College play some national powerhouses in this tournament because I didn't know if BC looked so impressive due to a down year in Hockey East or if it in fact was this good. The Eagles withstood a really good first period from Miami, and their scoring depth has shown its prowess to build a three-goal advantage. BC is, in fact, this good.
Second period, 16:52, Boston College 3-0: Joe Whitney unleashed a beautiful snipe from the right point that beat Connor Knapp's glove and signaled the end of his night. Knapp allowed three goals on seven shots, and Cody Reichard is now between the pipes. This is impressive for BC, which was outplayed in the first 20 minutes but took advantage of two power plays and let its scorers get to business.
Second period, 17:54, Boston College 2-0: Jimmy Hayes scored from the slot to give BC its second power-play goal of the night. Until that point, BC's power play was slow and couldn't get anything started, and Connor Knapp probably wants that one back.
Second period, 19:10, Boston College 1-0: Just seconds after Will Weber hit the box for interference, Miami's Andy Miele broke loose into the BC zone, but John Muse swatted away his short-handed bid. After a faceoff, BC will try to restore some order to its power play and tally its second man-up goal of the night.
Second period, 19:59, Boston College 1-0: They're back at it in Detroit after a defensive-minded first period. BC and Miami combined to put 11 shots on net, and they also combined to block 11 shots.
End of first period, Boston College 1-0: That was a big break for Boston College at the end of the first period, and Ben Smith capitalized on a great five-second shift to give the Eagles a lead. Miami has been the better team through the first 20 minutes, but it couldn't crack through BC's defense or goalie John Muse. Miami is also a difficult team to come back against, which makes BC's initial goal even more important.
First period, 1:28, Boston College 1-0: Ben Smith won the face-off, marched to the front of the net and tipped Chris Kreider's shot past Connor Knapp to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. That's big for BC after Miami controlled the majority of the opening period, but lost momentum after a late penalty.
First period, 1:33, 0-0: Defenseman Joe Hartman got sent to the box for two minutes, and BC will go on the power play for the second time in the game. If nothing else, this should give BC's defensemen a break, as they've been working their tails off to gain possession of the puck in their own zone.
First period, 6:42, 0-0: Barry Almeida and Justin Vaive each received penalties, and the teams will play four-on-four for two minutes. BC has been excellent in the postseason in four-man situations, and this could be a chance for them to showcase their elite speed.
First period, 8:13, 0-0: Miami looks pretty sound right now, but BC has stayed strong defensively. The RedHawks have had more chances, and the Eagles are having problems missing the net again, which was a huge problem for them in the Northeast Regional.
First period, 11:14, 0-0: Paul Carey got busted for interference, and Miami has its first power play of the game.
First period, 12:50, 0-0: Nice gesture from the Miami section, which turned to its left and chanted, "R-I-T! R-I-T!" But then again, the RedHawks fans might have just been looking to gain the support of a neutral fan base.
First period, 13:44, 0-0: BC's initial power play left plenty to be desired, and Miami has controlled the game to this point, out-shooting the Eagles, 5-1.
First period, 16:00, 0-0: If you missed the Wisconsin-RIT game or just want a little more insight, check out the first live blog of the night.
First period, 17:15, 0-0: Cameron Schilling got two minutes for interference after demolishing an Eagle in the Miami zone. BC has a good opportunity early in the game.
First period, 19:50, 0-0: Boston College and Miami are underway at Ford Field.
8:40 p.m.: Connor Knapp will start in net for Miami. The puck will drop in a moment, and the winner gets rewarded with a date with Wisconsin on Saturday.
8:37 p.m.: RIT goalie Jared DeMichiel said the ice "wasn't ideal" and was building up some snow along the boards, which makes cycling the puck a little more difficult. RIT forward Cameron Burt, though, did say the ice was "a lot better" than Wednesday.
7:52 p.m.: The BC-Miami game should start shortly after 8:30.
6:57 p.m.: There doesn't appear to be any need for BC to worry about a disadvantage due to poor ice conditions. Everything has looked very smooth in the first game, and there haven't been any quirky bounces or issues with slush. Here are the lines for the second game at Ford Field.
Boston College (27-10-3)
Barry Almeida–Matt Price–Matt Lombardi
Joe Whitney–Brian Gibbons–Cam Atkinson
Chris Kreider–Ben Smith–Jimmy Hayes
Paul Carey–Pat Mullane–Steven Whitney
Brian Dumoulin–Carl Sneep
Philip Samuelsson–Edwin Shea
Tommy Cross–Patch Alber
John Muse (17-8-2, 2.54, .907)
Miami (29-7-7)
Justin Vaive–Devin Mantha–Brandon Smith
Reilly Smith–Andy Miele–Tommy Wingels
Alden Hirschfeld–Pat Cannone–Trent Vogelhuber
Curtis McKenzie–Carter Camper–Jarod Palmer
Will Weber–Joe Hartman
Cameron Schilling–Matt Tomassoni
Chris Wideman–Steven Spinell
Connor Knapp (10-3-4, 1.85, .926) or Cody Reichard (19-4-3, 1.76, .925)
8:02 a.m.: Boston College and Miami are scheduled to face off at 8:30 p.m. at Ford Field in the Frozen Four's marquee matchup.
The high-flying, fast-paced Eagles will try to utilize their speed against the do-it-all RedHawks, who won't overwhelm anyone in one particular area but have enough talent across the board to bring a consistently exceptional effort. Keep an eye on the new ice, which showed plenty of flaws during Wednesday's practices and could potentially hinder BC's ability to utilize its speed and skill.
BC and Miami are coming from unique directions this season. The Eagles, a national power for decades, have been in a rebuilding mode since their 2008 championship run, and they progressed this season far more rapidly than expected. Miami only burst onto the national scene in the last decade, but the RedHawks knew they'd be in this position all year, especially after making a run to the 2009 title game.
Keep it here throughout the game, as this one should be a doozy.
