Down a goal in the third period, Maine rallied to tie in regulation, then got the game-winner from John Ronan in overtime for a 4-3 win over No. 2 Boston College. The Saturday win, in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,641 at Alfond Arena, completed a sweep for the Black Bears.
No. 3 Maine (26-7-3, 17-5-2 Hockey East) finished in second place in the conference, while Boston College (26-6-4, 17-4-3) had already earned the regular-season championship irrespective of this weekend’s results.
“It was an exciting game,” said Maine head coach Tim Whitehead. “I am really proud of our seniors for the way they played tonight. Boston College played a fantastic game and we were fortunate.
“We were able to recapture the game in the third period by playing hard, and we got some momentum and the win. Boston College came out storming, but [netminder] Frank Doyle was at his best, making some great stops to keep us in the game.”
“It was a great comeback in the third period,” said Doyle. “On Senior Night, you could not have asked for a better ending on the night.”
The Black Bears struck first, as Derek Damon scored a power-play goal with assists by Colin Shields and Dustin Penner at 5:06 into the game. Maine added to the lead when Todd Jackson put away a loose puck in front of the Boston College net at 10:30. Ronan and Ben Murphy had the assists.
Boston College, though, scored at 13:02 as Tony Voce put one past Doyle with an assist by Ben Eaves. Despite its 2-1 lead, Maine was outshot 19-9 in the period.
In the second, Voce knotted it up on the power play at 13:12, with assists by Ben Eaves and Patrick Eaves, and the Eagles then took a 3-2 lead early in the third as Patrick Eaves scored on a power play with assists by Voce and Ben Eaves at 1:16.
Maine responded with a power-play goal of its own at 9:36 of the third, as Penner put in a shot with assists by Damon and Michel Leveille.
That set up Ronan’s heroics. In overtime, Boston College had the first good look at the net, but Maine countered.
“Tom Zabkowicz made a quick transition, got the puck to me and I was able to take a shot,” said Ronan of his winner. “The goalie made the save, it came back to me and I was able to bury the rebound. We hung tough tonight and it was great to have the crowd behind us all night.”
In goal, Doyle had 39 saves, while BC’s Joe Pearce stopped 22 shots. Maine was 2-5 and Boston College 2-6 on the power play.
