Tony Voce scored three goals and added two assists as the Boston College Eagles opened the 2001-02 Division I hockey season with a 4-1 victory over Vermont at a sold-out Gutterson
Fieldhouse Saturday.
Boston College, the defending national champion, was four-for-six on the power play, with Voce getting two. The Eagles got on the board in the first minute when sophomore Ben Eaves ripped a wrist shot high to the stick side of Vermont goalie Shawn Conschafter just 45 seconds into the game.
The Catamounts were a man down after Ryan Miller was whistled for hitting from behind at 0:29 of the period. Eaves, who had 13 goals last season as a freshman, made no mistake, firing the shot from the circle to the right of Conschafter and ringing it off the crossbar.
Vermont evened the score at 1-1 midway through the first when Tim Plant hit linemate Brady Leisenring with a great pass up the center and Leisenring beat BC goalie Tim Kelleher with a nifty move in close.
The Eagles took a 2-1 lead at 16:25 of the opening period when Voce scored from the left of the crease with BC just having finished a five-minute power play.
Boston College took a 3-1 lead early in the second period with their second power-play goal of the game. Voce lit the lamp after getting the puck in front of the net and deking Conschafter. He later added his second of the game from the doorstep, taking a great pass from Eaves while the Eagles were again on the power play midway through the third, and then scored his third of the night with 3:10 remaining. Eaves finished with three assists.
Conschafter made 25 saves for Vermont, while Kelleher stopped 15 for Boston College.
NOTES: There was a moment of silence before the game in honor of those lost in the tragic events of September 11th. After the national anthem, both teams came together at center ice to shake hands in front of the sellout crowd on hand at Gutterson Fieldhouse…Former Catamount great and current Philadelphia Flyer John LeClair was inducted into the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday night in the 33rd annual celebration at the Sheraton Hotel. LeClair could not attend the ceremony, but he taped an acceptance speech that was played to the crowd. John’s father, Butch, accepted the plaque for his son. LeClair grew up in nearby St. Albans, Vermont
