March 29, 2008
Northeast Regional | First Round
Desperate Times, Heroic Measures
Miami battles back, beats Air Force in OT

By Jeff Howe

Miami 3, Air Force 2 OT
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-MIA	Tommy Wingels (15)	EV
0:19	C. Camper, R. Jones
Second Period
1-AF	Derrick Burnett (7)	EV
3:21	J. Hajner, M. Fairchild
2-AF	Josh Print (1)	EV
8:34	B. Page, S. Kozlak
Third Period
2-MIA	Carter Camper (15)	PP
13:44	A. Martinez, P. Cannone
Overtime
3-MIA	Justin Mercier (25)	EV
15:21	unassisted
Goaltending
MIA: Jeff Zatkoff, 75:21, 23 saves, 2 GA
AF: Andrew Volkening, 75:21, 30 saves, 3 GA
Penalties: MIA 1/2; AF 5/10
Power Plays: MIA 1-5; AF 0-1

WORCESTER, Mass. – Ryan Jones said it was time to get desperate. Miami was trailing by a goal with the most successful season in school history was just minutes from evaporating. And that’s when the RedHawks took over in their eventual 3-2 overtime victory against Air Force at the DCU Center in the Northeast Regional Semifinal on Saturday.

Carter Camper knotted the score at 2 at 13:44 of the third period, and Justin Mercier closed it out with a highlight-reel wrister in the extra session to give the RedHawks their second NCAA tournament win in as many years. And after toppling top-seeded New Hampshire as a four-seed last season, Miami was able to avoid similar embarrassment against the Falcons this time around.

That’s not to say it wasn’t close to happening. Air Force bunkered down in its zone in the third period, but Blake Page took a dumb too-many-men penalty, which led to Camper’s equalizer. It only seemed like a matter of time, though, as Miami dominated the third-period chances.

“Towards the end, we got a little desperate, and we buried our chances,” said Jones, who had an assist on Tommy Wingels’ goal 19 seconds into the game. “I think that was the difference.

Miami's Justin Mercier (rear, facing forward) celebrates his overtime goal against Air Force with his RedHawk teammates.

“We have a good team. When we get the puck down low and we possess the puck, there’s few teams that can stay with us. We really got to our game towards the end of the third period because we had to get a goal. It was get a goal or go home. We grinded it out down low, and that’s when you started seeing all the chances created.”

Even with all of its opportunities, however, Miami ran into a goalie who may have played the game of his life. Air Force sophomore Andrew Volkening made 30 saves, very few of which were easy.

“I think at this time of the year, you notice teams that make it to the next round, they have goaltending that is going to make those saves,” Mercier said. “Their goalie gave them a chance to win the hockey game, and they fought until the end.”

But the RedHawks were a resilient bunch. Two games removed from tying the CCHA semifinals at 19:56 of the third period will do that for a team. Still, it marked just the fourth time this season Miami won a game in which it trailed after two periods.

“I just think that we’re confident in our ability as a team,” Jones said. “We stick together, and we never get down on each other. We constantly build off each shift, and I think when you’re building on each shift, there’s really no panic.”

Boston College 5, Minnesota 2
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-BC	Ben Smith (22)	PP
6:33	N. Gerbe
Second Period
1-MN	Mike Howe (7)	EV
3:01	D. Fischer, D. Peltier
2-BC	Benn Ferriero (17)	EV
7:58	J. Whitney, T. Filangeri
Third Period
3-BC	Pat Gannon (6)	EV
4:25	M. Greene, M. Price
4-BC	Joe Whitney (9)	EV
8:46	Unassisted
2-MN	Ben Gordon (15)	PP EA
16:33	Unassisted
5-BC	Nathan Gerbe (29)	EN
19:43	B. Gibbons
Goaltending
BC: John Muse, 60:00, 31 saves, 2 GA
MN: Alex Kangas, 58:58, 27 saves, 4 GA
Penalties: BC 6/12; MN 6/12
Power Plays: BC 1-4; MN 1-4
Attendance: 7,357

BC GETS OFFENSIVE

Not long ago, it was easier to spot a Boston College forward on the side of a milk carton than the scoring sheet. A little more recently, however, the BC offense has been visiting the red-light district with more frequency than Pacman Jones.

The Eagles stomped Minnesota, 5-2, Saturday night to earn the second spot in Sunday’s Northeast Regional championship. Nine players, including eight forwards, registered a point against the Gophers, with Nathan Gerbe and Joe Whitney leading the way as each recorded a goal and an assist.

Boston College has scored at least four goals in every one of its six straight wins, and the offense generated five goals in four of those contests. It’s a stark turnaround from BC’s five-game winless streak (0-4-1) toward the end of the season, when it managed seven total goals in that span.

“I think it’s clicking great right now,” Whitney said. “It’s just hard work, and we got back to the basics, getting pucks to the net, finishing checks, cycling down low, moving our feet, all things like that. When you keep it simple like that, the offense is going to come. I think we tried to get a little too cute halfway through the year, and now we’re back to the basics.”

BC has even had a goal disallowed in each of its last two games, and the offense was so dominant in the first period against Minnesota, it was astounding the Eagles led by a simple 1-0 margin. They played with a confidence in the Gophers’ zone that was nonexistent during the regular-season stretch run.

“I think you need to have that confidence,” said Boston College senior forward Matt Greene, who made a great pass from the back boards to assist Pat Gannon’s eventual game-winner. “You kind of saw the BC Eagles team when we didn’t have confidence, and it was a struggle to put up one goal. Now, we have the confidence that we feel if we play strong enough defense that the goals are going to come. We’ve been playing that kind of hockey where you worry about defense first, and the offense is going to come. It’s great to have the confidence in the locker room. You can see it night and day, people’s attitudes. It’s everything. Everything is that much better. It’s great to see us pull it together right now.”

The line of Greene, Whitney and Benn Ferriero was BC’s most dominant of the night. Ferriero broke a 1-1 tie with a blistering one-timer in the second period, and Whitney’s goal – on a great individual effort to follow his shot, push through the defense and eventually knock one home – put the Eagles ahead 4-1.

The type of pressure that trio put on Minnesota’ defense ensured the offense wouldn’t have to rely on Gerbe’s line. That depth could prove invaluable as the Eagles try to chase their first national championship since 2001.

“We’ve got a high-powered offense, and even the defense jumps in,” Whitney said. “It’s just great. We’ve got the confidence now. We’ve just got to keep it basic and keep it simple, and we should be all right.”

SEEN AND HEARD AT THE DCU CENTER

INCH's Three Stars of the Night

3. Nathan Gerbe, Boston College This really could have gone to a number of BC forwards, but Gerbe applied constant pressure and is the catalyst behind this team’s success. 2. Andrew Volkening, Air Force Taking nothing away from Miami goalie Jeff Zatkoff, but Volkening was the reason the Falcons took the RedHawks to overtime. He probably had the five most impressive saves of the day. 1. Ryan Jones, Miami Jones wasn’t a major player, statistically speaking, but he was the most dominant player on the ice for the RedHawks. He laid out at least five Air Force players and sparked a number of odd-man rushes.

• Boston College coach Jerry York earned his 800th career victory Saturday. After the game, the players gave him the puck and honored him with a loud round of applause in the locker room.

“We gave him a celebratory puck at the end of the game,” BC senior forward Matt Greene said. “But you know what? Knowing Coach York, he doesn’t care about the 800th win. We care a lot more for him, and the applause in the locker room was amazing for him. All he cares about is advancing, and he keeps us grounded game by game. It rubs off from him to us.”

• Miami senior forward Nathan Davis left early in the game with what coach Rico Blasi called an “upper body injury.” Blasi said after the game he didn’t know the extent of Davis’ injury but did not believe Davis would play in the regional final Sunday.

• Air Force senior forward Eric Ehn was in the starting lineup for Air Force. The 2007 Hobey Baker finalist had missed the last 14 games with a broken left fibula. Ehn categorized his return to the ice as “magical.”

• Miami got hooked up with some sweet starting lineup music, as the PA system played “Sirius” by Alan Parsons Project, which you may know if you’ve ever caught a Chicago Bulls game.

• Play was stopped with 39.4 seconds remaining in the first period of the first game when the puck got stuck in the uniform of Air Force defenseman Matt Charbonneau.

• There were two guys in the press area who were old enough to remember Charlie Chaplin’s movies but smelled like they just walked off the set of a Cheech and Chong flick.

• Blasi was shown on the video boards biting his nails with his team trailing 2-1 with 12:19 remaining in the third period. That officially made the first game a nail biter.

• Props to anyone in the building who was able to name the University of Florida’s fight song during a multiple-choice game during a third-period timeout. While it’s a fun idea to put something like that on the video boards, how many people in Worcester, Mass., are going to be able to sing “Orange and Blue” during the NCAA hockey tournament?

• The DCU Center dug very deep into the audio vault to find Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack,” which played during the third intermission of the first game.

• Air Force coach Frank Serratore on his team surrendering a goal 19 seconds into the game: “We needed to get off to a good start, and that’s not what I categorize as a good start. ... My game plan was to get off to a great start. That ended in a hurry. We had to go with Plan B.”

• Serratore after the game on his program’s strides in the last two years: “The Air Force Academy, I mean, people didn’t even know we were a Division I hockey program – most people didn’t. But they know who the heck we are now. I’m so proud of these players. They put us on the map.”

• The crowd for the first game was pretty weak, but it got better in the third period. While the Miami fans traveled better than those from Air Force, the building was very pro-Falcons due to the neutral fans pulling for the upset.

The crowd for the second game was much livelier, which was expected since the DCU Center is less than an hour from the BC campus.

• Who invited the Gophers to the bird sanctuary full of Eagles, RedHawks and Falcons? Someone get Carl Spackler on the case.

• There should be a really good matchup in Sunday’s final if Miami’s Ryan Jones and BC’s Nick Petrecki find themselves on the ice at the same time, as both are really hard-hitting players. And for what it’s worth, they each wear No. 26.

• The video boards showed a fan wearing a Boston University sweater hanging out with a row full of Minnesota fans, which drew a laugh from some and boos from most.

• How do you play 62:42 of hockey without going to overtime? The Eagles and Gophers figured that one out Saturday night. Ben Gordon scored on a wrister at 16:33 of the third period, but the officials didn’t signal for a goal even though the red light went on. As play carried on, Brian Gibbons scored an empty-netter at 19:15, temporarily pushing BC’s lead to 4-2. But the Minnesota goal was reviewed and allowed, meaning the clock reverted back and Gibbons’ goal didn’t count. Miami coach Rico Blasi, who was scouting the game from behind the press area, knew the correct ruling from the word go.

• Minnesota coach Don Lucia was asked if he would have had his team do anything differently if the Gophers could have played the game again. Appropriately, Lucia responded, “Yeah, score some more goals.”

• What shouldn’t be lost in the attention given to BC’s offense was the game played by freshman goalie John Muse, who stopped 31 shots.”

PLUSSES AND MINUSES

If Air Force sophomore goalie Andrew Volkening defends the country the way he protected the net Saturday night, George Bush can mercilessly attack as many nations as he wants. Volkening was spectacular, turning away numerous scoring opportunities in a 30-save performance. His best came 90 seconds into the second period, when he dove across the crease to make a stick save.

“He was unreal,” Air Force senior forward Josh Print said. “He kept us in it a couple times, more than a couple times.”

A father sitting in one of the corners near the ice bought an estimated eight pizzas and a few sodas for his family – mostly young kids – during the first game. The DCU Center made a weekend net profit on that purchase alone.

The PA system was late to the party for the first game’s opening face-off. The good folks at the controls tried playing a clip of Michael Buffer saying “Let’s get ready to rumble,” but was late and had to cut the sound off because play was well underway.

Air Force freshman forward Blake Page was whistled for his second career penalty at 12:10 of the third period. Miami had the puck in the neutral zone after a lengthy attack in the Falcons’ zone, and Page inexplicably jumped over the boards and was whistled for too many men on the ice. Miami went on to tie the game on its power play.

INCH’s criticism of referee Derek Shepherd during the NCAA tournament is turning into an annual affair, as you can see in last year’s Northeast Regional Final notebook. Shepherd made the right call on the too-many-men penalty, but he should have swallowed the whistle instead of sending Falcon Derrick Burnett into the box for a really ticky-tack slashing penalty 1:49 into overtime. Later in the extra session, there were two infractions far worse on Miami’s end that Shepherd chose to ignore.

As it was pointed out by an alert hockey scribe, Minnesota did not bring its skating cheerleaders.

WHAT'S NEXT

Top-seeded Miami will play No. 2 Boston College in the Regional final Sunday at 4:30 p.m. It’s the second straight year the teams will meet in the Northeast Regional championship and the third season in a row they’ve met in the NCAA tournament. BC has knocked out Miami in both contests by a combined score of 9-0. The Eagles are trying to advance to their third straight Frozen Four, while the RedHawks are looking to earn their first trip to the national semifinals.

When asked if he thought Miami would be any extra motivated to eliminate the Eagles, Matt Greene noted his team is just as juiced to carry out some unfinished business of a larger scale in the NCAA tournament.

“We’re as motivated as any other year,” Greene said. “I think we know that we’re playing an incredible Miami team, and that’s pretty much what it comes down to. Nothing that happened last year or the year before can dictate what happens in this game, and that’s how we have to play. We have to know who we’re playing and, to an extent, how they play. Once we do that, I think we’ll play a pretty good game. They’re a different team from last year, and I think we are, too. I don’t think that has any effect on [Sunday] night’s game.”