Boston College capitalized on a third-period lag in the hockey team's aggressiveness to score two quick goals and edge the Crimson, 4 to 3, last night before a screaming crowd of 4,600 at the Boston Garden.
After outplaying the Eagles for one and a half periods and building up a one-goal lead, the varsity sextet failed to take the initiative in the final stanza until B.C. wing Dick Dempsey had scored the winning tally with a hard backhand shot.
Probably the best reason which could explain the Crimson late-period faltering is the three-lien depth of the B.C. squad, since coach Cooney Weiland, with few exceptions, only alternated his first two forward lines during the game.
The Crimson had difficulty setting up plays at the beginning of the opening period, and the Eagles netted the first goal at 4:17 when sophomore center Bill Leary slipped the puck past goalie Charlie Flynn.
The varsity offense soon began to assert itself, however, and continuously set up goal-scoring plays only to be stopped at the crease by 12 first-period saves of Eagle goalie Charlie D'Entrement.
Mahoney Ties Score
The varsity was quick to tie the score at the start of the second period when Frank Mahoney slapped in a rebound of Captain Scott Cooledge at 3:27.
With the score at 1 to 1, both team's defensemen began to halt offenseve jumps with hard, dumping bodychecks and then even linemen were being penalized with center-zone "elbowing" and "interference." After a solo attempt by Doug Manchester ended in D'Entremont's pads, the versatile defenseman took the puck down again just ten second later and sent a goal-scoring pass to wingman Ned Bliss at 6:30.
Using its greatest asset, a superior third line, B.C. managed to tie the score one minute later with a goal by Paul Sheehy. In the final minute of the period, assisted by Bill Cleary and Jerry O'Malley, Ned Bliss netted his second goal of the night after catching the Eagle goalie off-balance with a shot in the upper left hand corner of the cage.
The Crimson missed its best chance to score during this period when penalties left B.C. with just four men on the ice. B.C. was given the same bonus in the final period but brilliant goaltending by Flynn and the defensive work, of Manchester and Cooledge prevented any scoring.
The Eagles netted their tieing goal at 11:54 and followed with the deciding tally four minutes later. The Crimson, as usual, attempted to put on a final spurt in the closing minutes but seemed too tired to fight the puck away from stalling B.C. linemen.
The good judgment of goalie Flynn was a major factor in the Crimson's ability to stay within reach of the Eagles. Flynn, with a total of 24 saves to D'Eatremont's 27, left the crease seven times during the game to grab a loose puck away from reaching B.C. sticks.
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