November 8, 1996

Boston College Skates Past Notre Dame

CHESTNUT HILL, MA. - In a match-up of two teams loaded with highly-regarded freshmen and sophomore players, host Boston College skated to a 6-1 victory over Notre Dame before a crowd of 6,378 at Kelley Rink Friday night.

After averaging nearly 30 shots per game in their first six contests, the Irish were limited to just 17 shots on goal in falling to 3-3-1 this season. Notre Dame was also 0-for-7 on power-play opportunities against the Eagles (3-3), whose physical play seemed to frustrate the Irish in the non-conference game.

Jamie O'Leary scored his third goal of the season early in the first period to open the scoring for Boston College, which defeated Notre Dame 7-5 last season. Unassisted goals by Jeff Farkas and Chris Masters in the second period later gave the Eagles a 3-0 cushion.

Boston College then put the game out of reach in the third. Goals by Kevin Caulfield, Marty Reasoner and Blake Bellefeuille opened up a 6-0 lead.

Notre Dame eventually found the net when senior defenseman Brian McCarthy scored his first goal of the season late in the third period. McCarthy pushed home the puck in a crowded crease after taking a give-and-go pass from Ben Nelsen on the left side.

Greg Taylor finished with 16 saves for the Eagles, while Matt Eisler stopped 22 shots for the Irish.

Notre Dame returns to the ice next Friday night when it hosts Ferris State.

Post-Game Quotes

Notre Dame coach Dave Poulin: "Obviously, we're disappointed with the loss and the way we played tonight. You have to use a night like tonight as part of the growth process. We have to learn from what we did wrong. Sometimes when a team has early success, they forget what they have to do to keep getting wins. One of the keys was the physical nature of the game. Boston College controlled things physically tonight."

Boston College 6, Notre Dame 1

Notre Dame      0   0   1   -- 1
Boston College  1   2   3   -- 6

First period: BC, O'Leary 3 (C. Masters, Hemenway), 2:06.
Second period: BC, Farkas 2 (unassisted), 8:07; BC, C. Masters 2
(unassisted), 15:00.
Third period: BC, Caulfield 1 (Wainwright, Farkas), 2:37; BC, Reasoner
4 (C. Masters, Bellefeuille), 8:21; BC, Bellefeuille 5 (Mottau,
Hemenway), 17:04; ND, McCarthy 1 (Andrusiak, Nelsen), 17:31.
POWER-PLAYS
Notre Dame:     0-for-7
Boston College: 1-for-5
PENALTIES
Notre Dame:      8-for-16 minutes
Boston College:  9-for-21 minutes
SAVES
Eisler, ND: 22
Karr, ND:    4
Taylor, BC: 16