2014 NCAA Frozen Four: 1st semifinal: B.C. - Union

(NOTE: Check back here throughout the night for period-by-period recaps of B.C.-Union & Minnesota-North Dakota!)

MATCHUP: (2) Boston College (Hockey East - Chestnut Hill, MA) vs. (3) Union College (ECAC Hockey - Schenectady, N.Y.)

LOCATION: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA

1st TIME HOSTING? Yes... the former (since demolished) Spectrum, which was across the parking lot until late 2010, never hosted the NCAA's premier hockey tournament!

SOUNDS OF THE GAME: John Buccigross & Barry Melrose on ESPN2; as for the background music, that, unlike my visit to Albany, N.Y. for Union-RPI in late January, was approximately 1/2 B.C./Union bands, & 1/2 Wells Fargo Center producers with all the pre-recorded playlists... Certainly provides the bands a break from having to play during every play stoppage/intermission!

KUDOS: (& I don't usually give anything from Philadelphia "kudos") to the Philadelphia Flyers for "loaning" 40+ year P.A. announcer Lou Nolan to the NCAA for these 3 games! Also, to ESPN/ESPN2 for bringing back the network's original National Hockey Night theme, which played throughout every ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 NHL telecast throughout the 1980s, 90s, & up until the 2004-5 lockout that canceled that entire season & ended the NHL/ABC-ESPN T.V. deal!

1ST PERIOD SUMMARY:

the score after 1 period

The 1st penalty of each of these types of games tends to be more getting over nerves than anything, so while I think cross-checking is dangerous, I'll let the 1st 1 slide more than I will the 2nd 1... The 1 thing you absolutely can't do & expect to get away with is hit a guy from behind into the boards, so I think that 2nd cross check was just dumb, & obviously, canceling out a power play with a penalty is always unadvised, so that's that...

There's the complete penalty/power play summary for the 1st period...

& last but not least, guess who scored the game's 1st goal!

THOUGHTS: sure, you can dominate part or all of a game, but getting a goal scored against you, especially of the fluke nature in which it came for B.C., can kill all that momentum @ once!

2ND PERIOD SUMMARY:

the score after 2 periods

THOUGHTS: the 2nd period was much more wide open than the 1st... B.C. couldn't keep its 1st period momentum going & add to its lead, allowing Union to take advantage (& a 2-1 lead) before scoring once behind by a goal to tie this game up for the 3rd time so far!

Partly as a result of all the goal scoring & back-&-forth opportunities, the shots were more numerous & evenly distributed than the 1st period shot totals!

Notice something else? No penalties whatsoever... That means the T.V. timeouts were among the only play stoppages throughout the middle frame!

3RD PERIOD SUMMARY:

 the final score - Union College 5, B.C. 4; as a result, Union will face the winner of Minnesota - North Dakota Saturday night! (7:30 P.M. EDT, ESPN)

 This game got more & more hectic as it went along, & this 3rd period was no exception... The last 2 goals were especially unexpected, with the 5th Union goal almost wiped out by either a high stick or icing, & the 4th B.C. goal coming with just 3.2 seconds remaining in the game!

 Despite the hectic nature of the goal scoring, the shot totals were actually less than the 2nd period!

match penalties - they're always crippling to teams affected by them - that is, unless you're Union College in this game, which killed the entire 5:00 major penalty, scored immediately afterward (6:49 penalty & 11:53 goal, respectively), & held off B.C. within the last minute & a 1/2 of the game when B.C. had a 2-man advantage down by 2 goals & looking to pull off the comeback!

UP NEXT: Union vs. Minnesota, Saturday night @ 7:30 P.M. EDT on ESPN!