| | MINNEAPOLIS -- Jeff Farkas' second goal of the game at 11:53 of overtime lifted Boston College over Michigan State 6-5 in a first-round NCAA West Regional hockey game Friday night.
Farkas' goal, the fifth Eagle power-play goal of the game, capped a wild affair that featured seven power-play goals and one shorthanded tally.
|  | | Mike Lephart and the BC Eagles left Brad Hodgins and the MSU Spartans in their wake. |
The Eagles (27-11-1) face top-seeded Wisconsin (31-8-1) in a NCAA quarterfinal game Saturday night at Mariucci Arena.
A five-minute major for checking from behind to the Spartans' Sean Patchell proved to be the difference in the game.
With just six seconds remaining in the power play, Brian Gionta -- the player Patchell drilled into the boards -- fed Farkas who beat goalie Ryan Miller from close range. It was the only time that Boston College led in the game.
The Spartans (27-11-4) came into the game with a five-game winning streak, the CCHA post-season championship and smarting over their fifth-seed status. They quickly put the fourth-seeded Eagles on their heels, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first 8:33 of play on goals by Adam Hall and John Nail.
But Nail's shot was the last Michigan State shot on goal for nearly 20 minutes. By that time, the Eagles had tied the game 2-all.
Boston College started the second period on a two-man power play. Farkas and Gionta scored 65 seconds apart and the tone was set for the rest of night.
The Spartans, the better team most of the night when the teams were at even strength, went ahead on Andrew Hutchinson's 40-footer at 9:53 of the second period.
The Eagles tied the game again when Blake Bellefeuille broke in alone from center ice and slipped the puck through Miller's legs for a shorthanded goal at 14:02.
John-Michael Liles took a feed from Shawn Horcoff at 1:11 and gave MSU the lead but Kevin Caulfield deflected a shot past Miller, who had 31 saves, at 10:35 to make it 4-all.
The Spartans took the lead for the fourth time in the game when Horcoff, who had three assists, fed Rustyn Dolyny at 13:05 but another MSU penalty -- this for too many men on the ice penalty -- proved costly.
With Clemmensen on the bench for a sixth attacker, Mike Lephart's power play with 49.8 seconds remaining sent the game into overtime. | |
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