BC 4, PC 3 OT: Eagles spoil Friars home-opener

Mark Divver Assistant Sports Editor markdivver

PROVIDENCE — Up by three goals 25 minutes into the game, Providence College appeared to be in control against Boston College on Sunday.

But appearances can be deceiving. With help from the Friars, the Eagles (1-1-1) clawed their way back into the game and, in the end, BC went home a winner, 4-3, on captain Casey Fitzgerald’s goal 69 seconds into overtime.

It was an ugly ending for PC (2-1) in front of an opening night full house of 3,030 fans at Schneider Arena.

“We didn’t play to our identity,’’ said Nate Leaman, PC’s coach.

“These type of games can go either way,’’ said BC coach Jerry York. “In the OT we get a 3 on 2, loose the puck, and Casey was up following the play and rings it off the post and in.’’

PC fell short in numerous areas, according to Leaman.

“They killed us on faceoffs. We did not win one neutral-zone faceoff,’’ he said.

“We got up 3-0 and we tried to make a lot of cute plays and turnovers. They were pressing everywhere, they were stepping up their D, and you've got to make simple plays with tight support. We didn't do that.

“The last play of the game. It's overtime. It's bad ice. One of the things we talked about was all pucks to the net. We had a chance to get one to the net. (Brandon Duhaime) was all alone at the net front and we tried to make a cute play. It cost us,’’ Leaman said.

He was disappointed that PC was not able to build on its two wins at Miami.

"When we were on the road last week, it was very easy to execute a game plan because they knew they had to to be successful. We came home and at times we executed pretty well, but there were a lot of times we didn't,'' he said.

"We turned pucks over again and again and again tonight. Even though we talked about it between periods, we kept making the same mistakes. That's the first thing, can we adjust? Can we change things throughout a game? That was kind of disappointing. Now, was that the emotion of a home game? I'm not sure what that was.''

After going eight days between games, PC looked a tad rusty early in the first period, with several passes failing to connect.

The Friars ended up losing 14 of 21 faceoffs in the first period, but their first goal was the direct result of a faceoff win.

At 7:18. Jason O’Neill won an offensive zone draw to Shane Kavanagh, who rifled a wrist shot over the catching glove of BC’s Joe Woll (31 saves) for a 1-0 lead.

The Friars came out strong in the second period, scoring two early goals.

Spenser Young beat Woll with a wrist shot from just inside the blue line at 1:28. Kavanagh and Greg Printz assisted.

PC went ahead by three at 5:16 on Duhaime’s goal. On the forecheck, Chase Zieky separated Fitzgerald from the puck and fed Duhaime, who wristed it past Woll.

That was BC’s wakeup call. Playing with more urgency, the Eagles got on the board when Chris Grando swept a rebound past Hayden Hawkey (21 saves) at 7:29.

Fitzgerald brought BC to within a goal at 10:26 of the second, beating Hawkey on the short side with a wrist shot from the faceoff dot.

Graham McPhee tied the game at 3 at 3:47 of the third period. The teams exchanged chances the rest of the way and the stage was set for overtime and Fitzgerald’s second goal of the game.

Fitzgerald had several family members watching, including his brother Ryan, a rookie with the Providence Bruins and a former Boston College star, and father Tom, a former star at Providence College and now the assistant GM of the New Jersey Devils.

“Who knows, maybe my brother brought some luck,’’ said Casey Fitzgerald.

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