BOSTON - BU senior captain John McCarthy and BC senior captain Brock Bradford scored 19 seconds apart in the first period to account for the lone tallies of the evening as the No. 7/5 Boston University men's ice hockey team skated to a 1-1 tie with No. 2/3 Boston College on Friday night at Agganis Arena. Freshman Kieran Millan made 21 saves in goal for the Terriers, while sophomore John Muse stopped 35 shots for the Eagles.
The cross-town rivals were meeting for the first time this season and with the draw, the Eagles extended their unbeaten streak in the series to six games (4-0-2). BU moves to 9-4-1 overall and 4-4-1 in Hockey East play, while BC now stands at 9-4-2 with a 5-3-2 conference mark.
"I thought that it was a terrific hockey game on both ends tonight," said BU head coach Jack Parker. "We probably deserved more than a point tonight, but BC certainly didn't deserve to lose. As usual, we brought out the best in each other."
Midway through the opening period, the Terriers broke out of their zone and drew a penalty in the process. Sophomore Nick Bonino passed up to McCarthy, who fed senior Brandon Yip along the right side. Yip waited for the rest of the rush to join him before backhanding a pass that skipped across the ice before finding a charging McCarthy at the left post. The senior redirected the puck high past Muse for the delayed-penalty tally at 11:09.
The lead did not last long, however, as Bradford got past the BU defense on a breakaway thanks to a set-up pass from sophomore Brian Gibbons. Bradford beat Millan high glove side at 11:28 for his nation-leading 14th goal of the season. Senior Benn Ferriero also assisted on the play.
The Terriers had a substantial territorial advantage in the second period and held a 14-4 shot advantage in the stanza. Muse, however, did not get rattled and found a way to keep the game tied for the remainder of the contest.
The Eagles almost scored on one of their few chances in the second, but Millan made a terrific glove save on a 2-on-1 rush.
BU, which was 0-for-6 on the power play, generated some great scoring chances with the man advantage, but came up empty, including a chance from the slot by Chris Higgins that hit the dead center of the left post in the sixth minute of the third period. The Eagles were 0-for-3 on the power play.
The two teams will wrap up their home-and-home series on Saturday (Dec. 6) at BC's Kelley Rink. The game will be broadcast live by ESPNU and will start at 7 p.m.