{"id":27321,"date":"2005-03-20T19:33:04","date_gmt":"2005-03-21T01:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2005\/03\/20\/funk-to-fantastic-bcs-boyle-turns-season-around\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:56:13","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:56:13","slug":"funk-to-fantastic-bcs-boyle-turns-season-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2005\/03\/20\/funk-to-fantastic-bcs-boyle-turns-season-around\/","title":{"rendered":"Funk To Fantastic: BC’s Boyle Turns Season Around"},"content":{"rendered":"
There was a moment during the Hockey East semifinal between Boston College and Maine that ignored all but two of the nearly 18,000 people in the building.<\/p>\n
Halfway through the second period, wide-open BC sophomore Brian Boyle collected a pass in front of the Black Bear net. Maine netminder Jimmy Howard slid post-to-post and out to challenge the 6-foot-7, 235-pound Eagle.<\/p>\n
Mano a mano.<\/p>\n
The Hingham, Mass., kid smoked his wrist shot past Howard. Moments like that, or the two goals Boyle potted in the championship Saturday night at the FleetCenter against New Hampshire to earn honors as the tourney’s most valuable player, were few and far between in October.<\/p>\n
“I was wide open and [Pat Gannon] found me with a great pass so I knew I had some time,” Boyle said of the semifinal goal after BC’s 3-1 title triumph. “But, earlier in the year I might have had some jitters and shot it quickly.”<\/p>\n
Boyle scored just five goals in the first half of the season. Since Jan. 4, however, he has buried 14. He had at least a point in every game of the Hockey East playoffs, racking up four goals and two assists in the four games. Including the regular season, Boyle has nine points in his last seven games.<\/p>\n