CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Boston College beat Merrimack, 4-2, before 7,390 fans at Kelley Rink. More importantly, the program's victory secured a milestone for its coach. It marked career win No. 900 for Jerry York.
Now in his 40th season, York joins Ron Mason as the only two coaches in college hockey history to reach 900 career victories. York won 125 games in seven years at Clarkson (1972-79), captured 342 wins in 15 years at Bowling Green (1979-94) and has won 433 games in 18 seasons behind his alma mater's bench (1994 - present).
Junior Patrick Wey and freshman Johnny Gaudreau gave the host Eagles a 2-0 lead after an opening period in which the victors outshot the Warriors, 11-1.
Seniors Barry Almeida and Paul Carey scored second-period tallies at 6:47 and 16:23 to put BC up 4-0. Almeida's goal - a power-play score and the gamewinner - marked the senior's 18th this season.
Merrimack scored its first goal of the game - Karl Stollery's seventh this season - at 17:53 of the middle stanza. Defenseman Jordan Heywood concluded the game's scoring just 31 seconds into the final frame.
The Eagles outshot the Warriors, 29-19, including a 26-10 edge after two periods.
BC junior Parker Milner stopped 17 shots to capture his 16th victory this season and the 29 of this career, while Merrimack senior Joe Cannata registered 25 in the losing effort.
The teams will conclude the two-game weekend series at Merrimack on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.
Team Records: Merrimack 15-8-6, 11-7-4 Hockey East; Boston College 20-10-1, 14-7-1 HE
Game Notes: BC improved to 43-14-4 against Merrimack under York and extended their home unbeaten streak against the Warriors to 26 games during which the team is 23-0-3 dating back to Halloween Night 1997 ... BC finished 1-for-2 with a man advantage and has scored a power-play goal in eight straight games ... Almeida is tied for the nation's lead with Yale's Brian O'Neill and Denver's Drew Shore with 10 power-play goals. Carey's goal marked his 10th this season. He is the sixth Eagle with double digit goal-scoring totals.
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