Conte Forum

Boston College and Sacred Heart each entered last night's game with below-.500 records. And with many in the BC student body long gone on Christmas break, a sparse crowd of 2,263 made for a strange atmosphere at Conte Forum. But the Eagles will take their 83-73 victory over the Pioneers, BC breaking the game open in the second half. The Eagles entered with a two-game winning streak, which wouldn't be a big deal to a veteran team. But with a roster that includes nine freshmen, all of them going through an accelerated orientation program, it was a boost that Eagles coach Steve Donahue...

(Boston College) A photo from last year's children's run at the BC Race to Educate. By Boston.com Staff The second annual BC Race to Educate will be held at Boston College Saturday morning to benefit the Saint Columbkille Partnership School in Brighton. The fund-raising 5K walk/run will begin outside of Conte Forum at 11 a.m. on May 5 following a 1K "fun run" for children that starts at 10:30 a.m., according to organizers. (Boston College)

(Boston College) A photo from last year's children's run at the BC Race to Educate. By Boston.com Staff The second annual BC Race to Educate will be held at Boston College Saturday morning to benefit the Saint Columbkille Partnership School in Brighton. The fund-raising 5K walk/run will begin outside of Conte Forum at 11 a.m. on May 5 following a 1K "fun run" for children that starts at 10:30 a.m., according to organizers. (Boston College)

Top-seeded Boston College last night became the first team to punch its ticket to the Hockey East semifinals at TD Garden next weekend, beating No. 8 Massachusetts, 3-2, in front of 3,946 at Conte Forum, and sweeping the best-of-three series. It's the third year in a row BC has beaten UMass in the quarterfinals. BC junior goaltender Parker Milner (33 saves) had another excellent game, improving to 23-5-0. "Historically, we've made some long runs in playoffs," said BC coach Jerry York.

Merrimack may have done the Boston College hockey team a favor, losing twice over the weekend to Providence while ranked No. 1 in the country. Any chance the third-ranked Eagles had of overlooking the Friars last night was likely gone. Boston College scored twice late in the first period, all the offense it would need in a 4-1 win at Conte Forum. The Eagles have now gone 13 straight games (11-0-2) without losing to Providence. Barry Almeida had two goals for Boston College (12-5-0, 9-3-0 Hockey East)

One team was from a power conference. The other team was nationally ranked for the first time in school history. Both teams were coming off a week's layoff for the holidays and exams. In terms of national prominence, Harvard vs. Boston College is not a big deal, but this is a special Harvard team, and BC, with nine freshmen on its roster, is going through the expected growing pains. All of which provided a decent evening of entertainment last night at Conte Forum, as coach Tommy Amaker's 24th-ranked Crimson showed again why they may be one of the best Harvard teams ever,...

Connecticut is No. 1 again. UConn received 37 of the 40 first-places votes yesterday in the women’s basketball poll by the Associated Press. Second-ranked Stanford got the other three. The Huskies spent a record 51 straight weeks at No. 1 before their loss to the Cardinal Dec. 30 dropped them down a spot. Ever since falling to second in the poll Jan. 3, UConn had been moving closer to Baylor in voting before the Lady Bears lost to Texas Tech Saturday. When Baylor’s defeat was announced to the UConn crowd with about four minutes left in Saturday’s win over Notre Dame, the...

Two minutes remained in last night's Hockey East clash between Boston University and Boston College, when Eagles coach Jerry York took a furtive glance up at the Conte Forum scoreboard. BC was feverishly trying to get on the board against the Terriers, who were desperately trying to help goaltender Kieran Millan preserve a 5-0 shutout. "You've got to credit BU," York said. "They came in here and played very, very well. They came into our building and it's kind of hard to sit there and watch 5-nothin' up on the board with two minutes left in the game.

Not this time. Not against a Duke team that already has had its share of being upset, and of near misses because of lapses. When Boston College trotted onto the court at Conte Forum last night for its Atlantic Coast Conference meeting with Duke, the Eagles were greeted by a sold-out crowd, with more students in the stands than at any home game this season. The added support helped for the first 3:39 as BC made its first five shots and took a 13-7 lead. Visions of the Eagles' upset of Florida State danced in the heads of BC fans among the 8,606 who filled the place...

The strategy was as simple for Boston College coach Steve Donahue to see as it was difficult for his freshman-laden team to execute. Find a way to shorten this Atlantic Coast Conference game against North Carolina State to the point where the Eagles could compete until the final minutes, if not seconds. The Eagles did all of that last night at Conte Forum, but still came up short, dropping a 56-51 decision that left them at 7-15 overall and 2-6 in the conference. North Carolina State, led by Scott Wood's 16 points, improved to 16-7, 5-3. "We outscored them in...

The University of Massachusetts, seeded eighth in the Hockey East quarterfinals, knew it would have its hands full Friday night with Boston College in the opening of their best-of-three quarterfinal series at Conte Forum. The top-seeded Eagles came in riding an 11-game winning streak and were the league's regular-season champions. Despite the best efforts of the impressive Minutemen, BC prevailed, 2-1, with both of its goals coming in a 39-second span of the second period.

Boston College, the top-ranked hockey team in the country, added another honor to its résumé last night, earning the Hockey East regular-season title with a 4-0 victory over Vermont at Conte Forum. Junior Parker Milner (26 saves) earned his third career shutout and second of the season as the Eagles won their 11th straight overall. It was BC's second straight conference crown and record 12th overall, the sixth under coach Jerry York. The Eagles will host eighth-seeded UMass in a best-of-three series in the league quarterfinals beginning Friday.

Steve Donahue has seen it many times. Decent start, slight sag toward the end of the first half, followed by a significant breakdown at the start of the second half. For the Boston College coach, yesterday's Atlantic Coast Conference game against Wake Forest at Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C., was a painful replay of a season that is rapidly nearing its end. After the Eagles held their own for the first part of the opening half, it all went south as the Demon Deacons rolled to an 85-56 victory.

Boston College coach Jerry York said the Eagles' goal every year is to win as many trophies as possible. They already have captured one with an overtime victory in the Beanpot final over archrival Boston University at TD Garden Feb. 13. BC, the second-ranked squad in the nation, took a step toward another with a 7-0 win over Providence yesterday in front of 7,419 at Conte Forum. Junior Parker Milner (25 saves) extended his shutout streak to 140 minutes, 18 seconds before being replaced at 9:14 of the third period by senior Chris Venti (four saves)

Not this time. Not against a Duke team that already has had its share of being upset, and of near misses because of lapses. When Boston College trotted onto the court at Conte Forum last night for its Atlantic Coast Conference meeting with Duke, the Eagles were greeted by a sold-out crowd, with more students in the stands than at any home game this season. The added support helped for the first 3:39 as BC made its first five shots and took a 13-7 lead. Visions of the Eagles' upset of Florida State danced in the heads of BC fans among the 8,606 who filled the place for...

On Monday night, third-ranked Boston College earned its third consecutive Beanpot championship with a 3-2 victory over rival Boston University at TD Garden. Last night, the Eagles celebrated another triumph - coach Jerry York's 900th career win - by beating No. 9 Merrimack, 4-2, in front of 7,390 at Conte Forum. York is just the second coach in NCAA history, joining Ron Mason, to reach that milestone. "When you sign up for a team sport, whether you're coaching or you're a player, it's never about individual awards or accomplishments," said the 66-year-old York, who...

Jaclyn Thoman and Stefanie Murphy combined for 43 points as Boston College roared past Yale, 85-61, in the first round of the WNIT last night in New Haven. Thoman had 23 points, including 15 in the first half, and Murphy had 18 points and seven rebounds. The Eagles (19-12) will play Saint Joseph’s, 72-66 winners over VCU, tomorrow at Conte Forum after the men’s NIT game against Northwestern (11 a.m.). Boston College took a 47-28 lead in the first half, including a 13-3 run. The Bulldogs were led by Janna Graf , who had 15 points, and Michelle Cashen ...

Jeff Hathaway, the former University of Connecticut athletic director and current chairman of the NCAA Tournament selection committee, was a spectator at Conte Forum last night for the Atlantic Coast Conference meeting between conference co-leader Florida State and Boston College. Hathaway was there to study the sizzling Seminoles, but it was coach Steve Donahue's Eagles who provided the drama with a stunning 64-60 upset of the 15th-ranked Seminoles, who came into the game with a school-record seven-game winning streak in the ACC. The message Hathaway should have taken from Florida State...

The strategy was as simple for Boston College coach Steve Donahue to see as it was difficult for his freshman-laden team to execute. Find a way to shorten this Atlantic Coast Conference game against North Carolina State to the point where the Eagles could compete until the final minutes, if not seconds. The Eagles did all of that last night at Conte Forum, but still came up short, dropping a 56-51 decision that left them at 7-15 overall and 2-6 in the conference. North Carolina State, led by Scott Wood's 16 points, improved to 16-7, 5-3. "We outscored them in...