The Boston College men’s hockey team defeated UMass 3-1 on Friday night, bouncing back from a tough weekend against Vermont to get back in the win column. The Eagles were dealing with a slew of injuries on Friday night, only able to dress 10 forwards and six defensemen on the night, but they were able to dig deep and grind out a much needed win to start their weekend. BC won the special teams battle in a big way and got a strong performance out of Louka Cloutier in net to snap a three-game winless
streak.
The two teams played a pretty even opening period that looked like it was going to end scoreless until the very end. Teddy Stiga did appear to scorepower play goal with about eight minutes left in the period, but it was quickly overturned after a UMass challenge was successful for a pretty clear missed offside call. BC was then able to kill of a dangerous looking UMass power play at the other end, and the Eagles were on the back foot for most of the remainder of the period until the Minutemen took another penalty with 1.5 seconds left on the clock. It looked like BC would start the second period with almost a full man-advantage, but Dean Letourneau had other ideas after a clean offensive zone faceoff win.
BC doubled their lead with another power play goal about halfway through the second period, this one coming off the stick of Ryan Conmy. Conmy took a pass from the point from Luka Radivojevic and made a slick move in front of the net, going between his own legs to create a chance before jamming home his own rebound to make it a 2-0 game.
BC took a penalty immediately after extending their lead, but insted of letting UMass back in the game, they were able to keep applying the pressure and come away with another big moment on special teams. Teddy Stiga managed to create a two-on-one opportunity from in close while shorthanded, and the junior forward set up Landan Resendes with a perfect pass that Resendes was able to bury for his first of the season.
UMass finally managed to get on the board with a power play goal of their own late in the second period, scoring on a one-timer from the top of the circle to make it a 3-1 game heading into the third period.
That was as close as they would get, however, as BC did a heck of a job keeping UMass off the board in the third period, especially late in the period as their forwards were definitely starting to get some tired legs. Louka Cloutier was a big reason for that, as the sophopmore goalie stopped 38 of the 39 shots he saw on the night and all 16 that came his way in the final period. UMass got a late power play and pulled their goalie to have a 6-on-4 advantage, but they were not able to cut into BC’s lead and the Eagles took the weekend opener by a 3-1 score.
This was a a gutsy result from the Eagles, as they were able to dig deep and overcome all of their injuries and get a big win on the road to start their weekend. They’ve probably played a bit better than their record would imply to this point of the season, but they’ve gotten to the pont where they need to start turning that decent play into wins. Being able to go on the road down a number of bodies and take down a conference rival is hopefully their first step in doing just that, as they’ll have a chance to make it a weekend sweep when they host UMass tomorrow night.
