Recap of BC Hockey’s First 3 Games
By JD Biagioni
Game 1:
Who: Quinnipiac Bobcats
Where: Conte Forum
When: Friday, October 6
Result: 1-1 tie
The 13th-ranked Eagles opened their season with a 1-1 draw at home against the 14th ranked Quinnipiac Bobcats. This is the third ever matchup between the two programs and the first true regular season head-to-head, as the previous two contests (both won by the Bobcats) occurred during a 2016 Christmas tournament and the 2016 National Semifinals.
In his postgame press conference, Coach Jerry York said he expects that “Quinnipiac will be more of a staple in our schedule moving on”. The Eagles will travel to Quinnipiac next season in search of their first ever victory against the Bobcats.
The even quality of play expected from two teams so closely ranked in the USCHO poll was evident from puck drop. Each team registered nine shots on goal in the first period, but net minders Joseph Woll (Eagles) and Andrew Shortridge (Bobcats) turned aside all attempts.
Junior captain Casey Fitzgerald anchored an Eagles defensive corps which showcased its depth in the first period. David Cotton, BC’s first-line left wing, had the best scoring opportunity of the period, a penalty shot for delay of game, but was denied by Shortridge.
The second period was all Bobcats, as they outshot the Eagles 11-5. Joseph Woll held strong in net but finally let one in on an Alex Whelan one-timer goal at 15:10 of the second period.
BC came out strong to start the third period but couldn’t get a shot past Shortridge. At 15:51 of the third, the Bobcats took a bad too many men on the ice penalty, which gave BC the man advantage for two minutes. The Eagles needed only eight seconds to make the Bobcats pay. Christopher Brown won the offensive zone draw to Dudek. J.D. Dudek paddled it over to Casey Fitzgerald who fired the puck on Shortridge. Freshman Jacob Tortora corralled the rebound and buried one glove side for his first career collegiate goal. The power play goal capped the scoring for the period and the teams headed to overtime.
Each team registered three shots on goal but none were able to get past Woll or Shortridge in the five minute overtime period. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, and both teams left with an 0-0-1 record.
Number to know: 1922 – this was the first time since 1922 that BC opened the season with a draw (3-3 tie against the Boston Hockey Club on October 25)
Game 2:
Who: Wisconsin Badgers
Where: Conte Forum
When: Friday, October 14
Result: 5-2 loss
The Eagles, still ranked #13 in the USCHO polls, welcomed the 2-1 Wisconsin Badgers (#10) to Conte Forum for BC’s second game of the season. BC statistically outplayed Wisconsin, outshooting the Badgers 31-22 and leading 38-23 in the face-off circle, but at the end of the day, the only number that mattered was the scoreboard, where the Badgers came away with a 5-2 victory.
BC came out soaring to start the game, peppering Wisconsin goalie Kyle Hayton a high volume of shots but not true quality scoring chances. The Eagles were able to kill off a Logan Hutsko hooking minor at the halfway point of the period and the back-and-forth action continued until Badger center and 2016 Boston Bruins first round pick Trent Frederic opened the scoring by firing one past Joseph Woll at 17:17 of the first; the play was set in motion by Linus Weissbach, who stripped the puck on a BC clearing attempt and fed Frederic.
Tempers flared after the goal, as an ensuing melee broke out in front of Woll’s net, which saw five penalties assessed (3 to Wisconsin and 2 to BC). Goal-scorer Frederic incurred two of the penalties, which gave the Eagles a five-on-four advantage. Much like the first goal versus Quinnipiac, the Eagles were able to capitalize on the power play opportunity, but this time it was sophomore Graham McPhee who potted the goal, his third in a season plus with the Eagles.
While BC outshot Wisconsin 12-11 in the second period, the Badgers were able to net two goals to mount a 3-1 lead. Redshirt senior Tim Davison broke the tie 1:16 into the second, scoring on a set face-off play, with Tarek Baker recording the assist after winning the draw to Davison.
Another scuffle broke out minutes later, this time with three skaters going to the sin bin and the Badgers being benefactors of a man advantage. Seamus Malone gave Wisconsin its first two-goal lead of the evening after finishing off a nice feed from Will Johnson. Penalties to Luke McInnis and Joseph Woll had the Eagles killing off a 5-on-3 advantage for the Badgers towards the end of the period.
The third period kicked off with the final eight seconds of the Woll penalty. BC killed that off and looked to capitalize on the momentum of the huge PK. Unfortunately for BC, Matthew Freyteg added to the Badgers lead at 5:12 of the third. He snuck a wrister by Woll to pad the lead. The young Eagles, showing an admirable amount of grit, did not give up and were rewarded for this mentality with Christopher Grando’s first BC goal to put the Eagles within two. Ultimately, however, this proved to be too little too late as the Eagles were unable to put anymore points on the board. Tarek Baker put the exclamation point on the game with an empty netter with 50 seconds to go.
BC didn’t look sharp in this one; it was clear that Wisconsin was the more established team. While the Eagles had 31 shots on goal, they were not quality shots, as most were simply fired into Hayton’s chest or glove. They similarly made some lazy passes and frequently failed to recognize the open man. Woll, who was lights-out against Quinnipiac, was less stellar against the Badgers, allowing four goals on 21 shots.
Number to know: 100 – coming into the game, the Eagles were one of only eight teams left in the nation to own a perfect 100% penalty killing percentage. They were able to kill off all five Wisconsin power plays, including the 5-on-3 to end the second period.
Game 3:
Who: Providence Friars
Where: Schneider Arena (Providence, RI)
When: Sunday, October 15
Result: 4-3 win (OT)
BC skated into Schneider Arena Sunday evening and stole one from the Providence Friars, 4-3 in overtime, for their first victory of the season. The Friars, ranked ninth in the USCHO polls and fifth in the USA Today polls, came in at 2-0, tallying two road victories the previous weekend against Miami of Ohio. The Eagles needed to pick up a W today, considering the road only gets harder from here.
Joseph Woll was tested early and often; Providence had two excellent scoring opportunities in the first few minutes of play but Woll turned the shots aside. Shane Kavanagh drew first blood for the Friars at 7:18 of the first with a top-shelf writer off an offensive zone face-off. The Eagles took a blow when top-line def winger David Cotton was taken to the dressing room to go through concussion protocol.
Spenser Young and Brandon Duhaime each notched a goal in the first five minutes of the second period to give the Friars a comfortable 3-0 lead. Chris Grando responded with a one-timer two minutes after Duhaime’s goal to put the Eagles on the board. Captain Casey Fitzgerald brought the Eagles within one at 10:26 of the second.
BC still needed one more goal to even the score with Providence. They didn’t have to wait very long into the third period, as Graham McPhee potted his second of the season at 3:47 of the third.
Both teams had opportunities to break the tie in regulation. Woll robbed Chase Zieky with a glove save with around six minutes remaining in regulation. The Friars drew two penalties (interference and hitting from behind) in the last ten minutes of play, but BC was unable to capitalize on either power play, so the game headed to overtime.
In a game with a lot of early scoring, overtime had a fitting end, with Casey Fitzgerald snapping one past Hayden Hawkey for his second goal of the contest to send the Eagles home happy as 4-3 victors just over a minute into bonus hockey.
This marked BC’s first overtime victory since March of 2016 when Casey’s brother Ryan, who was in attendance for the first time since he finished his four year stint with the Eagles, scored the winner against the University of Vermont.
Postgame, Coach York said that he was excited by the performance coming off of a loss and in the midst of a 3-0 deficit. He also applauded BC’s execution over the last thirty-five minutes of play, stating that the key to the comeback was not in game adjustments, but rather better execution of the game plan. The Eagles, who are one of the better defensive teams in the NCAA, will have to rely on the play of the freshmen to contribute to the offense.
Whether it be on deflections or rebounds, the Eagles will have to bear down to manufacture goals in any way possible, because York doesn’t expect many highlight-reel goals and dubs the offense a “work in progress”. He was encouraged, however, by the ability of defensemen like Fitzgerald to join the scoring and by freshmen such as Tortora, Grando, and Hutsko all recording multiple points in the first week-plus of action.
Number to know: 9 – Providence’s nine goals this season have been scored by nine different players.
Road ahead: The Eagles, who kicked off the campaign with three matchups versus ranked opponents, will continue their trial by fire for the next two weeks. They travel to Minnesota to play two with sixth-ranked Saint Cloud State October 20th and 21st. The following weekend includes a Friday night game against the Friars in Providence before the highly-anticipated showdown with number one Denver on October 28th in Chestnut Hill. You can listen to every men’s hockey broadcast on WZBCSports.com