CHESTNUT HILL, MASSACHUSETTS- The #15 Boston College Eagles scored two powerplay goals in the first period and put 11 players on the scoresheet on Friday night, and went on to defeat #10 Maine 7-3 in the opener of two game men’s Hockey East series at Conte Forum.
One of the keys to the weekend series was for the Black Bears to stay out of the penalty box. They didn’t do so though in the first period and it cost them dearly, as both Dean Letourneau and James Hagens scored for the Eagles with the extra man at 11:16 and 17:42 to give them a 2-0 lead, and an advantage they wouldn’t relinquish. Landan Resendes made it 3-0 BC with a breakaway goal at 6:17 of the second, making a beautiful forehand to backhand move on goaltender Albin Boija to tuck it into the net. Maine, who sustained good pressure at times the entire night and once again outshot their opponent, finally broke through at 13:05 on a powerplay tally from Owen Fowler.
The Black Bears would then make things very interesting on two occasions in the third period. Very early in the stanza, Justin Poirier put one out front from behind the net and Charlie Russell pounced on it to stuff it home at 20 seconds to slice the deficit to 3-2. But just over three minutes later, the Eagles pushed it back to 4-2 on a James Hagens goal that was the eventual game winner. Maine wouldn’t quit as a snipe on the powerplay by Poirier, his 11th of his freshman campaign at 11:07, once again made it a one goal contest. BC cleaned things up from there, as some poor Black Bears transition defense led to a goal on a one-timer from former UNH Wildcat Ryan Conmy at 12:57 on a primary assist from Luka Radivojevic. Teddy Stiga knocked home a rebound after Boija couldn’t come up with a clean save at 14:57, and then Conmy put one into an empty net at 19:13 to give the Eagles their fifth straight win.
Conmy (two goals, one assist) and Stiga (one goal, two assists) both had three points to lead Boston College. Letourneau (one goal, one assist), Hagens (two goals), Jake Sondreal (two assists), and Lukas Gustafsson (two assists) chipped in two points each. Louka Cloutier made 35 saves, and BC went 2-3 on the powerplay. The Eagles improve to 7-4-1 and 5-2-0 in Hockey East. Poirier had a goal and an assist for Maine. Brandon Holt, Max Scott, Frank Djurasevic, and Miguel Marques contributed one assist each. Boija was shaky at times but also made some key saves to keep his team in the game, finishing with 21 stops. The Black Bears outshot Boston College 69-46 (39-28 on goal) in falling to 7-5-1 and 4-3-0 in league play. Maine is now 1-6-1 in their last eight games at Conte Forum. The teams will finish off the weekend series on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
