BC Men Beat UMass in Return to Play

Boston College men's hockey finally got to play a real game again.

The host Eagles, in front of a sparse Conte Forum crowd in Chestnut Hill, Mass. due to COVID-19, opened their 2020-21 campaign tonight with a 4-3 win over Massachusetts in non-conference Hockey East play. Matt Boldy's goal just over a minute into the third period broke a three-all deadlock and ultimately stood up as the game-winner.

Jack McBain scored twice for second-ranked BC (1-0-0 overall), which built a 3-1 lead after just under 33 minutes of play. Josh Lopina then scored two goals 73 seconds apart late in the second stanza to knot matters for seventh-ranked UMass (1-1-1).

Logan Hutsko had two assists for the Eagles, who had last played in March before both the 2020 Hockey East and NCAA tournaments were canceled by COVID-19. Eamon Powell also had two assists on Friday in his collegiate debut for the Eagles, while Boldy notched an assist to go along with his goal.

Spencer Knight made 30 saves for BC, while Matt Murray stopped 28 shots for the Minutemen, who outshot the Eagles by a 33-32 margin on the evening. UMass also went 1-for-5 on the power play, while blanking BC’s four man-advantage opportunities.

The two schools will meet again on Saturday at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass.

ADDENDUM: BC won the rematch, 6-3, on Saturday afternoon at UMass. Marc McLaughlin scored twice for the Eagles, while Boldy registered two assists and Knight had 30 stops and an assist. BC's women's team fell to 2-2-0 on the year after dropping pair of 3-2 counts against Providence this weekend, one week after a two-step sweep of New Hampshire.

Hockey Thanksgiving 2020

To you and yours, stay safe this year, and may pucks and sticks return full-time before too much longer 🏒

Minnesota, Wisconsin Earn Big Ten Sweeps

While the rest of the country is basically just beginning the 2020-21 NCAA hockey season, at least among Division I schools who have not opted out due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Big Ten conference is already going full steam ahead.

Minnesota improved to 4-0-0 overall this season with 4-1 and 2-0 victories over Ohio State on Monday and Tuesday in Minneapolis. Those wins followed a two-step sweep of visiting Penn State on Nov. 19-20 to open the campaign. 

Senior forward Brandon McManus leads the Golden Gophers this year with a goal and four assists through four games, while senior goaltender Jack LaFontaine has played every minute in net so far this season for Minnesota. The and former Michigan transfer stopped 38 of 39 shots against OSU.

Wisconsin is now 4-2-0 overall this fall after sweeping Penn State, 6-3 and 7-3, in Madison, Wis. on Monday and Tuesday. Cole Caufield paced the Badgers with four goals and two assists over the two games, including two power-play goals, and had three goals in all in the second contest alone. 

For his scoring prowess, Caufield earned Big Ten First Star accolades for the week. Graduate transfer Robbie Beydoun, who played the last three years at Michigan Tech (WCHA), stopped 84 of 90 shots against the Nittany Lions, including 49 saves in the opener.

Upcoming Big Ten action on Nov. 27-29 will feature Notre Dame visiting sixth-ranked Michigan, Michigan State traveling to No. 9 OSU, and Big Ten affiliate Arizona State dropping in No. 14 Wisconsin.

Michigan State, Arizona State Skate to 1-1 Tie

Michigan State opened its 2020-21 Big Ten hockey campaign with a 1-1 tie with visiting Arizona State last night at Munn Arena.

Christian Krygier's early second-period goal stood up as the potential game-winner until Boston College transfer Chris Grando connected with less than five minutes remaining in regulation to knot matters. Neither team then scored in the five-minute overtime, played at 3-on-3.

Cole Brady made 25 saves for the visiting Sun Devils (0-2-1), who are playing as a Big Ten affiliate for this COVID-influenced season. Drew DeRidder had 22 stops for the Spartans, who will host ASU again tonight at 6 p.m. ET

In other Big Ten action on Thursday, sixth-ranked Michigan won, 5-2, at No. 14 Wisconsin, while No. 11 Minnesota dropped No. 10 Penn State, 4-1, in Minneapolis. Also in NCAA Division I men's hockey, Long Island University won it's first-ever game, edging host Holy Cross, 3-2, in overtime in Worcester, Mass.

ADDENDUM: MSU closed out the series on Friday with a 2-0 win over the Sun Devils, behind DeRidder's 30 saves.

2020-21 NCAA Hockey Season Begins

The 2020-21 men's college hockey season has begun, albeit sparingly due to the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

Wisconsin won the first game of the nascent campaign by blanking host Notre Dame, 2-0, on Friday in Big Ten play before completing the two-step sweep with a 5-3 victory on Saturday in South Bend, Ind. Also on Friday, Bowling Green began its schedule with a 6-2 triumph over NCAA Division III opponent Adrian (Mich.). 

No. 12 Michigan proved inhospitable to No. 15 Arizona State, which began a three-week road trip with 8-1 and 3-0 losses to the host Wolverines on Friday and Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich. The NCAA Division I independent Sun Devils, who are playing as part of the Big Ten this season, will skate at Michigan State this weekend.

LIU's game at Army on Saturday, its first scheduled appearance as an NCAA program, was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. It is not known if that contest will be rescheduled.

The women's NCAA game is expected to get underway this weekend, in both Hockey East and the WCHA. The Ivy League has canceled all 2020-21 winter sports due to COVID-19, including men's and women's ice hockey. RIT has also opted out of playing this winter, as has Rensselaer, along Alaska Anchorage on the men's hockey side in what might be the swan song for the Seawolves program after 40 years.

Ivy League Cancels 2020-21 Ice Hockey Seasons

There will be no Ivy League winter sports contested for the 2020-21 season, including men's and women's ice hockey, as announced today by the NCAA Division I conference.

Spring sports for the eight Ivy League institutions—Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Pennsylvania and Yale—are also postponed through Feb. 2021 due to the ongoing and now increasing COVID-19 pandemic, which had originally canceled the end of the 2019-20 NCAA hockey season(s) and also the various NCAA hockey tournaments in March and April.

Six Ivy League schools—Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale—are members of the ECAC Hockey conference, for both men's and women's hockey. Cornell won both last season's Ivy League men's and women's hockey regular-season titles, and was also in first place in ECAC Hockey in both divisions before their respective campaigns were terminated by COVID-19.