Friday, November 27, 2020

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.

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