BCI’s Top 10 Moments of 2022: Honorable Mentions, starring Marc McLaughlin’s global adventure

As we do at the end of every calendar year here at BC Interruption, it’s time to look back at the top moments of the year that was 2022. And as has too often been the case in recent years, it’s fair to say the pickings are pretty slim - even slimmer than usual, to be honest.

2021’s countdown at least featured a national championship, even though it wasn’t a great year for the big revenue sports.

This year, not so much.

But even in the bleakest years there is plenty to celebrate.

We’ll start by looking at a few memorable moments that just missed the cut - it’s 2022’s honorable mentions.

Marc McLaughlin’s Olympic and NHL Adventure

It’s hard to pick a better example of everything you’d want out of a Boston College hockey captain than Marc McLaughlin. A local kid, McLaughlin clawed his way up from bottom six forward to top contributor, and was a consummate leader, being elected a two-year captain by his teammates.

McLaughlin was an important contributor to the 2020 BC team that may well have gone on to win big things if the season hadn’t been stopped due to COVID-19, and helped lead BC back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 5 years in 2021.

His 2021-22 season was filled with clutch goals during his time at BC, as he and Jack McBain lifted the Eagles to a competitive start to the season after the talent exodus after 2021.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, but fortunately for BC, McLaughlin and McBain, along with Drew Helleson, were called in to duty for their countries at the Olympics. BC struggled mightily in their absence, but we were all proud to see McLaughlin and his teammates represent BC and their countries on the global stage.

When McLaughlin returned to BC he picked up here he left off, leading the Eagles to upset wins over UMass to close the regular season and scoring in OT to extend BC’s season with a playoff win over UNH.

Then, after departing BC, while still living in his dorm at BC, he made his NHL debut with the Bruins, and memorably scored a goal in a Bruins win:

McLaughlin is with the Providence Bruins now but is well regarded by the B’s and has a good shot of making it back at some point this season.

Great moment for a fan favorite!

And let’s not forget, he launched his pro career while still living in his BC dorm:

Women’s Hockey’s Beanpot semifinal upset win over #3 Northeastern

It’s been a down few years for the women’s hockey team and they’ve found themselves routinely on the wrong side of their crosstown rivalry with Northeastern. Few expected them to top the nationally contending Huskies at Matthews Arena in this year’s women’s Beanpot semifinal, but BC pulled it out, with Alexie Guay scoring at 9:05 of the third period to put the Eagles on top:

The ENG clincher features our own Curtis and Maithri losing their minds:

Unfortunately, the celebration was short lived, as BC dropped a back and forth affair against Harvard in the following week’s final.

Football’s wacky win over Louisville

After being on the wrong end of a few September thumpings, BC football opened their October slate with an unexpected jolt of optimism, defeating Louisville in a bizarre game at Alumni Stadium featuring the fans storming the field, and the officials being forced to bring the players back out for one more play after Phil Jurkovec kneeled down too early to fully kill the clock.

Connor Lytton hit a game-winning field goal to give BC the lead with under 2 minutes to play, and the defense made a final stop to hang on to a 34-33 win.

Softball upsets #2 FSU

Boston College softball earned a rare victory over powerhouse Florida State in March when they topped the Seminoles 2-0 in the early half of a doubleheader in Tallahassee.