Weekly Kickoff: Boston College Hockey is Back! And Football Looks Alive

Boston College Hockey is Back!

The Boston College men’s hockey team opened their season on Saturday night, and they did not disappoint. They marched into Hamden, took on the reigning national champs on their banner night, and stole an OT victory. And Quinnipiac did not look bad, it’s just that this BC team is a much different one than we saw last season. Both of their top offensive lines are a spectacle, and freshman goalie Jacob Fowler played lights out. If they can put up performances like that all year while the talented freshmen gradually develop, this team will be a serious threat in the postseason.

This win over Quinnipiac is also a great start for their pairwise ranking. QU is sure to be a dominant force in the ECAC this season, so a road victory over the Bobcats is an important boost for this Eagles team that’s expecting to be jockeying for a good NCAA tournament seed. Big games in Conte this month against Denver and Michigan State will also be very important for their seeding down the stretch.

As far as women’s hockey goes, BC is not out to a great start. They are 0-4 to start their season, including a 12-2 loss to Wisconsin. It’s clear that the program has fallen quite considerably from their glory days of the 2010s and struggle to compete with the nation’s best teams. BC was picked to finish closer to the middle of the pack in Hockey East this year and their days in the USCHO poll seem like a distant memory. They lost some key pieces from last season, so hopefully they are able to rebound, but it’s looking like the 2023-24 season is going to be a long one for Katie Crowley’s squad.

Boston College Football is Alive!

I’ll admit, most of our writing staff left this season for dead after the 1-3 start. I was entertaining the thought of a bowl game as a long shot, but some of us were straight up expecting a 2-10 finish. But they have had two gutsy wins these past two weeks: a comeback victory against UVA, plus a nailbiter against Army that the offense pulled out at the end. Both games featured some improvements from the football team we saw in the first four weeks of the season. Penalties have come down, the offense has found its identity and some cohesion, and the team is showing some grit in high pressure situations. There are still a lot of issues to fix, namely the defense’s inconsistency as issue #1, but there is definitely a spark here.

Now the team heads into its bye week with a bowl game very much in their sights. Our writing staff will be taking a look this week at what’s been going right and wrong with each unit, plus what the path looks like moving forward if the team wants to reach 6-6.