GOAL BY GOAL: BC Men’s Hockey Drops 2-1 Penalty-Filled Contest to Providence

BC men’s hockey hasn’t been playing that badly this year. Their schedule has been brutal, but even at 1-4-1, the Eagles haven’t been out of too many games this year. The real problem has been penalties. Even when other teams aren’t scoring, BC can’t get into a rhythm with players in the box, and defenders get gassed.

That was the story once again last night. The Eagles took an absurd ten (10) penalties for the second time in three games and took a 2-1 loss down in Providence after what was a promising start to the game.

Boston College Goal #1: 15:30 of the 1st period
Connor Moore (Mike Booth, Casey Carreau)

BC 1, PC 0

While everyone was watching the football team stomp the life out of the Seminoles, the Eagles actually came out with a decent start against Providence — sort of. BC took 4 consecutive penalties to start the game and spent most of the first half of the game in the penalty box (sometimes two at a time), but once they got back 5 on 5, they brought the game back to even.

Late in the first period, they even took the lead thanks to the efforts of their fourth line. Booth and Carreau had some great puck movement across the blue line, before Connor Moore put in the rebound for the 1-0 lead.

Providence College Goal #1: 8:22 of the 2nd period
Erik Foley (Spenser Young)

BC 1, PC 1

Unfortunately, it was all Providence from there. The Friars got going with a goal midway through the second period thanks to one hell of a snipe over as sliding defenseman by Erik Foley. He picks the corner like a pro, and even Joe Woll doesn’t have a chance on this one.

Providence College Goal #2 (GWG, PPG): 19:14 of the 2nd period
Ben Mirageas (Scott Conway, Spenser Young)

PC 2, BC 1 — FINAL

The Friars scored a dagger on a power play goal (their only one on 8 chances, somehow) just before the end of the 2nd period to earn the win. A well-executed power play saw the Friars move the puck around very well before beating Woll on a screen for the lead.

PC outshot the Eagles 14-6 in the 2nd period — not good — and then 10-6 in the 3rd. While the Eagles kept things under control in the third period, they never really got a great chance to tie the game, and saw their record fall to 1-4-1.

Joe Woll deserves a ton of credit for even giving BC a chance to go ahead in this game. During the first 10 minutes of the game with the Eagles constantly in the box, he made save after save to keep the game scoreless. But by the end of the game, especially while it was tied 1-1, it was only a matter of time before the Friars scored on the power play. You can’t allow a ranked team eight bites at the apple and not expect them to come through eventually.

As tough as it’s been for BC, it gets even tougher tonight. The Eagles take on the #1 ranked and undefeated Denver Pioneers back at Conte Forum. A win would go a long way toward setting BC up for a nice run once this wild run of tough games to start the season cools down.