GOAL BY GOAL: BC Men’s Hockey Sweeps Merrimack With 2-1 Road Win

After starting with by far the nation’s toughest schedule to start the year, BC finally got a bit of a break this weekend by getting a home-and-home with Merrimack. The Eagles came into the weekend sporting a rough 1-5-1 record, but given that they played pretty well for stretches against the top teams they opened with, there was some hope that the Eagles should be able to get back on track against the Warriors.

It wasn’t the easiest of weekends, but the Eagles took care of business, wrapping up the sweep on Saturday night with a 2-1 road win against the Warriors.

Boston College Goal #1: 9:41 of the 1st period
Casey Fitzgerald (Aapeli Räsänen, Jesper Mattila)

BC 1, MC 0

All the scoring came in the first period in this one. Casey Fitzgerald got things rolling with a shot from the point that took a bizarre bounce off the pads of Merrimack goaltender Craig Pantano. Pantano thinks he has it under control, but it trickles past him just over the goal line.

He reaches back to pull it out, but it’s too late and the Eagles have the lead.

Merrimack Goal #1: 14:47 of the 1st period
Sami Tavernier (Brett Seney, Johnathan Kovacevic)

BC 1, MC 1

Merrimack answered with a goal off an excellent pass play. Seney on the near side sends the puck all the way across the ice to the opposite faceoff dot, where Tavernier is there waiting for it. He bombs a one timer into the open net, and the game’s tied at 1-1.

Boston College Goal #2 (GWG): 15:50 of the 1st period
Chris Grando (Logan Hutsko, Aapeli Räsänen)

BC 2, MC 1 — FINAL

But the Eagles retook the lead just seconds later. Christopher Grando gets all the credit for this one as he takes the pass across the blue line from Hutsko and beams a laser just past the outstretched glove of Pantano.

That shot would somehow stand as the game winner, as after three goals in about 6 minutes, neither team would find the back of the net again.

The big story was the end of the game as a pretty big scrum erupted in Joe Woll’s crease. Woll took exception to something Merrimack did (which resulted in him losing his helmet) and he landed a couple pretty good hooks on whoever he was sparring with. Those were probably within the unwritten rules of the game, but the problem was after all was said and done, he took a bit of a kick at the Merrimack player. That earned him a game disqualification, and he’ll have to sit for Tuesday’s game against UConn.

That mean’s we’ll see Ryan Edquist between the pipes at Kelley Rink on Tuesday against the Huskies. UConn’s had a pretty rough start to the season, so BC will look to extend this winning streak to three games on home ice. Puck drop is at 7pm.