Eagles Complete Sweep with 6-3 Victory Over UMass
Boston College followed up an opening night victory over UMass with an impressive offensive showing on the road to sweep the No. 7 Minutemen. Much like Friday night’s game, BC never trailed, but UMass hung around the entire game.
Two Eagles freshmen got their first collegiate goals in Saturday’s game. Colby Ambrosio finished a nice cross-ice pass from Mike Hardman in the second and Nikita Nesterenko iced the game with an empty-netter. The goal capped an impressive first weekend for Ambrosio, who centered Hardman and Matt Boldy.
On Friday night it was Jack McBain who had the breakout offensive game with two goals. That honor belonged to Marc McLaughlin Saturday, as the captain scored multiple goals for only the second time in his career, with the other coming in the 10-1 victory over Northeastern.
McLaughlin and Patrick Giles continued their offensive chemistry from last season to get McLaughlin and BC on the board when he buried a one-timer from Giles. McLaughlin’s second came when he threw one on net from the blue line. He was just shooting the puck into traffic, but it deflected off a UMass stick and past Filip Lindberg.
This game featured far fewer penalties than Friday night’s game, but the Eagles won the special teams battle, something they did many times last year but were not able to do in the opener.
BC killed off both UMass power play opportunities and only needed one shot to convert on their only man advantage of the game when Drew Helleson rocketed one home late in the first.
Spencer Knight continued his strong play in goal, holding strong in a third period when UMass appeared to tilt the ice to Knight’s end. He faced five shots on an early power play and was peppered with opportunities after UMass pulled Lindberg with three-and-a-half minutes remaining. All told, he turned aside 16 of 17 shots in the final frame.
If everything proceeds according to schedule, which is no guarantee nowadays, BC will return to the ice next weekend for a home-and-home with UMass Lowell.
Photo courtesy of BCEagles.com
