Boston College Hockey: Eagles Beat St. Francis Xavier 8-2 in Exhibition
By Joe Micik
Andrew B. Fielding-USA TODAY Sports
Boston College Eagles hockey is back, and the preseason #4 men’s team has opened its 2013-14 campaign with an exhibition win over the St. Francis Xavier X-Men, 8-2.
The X-Men journeyed to Conte Forum from Antigonish, Nova Scotia to play a preseason slate against Boston University and the Eagles. On Saturday, St. Francis Xavier lost to the Terriers, 2-1, and fell to the Eagles by a much larger margin on Sunday afternoon.
The first period of Boston College’s preseason favored the X-Men, with St. Francis Xavier taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Michael Kirkpatrick (13:31) scored the first goal at even-strength and the second goal (17:30) on the power play, which happened to be the only scores of the game for the X-Men. Junior goalie Brian Billett was in net for both.
The second and third periods, however, strongly favored Boston College as the #4 Eagles dominated play. The Eagles hit five times in the middle frame: Kevin Hayes (4:46), Chris Calnan (5:31), Bill Arnold (7:24), Cam Spiro (14:37, PS), and Austin Cangelosi (18:46). Freshman newcomer Thatcher Demko played the second period in net for Boston College and stopped all seven shots he faced.
In the final period, Boston College struck three more times while veteran backup Brad Barone manned the goal: Patrick Brown (2:51), Peter McMullen (3:17), and Johnny Gaudreau (16:13). Barone went six for six in saves.
An 8-2 win is never a bad thing, even if it is a meaningless exhibition. About the only thing left for Boston College to determine is who will be the starting goalie with Parker Milner now departed. Jerry York could go at least two different ways: Brian Billett would be the more experienced hand, while Thatcher Demko is the highly-touted freshman that the coaches probably can’t wait to take out of the bubble wrap.
The Eagles start their regular season on Thursday night at Michigan.