Denver 4, BC 2: Eagles Lose Home Opener

Despite the packed crowd full of Boston College fans, the #1 Eagles fell at Conte Forum’s Kelley Rink to the #3 Denver Pioneers in a close contest, 4-2.

Denver struck first in the first period at the 3:27 mark, getting a goal from Jason Zucker (D. Jackson assist). It only took the Eagles two minutes, 38 seconds to respond, however, as on a power play Barry Almeida scored his second goal of the season to tie the game 1-1 (Hayes and Kreider assist).

The Pioneers started off the second period with a bang as well, scoring on their first shot of the period at the 0:55 mark on a Beau Bennett goal (Phillips and Mayfield assist). Denver increased their lead to 3-1 at 8:49 in the second as team captain Drew Shore scored (Zucker and Salazar assist) what would be the game-winner. Before the second ended, however, the Eagles got one back on Kevin Hayes’ first goal of the season at 17:13 (Almeida assist). The final score for Denver was on an empty-netter.

Boston College outshot the Pioneers and certainly had their chances, but did not look like the better team tonight. That is not to say the Eagles played poorly, because they did not, but Denver was better. They were aggressive defensively, disrupting BC’s offensive rhythm and taking the puck away a number of times right as the Eagles looked like they were about to accomplish something in their offensive zone. Further, Adam Murray, Pioneer goalie, had a good night. His counterpart for the Eagles, Parker Milner, was not entirely sharp the whole night, but he did not get a lot of help from his defense.

It just wasn’t BC’s night, plain and simple, but I will take a moment to marvel at the crowd. The BC fans who were there remarked about it on Twitter, and it was definitely noticeable on TV. Conte Forum was full, loud, and engaged in the entire game. This is what ALL of our home games should be like, and I’m not just talking about hockey. Our basketball team plays at Conte Forum, too, we have a really good coach and a young, talented bunch. All these BC sports, men’s and women’s, deserve your support all the same, and seeing Conte Forum rocking (despite the loss) was very encouraging. Go to all the games, kids.