Boston College-New Hampshire Final: Eagles Ride Big 2nd to 4-2 Win Over Wildcats

Boston College-New Hampshire Final: On Saturday night at Conte Forum, the #17 Boston College Eagles defeated the New Hampshire Wildcats, 4-2.

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With the win, Boston College got back over the .500 mark for the season at 8-7-1, in some sense splitting the weekend with UNH. The Eagles and Wildcats tied in Friday night’s half of the home-and-home weekend series in Durham.

New Hampshire drops to 4-9-1 on the year.

Boston College-New Hampshire Final: Game Synopsis

The first period seemed to favor the Eagles in terms of the play, but the scoreboard ultimately went to New Hampshire. At the start, Boston College got far more shot attempts off of UNH’s Adam Clark than Thatcher Demko saw, but penalties would do the Eagles in late.

Freshman Zach Sanford took an interference call with 4:11 to play in the period, while Ryan Fitzgerald went to the box for a hold 35 seconds later. New Hampshire had about 95 seconds of 5-on-3 time and it did not go to waste: John Furgele beat Demko at 17:42 to put the Wildcats on top, 1-0.

Meanwhile, after the first intermission, Boston College opened the second with about ten minutes of dominant hockey. The Eagles generated some great pressure around the net with long stretches of puck possession, which ultimately resulted in Teddy Doherty’s snipe from the right side going in the net to tie the game, 1-1.

Boston College was not done yet. 16 seconds later, Austin Cangelosi scored his second goal in as many nights, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead in the blink of an eye. Demko, the Eagle goalie, even got an assist.

About four minutes after that at 8:54, Chris Calnan tipped in a Quinn Smith try in front of the net and Boston College jumped out to a 3-1 lead. Then, again, a penalty hurt the Eagles late in a period with Mike Matheson getting sent off for a late hit; Matt Willows of UNH scored on the power play to make it a 3-2 game.

The final period featured some big Demko saves as the Eagles were able to play defense and hold their lead. Chris Calnan scored his second of the night on an empty-netter with 1:13 to play to seal the victory.

Boston College-New Hampshire Final: The Stats

Boston College led in shots on-goal, 33-27. The Eagles were 0-for-3 on the power play, which entered the game at 9.5 percent for the season, while New Hampshire scored both of their goals on the man-advantage.

Chris Calnan was the leading goal-scorer of the game with two; Austin Cangelosi led in points with three (1-2-3). Quinn Smith also notched two assists.

Thatcher Demko got the win having made 25 saves. Adam Clark took the loss with 29 saves.

Boston College-New Hampshire Final: Bottom Line

Boston College needed a four-point weekend; they got three. Eagles fans can learn to live with that, as it could have been worse, and at least they made some progress.

New Hampshire is having a down year and the Eagles did what they had to do. The second period was both exciting and encouraging for the team, as we have not seen an offensive spell like that from Boston College in some time.

The next game will be another big one as the Eagles seek to build some confidence going into the break.

Boston College-New Hampshire Final: Next Up

The Eagles return to the ice at Kelley Rink one week from tonight as they host the Michigan Wolverines at 7pm Eastern. It will be Boston College’s finale before the winter break.