41 Shots Not Enough in No 11 BC Men's Hockey's 4-1 Loss to Northeastern

The Eagles peppered NU goaltender Lawton Zacher with shots all night, but they did not create quality scoring chances, according to BC head coach Greg Brown.

Boston College men's hockey (@BCM_hockey) via X.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The sound of pucks ringing off metal pipes were a common theme in the first period of Boston College men’s hockey’s first Hockey East matchup of the season, a home tilt against Northeastern on Thursday night.

But the Eagles were on the unpleasant end of that audible trend, as junior goaltender Jan Korec surrendered two goals—both of which buzzed off the crossbar—just 43 seconds apart to NU’s Jack Fisher and Vinny Borgesi midway through the first frame.

While the duo of goals emitted a high-pitched clinking sound which the entire arena could hear, it only resulted in silence for the home crowd at Conte Forum.

The contrast between sound and lack of sound from scoring plays was symbolic of BC's night overall—it could not make that sound at the same rate that Northeastern could, and it showed on the scoreboard.

Even with 41 shots on goal, the No. 11 Eagles (2-3-1, 0-1-0 Hockey East) were unable to recover from their two-goal deficit, falling to the Huskies (4-1-0, 2-0-0), 4-1. The loss marked BC’s third straight defeat on home ice and kept the program winless at home in 2025 so far.

BC head coach Greg Brown said the final result ultimately came down to quality scoring chances, which were few and far between for the Eagles—despite a few breakaway opportunities which BC failed to tuck behind NU goaltender Lawton Zacher.

“If you’re going to have shots from the outside, if you have someone in front of them, it becomes a quality chance,” Brown said. “But if he’s seeing it from 30, 40, 60 feet, then it’s less quality of a chance. That’s nothing new in hockey. When you get up to this level and above, if the goalie sees it, they’re going to make a lot of saves.”

Despite numerous chances in the second frame—including a shot differential of 15-5 and multiple breakaway opportunities—the Eagles, down 2-1 after a goal from Teddy Stiga, were unable to knot up the score.

Zacher, the Huskies’ junior goaltender who shut out the No. 6 Denver Pioneers five days prior in a 1-0 home win over at Matthews Arena on the other side of town, played like a brick wall, halting a combined 31 shots on net in the first two frames combined.

The only goal he relinquished was an awkward shot from a sideways angle off of Stiga’s stick with less than two minutes left in the first. The Eagles were on a powerplay, one of six for them in the game.

Stiga on the power play to cut into the deficit

Watch on @ESPNPlus | https://t.co/VYTfld1Ghd pic.twitter.com/7UTZvY0gDu

— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) October 30, 2025

It was the only man advantage BC capitalized on.

“During my time here, we’ve had a lot of success in this building,” Borgesi said. “I just think it’s, we’re fired up to play people that are the closest to us. The rivalry in Boston means a lot to us.”

Brown opted to make a goaltender change for the matchup, resorting to the veteran, junior Jan Korec, instead of freshman Louka Cloutier—who had started every game of the year for BC except for its first, a 4-3, season-opening loss to Quinnipiac.

Cloutier let in six goals in the BC's last game, a 7-3 defeat by Denver.

While Korec only manufactured 19 saves in net, and surrendered three goals—the final occurred at the 15:06 mark in the third period, when Dylan Hryckowian jammed in a puck from just outside of the crease—Brown said that open lanes given up by the Eagles’ defense, along with failed defensive-zone breakouts, were the primary cause of breakdowns leading to goals for NU.

“We feel like both [goalies] can win hockey games for us,” Brown said. “We know they can. We’re more concerned in how we’re playing in front of them. You know, certain situations, we had some good spells, but the breakdowns are a little too big right now, and there’s going to be mistakes all over the ice. But you need to minimize the size of those mistakes.”

In the waning seconds of the third frame, with just over 12 seconds to go, Jacob Matthieu scored an empty-net goal to officially seal off the Eagles for good, increasing NU’s lead to 4-1.

“They’re really just a hungry group,” Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe said. “You can see it in the practices all week, the preparation, the details, you know. They get rewarded for the last couple games.”