Boston College Sweeps Providence with Two Emphatic Wins
Led by their freshman forwards, the Eagles scored 12 goals over two nights, highlighted by a nine-goal outburst on Saturday, in a weekend sweep of No. 12 Providence.
Spencer Knight held firm in net, turning away all 66 Providence shots he faced in the two games. His best period of the weekend was the opening one, when he stopped 15 shots. As was the case at times last season, Knight’s steady first period allowed his teammates to shake off a slow start and find their footing.
Considering the relative ease with which BC found the back of the net on Saturday, it’s a bit of a surprise that the Eagles needed almost 40 minutes to beat Gabe Molloy-Hill in the opening game. Bruins prospect Trevor Kuntar hammered home his first collegiate goal with 21 seconds left in the second period to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead.
Nikita Nesterenko added to the lead off a nice setup from Logan Hutsko and Jack McBain, and Mike Hardman iced the first victory of the weekend with an empty-netter.
Saturday night the teams met again, but this time BC needed hardly any time to get going. The Eagles scored two in the first, three in the second, and four in the third of a 9-0 rout of Providence.
Against a Providence power play that excelled last season, converting on just over a quarter of its opportunities, the Eagles held the Friars scoreless on seven man advantage opportunities Saturday. In addition to holding Providence without a goal on the power play, BC scored three short-handed goals.
Matt Boldy led the ways with two goals, including a beautiful writer to start the scoring and a slapper for BC’s second short-handed goal. Along with Patrick Giles and Hutsko, Boldy finished with three points.
Five of the nine BC goals came from the freshman class. Colby Ambrosio and Kuntar each scored twice, and Nesterenko added one to extend his goal-scoring streak to three games.
Like the wins over UMass, the pair against Providence don’t count as conference games just yet, due to Hockey East’s flex scheduling. However, they may count towards the final standings if other games are canceled.
Next up is UConn, and the series will present a tall task for BC in more ways than one. The Eagles will be facing a young team on the rise in the conference and will be without three of their top players in Knight, Boldy and Drew Helleson. The trio will be off to Plymouth, MI to participate in the USA’s World Junior training camp. With Liam Izyk and Tim Lovell both injured and Stephen Davis departing the program, it’ll be a thin lineup for BC against the Huskies next weekend.
Photo courtesy of BCEagles.com