Boston College 5 Wisconsin 3: Eagles Take Season Opener
Going into the opener Boston College Men's Hockey had one vision, "Objective one, win against Wisconsin" said captain forward David Cotton after the game. And that is exactly what the 6th ranked Eagles did Friday night at Kelly Rink defeating the 15th ranked Badgers 5-3. This was a huge statement game for Boston College as they have struggled in years past only winning one out of conference game in the previous two seasons.
The Eagles jumped out quickly to a 2-1 lead on two goals by junior Julius Mattila, playing in his 100th game for Boston College. "We have had some struggles to score goals to start the year, no matter who scores, but I am happy it was me" Mattila told reporters after the game. BC expanded on their lead to 3-1 early in the second period on a wrister by freshman Marshall Warren. Shortly after that another freshman Matt Boldy scored the fourth goal and the game appeared that it was turning into a blow out for the Eagles.
But Wisconsin roared back to life with goals by Owen Lindmark and the second goal of the game by Cole Caulfield to close out the second. But BC held on and it was 2018-19 Hockey East leading scorer David Cotton who finished off the Badgers rifling home a pass from Logan Hustko to give the Eagles the 5-3 win.
BC played a complete game on Friday night, but one of the areas they did struggle in was the power play, where they went 0-5 on the game. "I thought we played good 5-5 hockey, but the power play is something we need to get better at" said Julius Mattila. Head coach Jerry York isn't overly concerned explaining that the Eagles had many chances on the power plays and he believes some of those will get home in the future.
After the game head coach Jerry York spoke about how the team played "well in all three parts of the game". Talking about his team he spoke about the value of the senior leadership like David Cotton, and that he expects the freshmen class to continue to increase in contributions as the season progresses.
The Eagles are now 1-0, with a good win over a solid opponent who York believes they could see again in March if they both continue to play the way they did last night. But they can't celebrate too long. "Going to enjoy tonight" said David Cotton, "but tomorrow we are going to wake up and focus on Colgate". The Eagles head to New York to face the Raiders tomorrow at 4pm on ESPN+.