No. 15 Boston College Men's Hockey Grabs Second Straight Win Over River Hawks

The Eagles have now won eight of their last nine games as they head into winter break.

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

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College men’s hockey’s eight wins in its past nine games have come in many different forms, but one of the team’s constants has been the rock-solid play of freshman goaltender Louka Cloutier.

Cloutier was tabbed the Hockey East Rookie of the Month in November after posting a conference-best 6-1-0 record during the month. This weekend, the Sherbrooke, Quebec native added two more checks in the win column, surrendering only two goals in the Eagles’ home-and-home series against UMass Lowell.

Thanks to his 31 saves on Saturday—10 in the first and second period, respectively, and 12 in the final frame—No. 15 BC (10-5-1, 7-3-0 Hockey East) officially captured the series win with a 3-1 triumph over the River Hawks before the start of winter break.

With 14 games under his belt now, Cloutier has manufactured a 2.01 goals against average and a save percentage of .918.

“The team appreciates it a lot,” said Brown. “In the meeting after the games, the guys mention Louka all the time, how much confidence they have to play in front of them. Even if we’re playing great, he’s still making some huge saves. Maybe not as many consistently, but he’s really been able to answer the bell, and you can see his confidence growing.”

Brown on freshman goaltender Louka Cloutier, who was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Month in November and surrendered just two goals this weekend in the Eagles’ two wins: pic.twitter.com/BA4STajGL4

— Graham Dietz (@graham_dietz) December 7, 2025

Brown added: “His comfort level on and off the ice has been outstanding.”

Along with Cloutier, the consistent offensive production of sophomore forward Dean Letourneau, who tallied just three points last season—all on assists—has been a welcoming sight for Eagles’ fans.

Letourneau posted three goals over the weekend alone, including the third goal for BC in Saturday’s takedown of Lowell (6-10-0, 3-5-0).

Letourneau scored what turned out to be the final goal of the game with 5:40 left in the second period with a bar-down snipe off a drop pass in the zone from freshman Landan Resendes.

Oh my Dean 🔥

💻 @ESPNPlus | https://t.co/Jumuyy6Y5p pic.twitter.com/LiVZ4rr4bz

— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) December 7, 2025

But immediately after the shot rang off the crossbar and dropped into the net, Letourneau fell to the ice, stood back up and shoved Lowell’s Dominic Payne on the boards, which resulted in a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Letourneau was simply caught in the heat of the moment, but his post-goal antics were a testament to the spurts of confidence that are being instilled in the Boston Bruins’ 2024 first-round pick on a regular basis.

“It’s great to see, because people are all watching last year and maybe being unfair, like we could see what was coming,” Brown said. “But the jump from Canadian prep school to college is a huge jump. Not many kids skip that junior level, and he made the jump. So it was a growing year, a learning year, and this year you see him.”

BC got on the board twice in the first period thanks to goals from sophomore Jake Sondreal and senior captain Lukas Gustafsson.

With 16:49 remaining in the second, however, Diego Buttazzoni decreased Lowell’s deficit to one with a point-blank wrist shot from the left circle on the power play due to Gustafsson’s interference penalty.

Penalties were a common theme in the Eagles’ victory—Lowell was assessed nine penalties for 29 total minutes in the loss while BC picked up seven for 14 minutes.

“It’s important, and we talked about it, you really have to feel the temperature of the game and where the [referees’] minds are,” Brown said. “Those were some we could avoid. If you have a couple power plays in a row, or you score a power-play goal, you have to understand that, of course, the refs are going to be looking extra close, and we didn’t grasp that a few times where things were avoidable.”

The Eagles do not play again until Dec. 28, when they face Western Michigan in the first round of the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee, Wis.

But in that tournament, BC will be without Brown, forwards Teddy Stiga and James Hagens, and defenseman Luka Radivojevic, all of whom will be in Minnesota for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Brown is an assistant coach for Team USA, Stiga and Hagens were selected for the preliminary U.S. roster, and Radivojevic was tabbed for Slovakia’s preliminary roster.

“I think the way USA hockey has been going, it used to be Canada a lot, and now seeing USA win a lot is cool,” Stiga said. “And being a part of it as well is cool. So hopefully we get another [championship] this year.”