BC Bulletin

Letourneau's Three Points Sends No. 15 BC Men's Hockey Past New Hampshire 5-2

Sophomore forward Dean Letourneau leads the Eagles with 13 goals after Friday's defeat of the Wildcats.
Graham Dietz|
Boston College men's hockey (@BC_MHockey) via X.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The turnover could not have been worse for Conner De Haro.

Skating through the middle of the neutral zone with the puck, the New Hampshire defenseman was pick-pocketed just as he was crossing the red line at center ice. 

The change of possession resulted in a two-on-one opportunity for Boston College men’s hockey’s James Hagens with Ryan Conmy on his wing. But Hagens had no intention of passing the puck once the only Wildcat defender in space, Ryan Philbrick, kneeled down to a leg.

In a lightning-quick sequence, Hagens went from staring at Conmy’s stick to looking straight into the soul of goalie Kyle Chauvette. Before Chauvette could blink, however, the puck zoomed right through his five-hole, handing the No. 15 Eagles (12-8-1, 8-5-0 Hockey East) a two-goal lead with 17:30 left to play in the third period.

The goal marked Hagens’ 11th of the season and 23rd point of the year, as he also picked up an assist earlier in the matchup. BC’s final goal of the night was scored with 1:23 to go in regulation by fellow sophomore Dean Letourneau, who picked up two goals and an assist en route to the 5-2 triumph over the Wildcats (11-11, 5-7).

“I think [Hagens’] pass on the power play for Dean’s goal was really alert,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “He had a great fake, and … he put it right in the spot where Dean could one-time. If that’s six inches in either direction, Dean’s not going to be able to hit it like that. So his accuracy, his execution on a lot of plays tonight [was] very sharp.”

The difference in confidence for Letourneau from his first year on the Heights to his second campaign has been night and day, and Friday’s triumph assertively added another chapter to what has been a transformative year for the Arnprior, Ontario, native.

Letourneau’s assist to Jake Sondreal on what turned out to be the game-winning goal with 11:05 left in the second frame, to put the Eagles ahead 3-2, was executed in such a tight window that Chauvette had barely any time to react before Sondreal tapped the puck in from the crease.

It was the exact type of play that has contributed to Letourneau’s nomination for the 2026 Hobey Baker Award, which he was tabbed for this past week in the initial stage of the selection process.

“We have such great chemistry,” Letourneau said of linemates Will Vote and Sondreal. “We kind of have a knack for just finding each other in open spots. So I love playing with them. They can make those little plays and create space for everyone on our line.”

Offensive production has not been lacking from Letourneau in part because of his total shot output each game.

In Friday’s victory, he led the Eagles with six shots on net, followed by Hagens with four.

The two Boston Bruins first-round draft picks came into the contest with over 70 shots apiece this year.

“Well, we tried to tell everyone last year that it’s coming,” Brown said of Letourneau. “Nobody believed us. He came, you could probably say, a year too early. Just the jump from Canadian prep school to college, nobody makes that jump. There’s always a stop of juniors somewhere.”

Brown continued: “For him to make that jump and really just keep his head down and work throughout the year. [I] hope he wasn’t reading social media, but people were frustrated. They wanted more from him, from where he was drafted. But we could see the progress. We could see the hands, the IQ in practice. It just wasn’t ready to come on in the game.”

After Andre Gasseau scored the Eagles’ first goal with a tip-in off Aram Minnetian’s shot from the point on the first shift of the game, the Wildcats knotted up the score at one apiece thanks to Nick Ring’s power-play goal at the 17:04 mark of the period.

Three minutes later, Letourneau finished the tic-tac-toe sequence from Hagens with a one-timer, but UNH responded with 15:24 left in the second frame via Cy LeClerc’s snipe from the right circle.

BC freshman goaltender Louka Cloutier, who stopped 23 shots in the win, had nobody in the shooter’s lane to block the puck off LeClerc's stick.

But the Wildcats were shut down for the remainder of the night, particularly in the third period in which they were outshot 12-6.

“We know we needed a good response after last week, and I think our heads were in the right spot,” Brown said. “We tried to just get a little too cute with pucks in the first and a little bit in the second. I was really happy the way we came out and managed it better in the third. Like more assertive, fewer hope plays. Kind of what looked more like the hockey that we want to play.”

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Graham Dietz
GRAHAM DIETZ

Graham Dietz is a 2025 graduate of Boston College and subsequently joined Boston College On SI. He previously served as an editor for The Heights, the independent student newspaper, from fall 2021, including as Sports Editor from 2022-23. Graham works for The Boston Globe as a sports correspondent, covering high school football, girls' basketball, and baseball. He was also a beat writer for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2023.

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