No. 9 BC Men's Hockey Routed by No. 7 Denver, 7-3, Remain Winless at Home
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Entering Friday night's contest against Denver, true freshman goaltender Louka Cloutier boasted a 1.30 goals against average and a save percentage of .937.
If he made it through the entire 2025-26 season with either of those totals, Cloutier would likely be an automatic contender for the Mike Richter Award, which is bestowed on the goalie who is deemed the best in college hockey annually.
Cloutier was nearly unflappable in Boston College men’s hockey’s two-game road series against Minnesota two weekends ago, and once again in a 5-1 victory over RPI last Friday.
But the Pioneers were finally able to break Cloutier’s dam, and they did so on a mission.
In front of a sellout crowd at Kelley Rink in Conte Forum, the Chicago Steel (USHL) product surrendered six goals on 26 shots, including three unanswered in the second period—which handed No. 7 Denver (3-1-1) a 5-2 lead with 5:41 left in the frame.
The Pioneers managed to hold onto their lead despite surrendering a goal late in the second period to James Hagens, who extended his scoring streak to two games, but the No. 9 Eagles (2-2-1) fell, 7–3, in the out-of-conference matchup.
“I think he kept his composure,” BC coach Greg Brown said of Cloutier. “And those were some breakdowns. He made some nice saves, but there were some breakdowns and some very good shots. So it didn’t seem like there were soft goals where the bench [was] deflated. They earned their goals, and we just have to tighten up so we don’t give that many chances.”
Cloutier comes up with a huge stop on the 3v1
— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) October 25, 2025
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Denver has gotten the best of BC as of late, defeating the Eagles in the 2024 NCAA Division 1 men’s hockey National Championship, 2-0, and once again in the 2025 Manchester Regional Final, 3-1. Friday night was more of the same, as the Pioneers came out on top in what is turning out to be a fiery rivalry between the two programs.
“I mean, there’s a lot of mutual respect,” Denver coach David Carle said. “I think it starts there, truthfully, for their staff and how they do things. They’re an excellent team and program and do a great job. … You can see and feel the intensity. … The building was excellent like it was last time we were here.”
The Eagles scored the initial goal as senior captain Andre Gasseau received a stop-and-go pass from freshman Will Moore for a short breakaway. Gasseau deked from his forehand to backhand and slid the puck behind Quentin Miller at the 10:44 mark of the first period.
DU quickly responded with two unanswered goals via Eric Pohlkamp’s cannon from the top of the blue line and Kristian Epperson’s five-hole goal from the left wing as a result of a BC neutral zone turnover.
With 1:05 left in the first frame, Jake Sondreal extended his scoring streak to two games with a snipe over Miller’s right shoulder, and the period ended 2-2.
That is when the Eagles’ motor stopped running. In the second frame especially, BC consistently lost odd-man rushes and faceoffs—the Pioneers potted three goals off faceoffs alone—and made untimely turnovers in the defensive zone, crushing its chances of keeping up in the game.
Denver, meanwhile, created some distance on the scoreboard off of goals by Eric Jameison’s one-timer from the point, Sam Harris’ point-blank shot, and Brendan McMorrow’s rifle from the left circle, extending its lead to 5-2 just over the five-minute mark of the period.
“It comes down to real details,” Brown said. “Getting above pucks, winning faceoffs, stuff like that. And then if you give teams like that a couple of faceoff goals and a couple of man rushes, they’re going to be very hard to beat. [We] just weren’t consistent enough in all the little details, and it was evident.”
Hagens helped the Eagles creep a little closer by closing the deficit to two before the second ended with a quick shot from a loose-puck battle in the middle of Denver’s defensive zone, but Jake Fisher ended BC’s hopes officially with 9:46 left to play in regulation with a rebound score from the slot.
Third of the year for Hagens cuts into the deficit
— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) October 25, 2025
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Rieger Lorenz finished the job with an empty-net tally late in the third period with a pair of Eagles’ defensemen draped over his shoulders.
Seven different players scored for the Pioneers and BC’s top offensive line was a combined -10 in plus-minus rating on the night—albeit one of the goals they were on the ice for was the empty-netter.
“Fortunately, there’s a lot of season and those are things you can correct,” Brown said. “So we get back to work on Sunday correcting some of those [mistakes].”
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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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