A young BGSU hockey team came away from their first road trip of the season with three points as they defeated Providence 4-2 on Friday, but fell to an impressive Boston College squad 5-1 on Saturday.
The Falcons (2-1-1) were able to jump ahead of the Friars (1-2-0) in the first game of the weekend, taking a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Derek Whitmore and Rich Meloche. BG’s defense held on to the lead for the 4-2 final score to give freshman goalie Eddie Neville a win in his first career collegiate start.
“This was a real big win,” said coach Scott Paluch, “Most importantly because Providence is a very good hockey team and are real good in their own building.”
Forward Tomas Petruska added a goal early in the third before linemate Jonathon Matsumoto secured to secure the win with an empty-net goal with less than a minute left in the game. Captain Michael Hodgson helped out with three assists while Neville stopped 23 PC shots.
“We knew Providence was going to get their chances,” Paluch said, “but I liked the way we were able to get the pucks out down the stretch and Eddie Neville did a great job in net for us.”
The Falcons did not have much time to savor their victory, as they headed to Boston College to take on the No. 1 team in the nation.
The Eagles (2-1-0) looked everything like the top team in the land as they jumped out to an early 2-0 first period lead coming off of an embarrassing 7-1 loss to Notre Dame the night before.
Whitmore was able to record his fifth goal of the season to cut the lead to 2-1 going into the first intermission, but it wasn’t enough as BC added one second and two third period goals for the 5-1 victory.
“I thought it was a game where they established a good jump right from the start,” Paluch said. “We knew we were going to get their total focus after [Friday]. Despite what happened with Notre Dame, they are still the No. 1 team in the country.”
BC held a 43-26 shot advantage for the game with goalie Jimmy Spratt recording a career-high 38 saves in the loss.
The Falcons open up their CCHA schedule on the road this weekend as they head to Oxford for a pair of games with the defending regular-season champion Miami RedHawks.
