Season Review: Boston College

The NCAA’s Boston College Eagles had an impressive season, losing just ten games throughout the year and going 33-10-1 en route to winning the Frozen Four championship –  the fifth in team history.

The season began October 7 in Grand Forks at the IceBreaker Tournament, as the Eagles faced off against Michigan State. After defeating them 5-2 in a game in which five different Eagles scored, the team went on to defeat North Dakota 6-2 and capture the tournament title.

Coming fresh off the tournament win, the Eagles would face their first loss, to #3 ranked Denver. Although senior Barry Almeida and sophomore Kevin Hayeseach had two points each, it wasn’t enough to secure the win, and the college suffered its first home-opening loss since 2005.

One loss was just enough to kickstart the Eagles back into shape – the team would go on to win six consecutive games before bouncing back-and-forth between wins and losses through the end of the year.

After having a spectacular 7-1 run in October, the Eagles went 3-3 in both the months of November and December. The team dropped the first game of the Great Lakes invitational to eventual champion Michigan, before winning the consolation game 2-1 over Michigan Tech.

The Eagles then went 3-3-1 in January, including a team-worst 7-4 loss to Maine on January 21. Freshman goaltender Brian Billett made 28 saves in the loss.

It was exactly that sort of loss that kicked the Eagles back in shape – and they wouldn’t lose again, at all, through the end of the season.

Here’s how the rest of the year panned out:

– The Eagles would go 7-0 in February, including a 7-1 win over Northeastern and a 7-0 win over Providence. The team would also claim its third straight Beanpot title.

– Coming off the undefeated month, the Eagles would have an equally impressive March, going 8-0 and allowing just seven goals against in that stretch. The team also won its third consecutive Lamoriello Trophy win, advanced to the NCAA regional final and earned a trip to the Frozen Four.

– Defeated Minnesota 6-1 to advance to the Frozen Four championships, where the Eagles then defeated Ferris State by a score of 4-1 for the title. That’s the third time in the past five years that Boston College has captured the NCAA title.