To this point in the young academic year, there haven't been a whole lot of success stories coming out of the Chestnut Hill sports scene. But after a weekend where the national champion men's hockey team withstood a scare from Merrimack and the football team rose to the occasion for a big upset over Clemson, things are looking a bit brighter for the maroon and gold.
On Friday night, the Boston College Eagles men's hockey team rose its championship banner from last season to the rafters at Kelley Rink in Conte Forum. It was Merrimack College, formerly a Division-2 powerhouse and now a competitor in Division-1, who skated into the Forum to battle the Eagles in their home opener. The Warriors were a feisty bunch throughout, jumping to a 1-0 lead early and clinging to it deep into the second period. With 31 seconds to go, though, junior Cam Atkinson tallied a power play goal to knot the score at one headed for the third and final frame.
Merrimack grabbed the go-ahead goal just 52 seconds into the third, but the Eagles got rallying scores from Paul Carey (at 3:33) and Pat Mullane, who tallied the game winning power play goal at 5:09 of the third period. Penalties were the death of this Merrimack squad last night -- the Eagles outshot the Warriors 42-32 in the game, but a whopping 26 of those shots came on the man advantage. BC goaltender John Muse made 30 stops in earning his 65th career victory, bumping BC to 4-1-0 (2-0-0 in HockeyEast) on the season.
Less than 24 hours later, the football team was taking the field against Clemson in an effort to snap a 5-game skid and earn their first ACC victory of the season. Freshman quarterback Chase Rettig got started on the wrong foot, tossing a pick-6 in the first quarter to spot the Tigers a 7-0 lead. The rest of the way, though, Clemson managed to put just three points on the board in what would ultimately amount to another impressive performance by this Boston College defense.
The Eagles got their touchdown on a 36-yard pass from Rettig to junior back Montel Harris, who also rushed 37 times for 144 yards in the game. Harris continues to be the cut-and-dry best option on this offense, tallying 180 total yards and a touchdown for an otherwise dormant BC offense. Coupled with 3 Nate Freese field goals, the Eagles put up 16 points en route to a 16-10 victory over the Tigers. The defense held strong the entire game, led by sophomore linebacker Luke Kuechly. Kuechly continued his stellar season with 10 solo tackles, 4 assists, and a huge interception to all but ice the contest in the final minutes.
It's been a bright weekend for Boston College sports. The hockey team faces off with Merrimack again tonight, this time in the Warriors' house. Can they continue their HockeyEast domination and improve to 5-1 overall? Can the football team finish the year on a strong note and get some rhythm heading into next season? Only time will tell for the Eagles.
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