BOSTON — Special teams aren’t just important in football.
Power plays and penalty kills also are vital to a hockey team’s success, and no game was greater evidence of that than the No. 8 Boston College vs. Providence College Frozen Fenway Hockey East clash Sunday night.
Both teams went 1-for-4 on the power play, but BC’s goal proved to be the difference at Fenway Park. The Eagles failed to convert on their first two power-play opportunities in the third period, but David Cotton made sure the third time was the charm with the game-winning goal 16:49 into the frame.
“The goal was more of a broken play,” Cotton said. “They were bringing pressure on the penalty kill. … The ice was kind of chippy, so I just tried to get it on net and luckily it held on there short-side high.”
The Eagles then put away the 3-1 victory with an Austin Cangelosi empty-netter a little more than two minutes later.
Here’s a few more notes from BC vs. PC.
— Outdoor hockey games are special for the players, coaches and fans. But there is one tweak Providence College coach Nate Leaman believes could make the experience even better.
“When we played here with Merrimack, when us and Merrimack were selected three or four years ago, the first thing I did was call (coach) Mark Dennehy and said let’s make it a non-conference game,” Leaman said, “and Mark right off said, ‘Yep. You’re exactly right.’
“And right after the game, we both kind of commented to each other that these should probably be non-conference games. There’s no doubt for us to give up a home game against the first-place team in our league … it was a lot. But when we were offered this position, you also try to account for the student-athlete experience. You want your players to have that experience.”
— The Eagles were playing for more than themselves Sunday night.
“I thought it was a great opportunity for our team to pay respects to the two young players, James (Lavin) and Owen (Higgins), from the Falmouth (Mass.) High School team,” BC coach Jerry York said. “Coach (Paul) Moore, who coaches at Falmouth, is a good friend of mine. … It’s just a small thing that we could do to hopefully alleviate some of the pain the families go through in the Falmouth community. So it was a nice shoutout to Owen and James.”
Lavin and Higgins tragically died in a car accident on Dec. 22.
— Boston College goalie Joe Woll made 28 saves, while Hayden Hawkey stopped 33 shots for Providence College.
— Up next for the Eagles is a weekend series with rival Boston University, while the Friars will have a busy week with a game at Yale and two home games with Vermont.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@Cam_McDonough
