The puck dropped at the start of the third period, and Marc McLaughlin won his ninth faceoff of the game. Ten seconds later, Colby Ambrosio was jumping into the boards, celebrating his goal. Within those 10 seconds, Ambrosio accepted a long pass from McLaughlin and flung the puck through Colorado College goalie Dominic Basse’s five-hole, giving Boston College men’s hockey its first lead of the game.
“That was a huge goal he got in the third period to put us up 3–2, and he was playing very well,” BC head coach Jerry York said in his postgame press conference. “You know he’s quick, he’s checking much better this year … but he, like a lot of our forwards, was getting caught up [in the] ice too much.”
The No. 10 Eagles (2–2–1) faced off against Colorado College (1–2–2) on Friday night, looking to redeem themselves after a 6–2 loss to Bentley last weekend. Despite Ambrosio’s goal, the Eagles fell to Colorado College 5–3 after the Tigers scored three third-period goals.
“I liked a lot of what we did tonight as a team, but we continued throughout the 60 minutes of giving up way too many odd-man rushes,” York said. “All three guys [were] caught down low, hoping to just keep the puck alive, and I think that’s a hard way to play the game. One bad bounce and it’s out.”
Early on in the first period, back-to-back five-minute major penalties against Sam Sternschein and Aidan Hreschuk, plus a singular penalty on Colorado College, resulted in 4-on-3 play.
The Tigers took advantage of their one-man advantage. Quick passes by Logan Will and Jordan Biro faked out BC goaltender Eric Dop and the Eagle defense, allowing Biro to slot one into the net and awarding the Tigers an early one-goal lead.
“We deserved both major penalties,” York said. “I have no problem with the referees. We had to go to three lines when Sam [Sternschein] got thrown out. We like to be a four-line team, so that was an issue.”
Although the Eagles generated multiple scoring opportunities, such as back-to-back breakaways by Ambrosio, they could not answer the Tigers in the first 20 minutes.
A quick wrap around the net by Nikita Nesterenko in the second period looked like it might be enough for the Eagles to tie the game, but it went just wide of the post.
Not long after, Colorado College extended its lead on a breakaway by Will, who fired a five-hole shot at Dop, bringing the score to 2–0 in favor of the Tigers.
A two-goal deficit woke up the Eagles’ offense, as Jack McBain peppered Basse with shots. Nesterenko, mindful of his positioning, stood by the net and put pressure on Basse until the puck was in the net, bringing the Eagles within one.
The scoring didn’t stop there for Nesterenko. Seven minutes later, in a similar fashion, he struck again. McBain fed Nesterenko the puck, who used his strength to force it into the net, tying the game at two.
The Eagles gained momentum, as their offense was in control and they utilized backhanded passes to throw off the Tiger defense.
Following Ambrosio’s early third-period goal, it looked like the Eagles might run away with the game. Less than two minutes later, however, Colorado College’s Tyler Coffey sent a slap shot between Dop’s five-hole to even the score once again.
A penalty against Marshall Warren for hitting from behind resulted in a penalty shot for the Tigers. Despite a strong effort by Dop, Colorado’s Matthew Gleason swung the puck around him and slotted it into the net, granting Colorado College a 4–3 lead. The Tigers scored one more goal with less than a minute left on an empty net, earning Colorado College its first win of the season.
“[In the] third period when we went ahead 3–2, then we got caught again with, you know, [an] odd-man rush coming back to score a goal,” York said. “And then the penalty shot was a guy racing in all alone, and we got caught there.”
Featured Image by Aditya Rao / Heights Staff
