Fresh starts are often, well, refreshing, and that was certainly the hope for No. 6 Boston College men’s hockey—its two leading scorers left for the NHL, its Hobey Baker–candidate goaltender is playing in Canada, and plenty of new faces populate the roster.
But a fresh start can quickly turn rotten, and on Friday night, the No. 13 Bobcats played spoiler.
Storming into Chestnut Hill and fueled by a three-goal second period, Quinnipiac (1–0–0) walked out of the 2025–26 season opener with a 4–3 win over BC (0–1–0).
“It’s always hard in the beginning,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “But as we get more organized, hopefully we’ll be able to create more chances and finish.”
The fresh start was sloppy from the get-go.
Immediately following the initial puck drop, Quinnipiac had its first prime opportunity after a fumbled puck at the blue line gave Antonin Verreault a breakaway chance. His five-hole attempt was pushed wide by BC goaltender Jan Korec.
It only took 9:25 for first blood to be drawn. Quinnipiac’s Jeremy Wilmer streaked through the left side, drew back the puck from a laid-out Michael Hagens, and rifled it top right for an early 1–0 lead.
An end-of-period goal from the Eagles saved them from a first-period headline of fumbles, turnovers, and poor decisions.
“We put ourselves behind the eight ball,” Brown said. “Turnovers we didn’t need to make, spending too much time in their D zone—it just looked like a first game.”
After a holding call on Mason Marcellus with 34 seconds remaining, BC’s power-play unit got its first chance to write off last year’s third-worst power-play percentage in Hockey East.
Teddy Stiga circled along the top of the zone after catching a pass and fired a top-left snipe above Dylan Silverstein’s shoulder to tie the game 1–1 with 15 seconds left on the clock.
It seemed Quinnipiac wanted it more, though, because just 2:13 into the second frame, it would snatch the lead right back.
A bullet of a shot from Matthew Lansing capped off a perfectly executed 2-on-1 after being fed by Ethan Wyttenbach’s slick backhand pass.
Three minutes later, the Bobcats birthed more disappointed faces around Conte Forum after Graham Sward’s screened shot from the point slid through Korec’s five-hole to give the Bobcats a 3–1 lead.
BC wouldn’t back down that easily—not in front of the first whiteout of the season.
A cross-checking penalty at 15:20 put BC’s power-play unit back on the ice, and its brand new addition from New Hampshire, transfer Ryan Conmy, quickly made his mark. James Hagens fed Conmy at the face-off dot, who found the far-side post to cut Quinnipiac’s lead in half 30 seconds into the power play.
“[The first line] had glimpses, but early on, felt like they were trying to do a little too much,” Brown said. “Trying to force some plays that weren’t really there because Quinnipiac had numbers back.”
The theme from tonight, though: the Bobcats answered back. Facing a 3-on-2 opportunity? Big shot block. Turnover in the neutral zone? Push the puck north. BC climbs within one goal? They score another.
“It’s not that we were loose, but we weren’t just tight enough against a team that is outstanding,” Brown said.
Charlie Leddy—defenseman-transfer from BC—put a shot off the post from the point, and the puck bounced off Korec’s back and patiently sat on the goal line. A scrum ensued, and Chris Pelosi shoved it home to put Quinnipiac back ahead by two just six minutes later.
The Eagles attempted to shift the narrative to kick off the third period, coming out the fastest they had all game.
At 15:29 in the final frame, Andre Gasseau stripped through the right side and stopped-and-popped a pass to Drew Fortescue, who went left post and in for BC’s third goal of the night.
“Third period, we came out and looked much better, more like a hockey team,” Brown said. “Created some chances, had some offensive zone time to play simpler, more predictable style to each other.”
A prime 3-on-2 opportunity appeared, as well, but a block from Leddy on Gasseau’s shot from the top of the zone stifled any sign of a tie game. James Hagens had a chance of his own near the bottom of the circle after a pass from the point, but Silverstein stymied both his initial shot and wraparound attempt.
From then on, Quinnipiac stuck to the fundamentals, holding BC to four shots for the entire third period. In fact, the Bobcats doubled the Eagles’ shot total for the game, 30–15.
“Go north—we got to play fast,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said about what his team needed to do. “I thought when we played fast and were at pace, I thought they struggled a little bit with that.”
With the goalie pulled in the final minutes, BC tried its best to replicate its man-up success from the previous goals. But no last-chance efforts could surpass Quinnipiac’s hunger to win the game, and it finished 4–3.
“Come back with a little more presence to start the game,” Brown said. “And a little more understanding that we don’t have to go out and try to be world leaders—play within ourselves, and the good things start to follow.”
