CHESTNUT HILL – Boston College men’s hockey hit the December intermission with a 3-1 victory over UMass/Lowell on Saturday night at Conte Forum.
BC completed a weekend series sweep against the River Hawks, improved to 10-5-1 overall, 7-3-0 in Hockey East, and will resume play against defending national champion Western Michigan on Dec. 28 in the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee, Wis.
BC has won eight of its last nine, going into the semester break, and is ranked 15th in the USCHO poll.
“Of course, you are happy winning eight out of nine, but I think we have done it in a lot of different ways, and that’s the encouraging part,” said BC head coach Greg Brown. “It hasn’t been one line carrying us; there have been contributions from a lot of people, and there are a whole bunch of different ways to win.”
There will be no downtime for the three BC players who will compete for their respective homelands in the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championships to be held between Dec. 26 and Jan. 5 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. The tryouts for Team USA will be held in Duluth, Minn., starting on Dec. 15.
Forwards James Hagens, the 2025 Boston Bruins No. 1 draft pick, and Teddy Stiga of Sudbury are vying for a spot on Team USA, while freshman defenseman Luka Radivojevic will compete for the Slovakia National Junior Team. Brown will be an assistant for Team USA.
“Last year I learned a lot from the older guys, and obviously winning the tournament there just makes you want to win it even more,” said Stiga. “I’m ready to go and pumped for the tournament to start.”
Both Hagens and Stiga were two of seven BC players who captured the gold medal at last year’s World Juniors in Ottawa. The other members of the BC Magnificent Seven were Drew Fortescue, Ryan Leonard, Aram Minnetian, and Gade Perreault.
Hagens finished the tournament tied for third in scoring with five goals and four assists.
Fortescue, Leonard, Perreault, Minnetian, Cutter Gauthier, Will Smith, and goalie Jacob Fowler were BC’s gold medal winners at the 2023 World Juniors in Gothenburg, Sweden. Minnetian and Fortescue have aged out of the tournament.
“In general, guys come back with a little more confidence and a little more swagger,” said Brown. “At some point, they have to recover because it is a lot of hockey in a short time. But in general, because it is such a high-level tournament on such a stage that most of the time guys come back with that added boost of confidence.
“It is such a great event, and I am proud to be a part of it.”
The Eagles’ crosstown rivals, the Boston University Terriers, placed three players on the Team USA preliminary roster, two of whom were on last season’s championship squad. The returning players are Cole Hutson and Cole Eiserman, while center Kamil Bednarik will make his debut in the international showcase. Sophomore defenseman Sascha Boumedienne will compete for Sweden.
Hutson became the first defenseman to lead the tournament in scoring with three goals and 11 assists. BU coach Jay Pandolfo felt the tournament experience had a positive effect on the BU program, which advanced to the NCAA title game against Western Michigan.
“We saw a boost last year from all the guys that went,” said Pandolfo. “They all came back better players, and they won it too, so that certainly can give you a boost and give you confidence.
“It comes with an understanding that you have to make sacrifices to win, so it can help your overall team as well. I thought we got a big boost, and we played much better in the second half last year. I thought they all gained momentum from winning that tournament. This year is even more exciting with it being in the United States.”
BC went up 1-0 at 14:15 of the first during a 4-on-4 situation. Ryan Conmy forced a turnover at the Lowell blue line that created a 2-on-1 break with center Jake Sondreal.
Conmy drew the defense and fed Sondreal, who buried a high wrister inside the near post for his sixth of the season. BC went up 2-0 on the power play at 16:46 when senior defenseman Lucas Gustafsson fired a slap shot through a screen for his second of the season.
Lowell made it 2-1 on a power play goal by Diego Buttazzoni from the right circle at 3:11 of the second. Boston Bruins 2025 first-round pick Dean Letourneau scored on a wicked wrister from the right circle to make it 3-1 at 14:21 with his ninth of the season.
