BOSTON — The Boston College Eagles beat themselves in Friday night’s home and home series opener against Providence College at Conte Forum.
BC gifted Providence two first-period goals on errant clearing attempts in the BC end and the Friars skated to a 4-3 overtime victory before a crowd of 7,884.
Friars left wing Logan Sawyer scored on a wrist shot at 1:22 of the extra frame to secure Providence’s fifth win in six games.
Providence improved to 12-7-2 and 7-3-1 in Hockey East while the Eagles fell to 11-7-1 and 7-4-0. The two teams will lace them up on Saturday night at Schneider Arena in Providence
“We did a lot of things right but you really have to minimize your mistakes against good teams and we had too many of them,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “There were some turnovers that were too big and you can’t make those.”
The Eagles faced their first Hockey East opponent since sweeping a weekend series against UMass-Lowell on Dec. 6. The Friars entered the match riding high after completing a home series sweep against Maine last weekend, where they outscored the Black Bears 9-1 in two games.
Providence backup goalie Jack Parsons, who made his sixth appearance in place of injured No. 1 Philip Svedeback, finished with 43 saves to pick up his fourth win. Parsons was named Hockey East Rookie of the Week for his 46 combined saves against Maine.
“Parsons played a great game and I thought we came up with some big kills,” said PC head coach Nate Leaman. “He is really trusting his game right now and he is quick and he’s big and he’s got good hands.
“I thought last week the guys played really well in front of him but tonight that was him. That was all him and now the challenge is to turn around and do it again on Saturday.”
BC tied the game 3-3 at 11:18 of the third. Right winger Teddy Stiga of Sudbury made a dish to freshman right wing Will Moore at the bottom of the left circle. Moore, the Bruins’ second-round pick in 2025, skated diagonally through the low slot and tucked the puck past Parsons for his fourth of the season.
“We thought if we kept pushing, we would be able to create one and Will did a good job,” said Brown. “Will was playing on the off wing which is not easy for a freshman but he did a nice job and he reads plays very well.”
BC went up 1-0 on a nice collaboration in the Providence end at 9:14 of the first. Freshman right wing Landen Resendes collected the puck along the end boards and fed Aram Minnetian on the right point. Minnetian fired a slapper that Brady Berard redirected by Parsons for his third of the season.
The euphoria in the house lasted exactly 12 seconds. BC left wing Michael Hagens’ attempted clearance was intercepted by junior left-wing Clint Levens in the slot. Levens unloaded a quick wrister that beat BC goalie Louka Cloutier (15 saves) blocker side for his fourth of the season at 9:24.
BC had a 14-4 advantage in shots on goal when Providence went up 2-1 on another wayward clearing attempt in the BC end with 7.1 seconds remaining. Junior defenseman Drew Fortescue’s clearing pass was intercepted by sophomore center Aleksi Kivioja, who beat Cloutier clean for his third of the season. Both Levens and Kivioja are on the Friars’ fourth line.
“I stopped calling them our fourth line because they are not a fourth line,” said Leaman. “They are an identity line, they go out to start a game and execute the right way and it usually means good things for us.”
Providence went up 3-1 when graduate defenseman Kale McCallum’s shot from the right point cleared a screen and beat Cloutier for his third of the season. BC made it 3-2 on a shifty move by Stiga at 9:18. Stiga took an Andre Gasseau (two assists) feed in the low slot, undressed Providence defenseman Martin Masa and beat Parsons top shelf for his fourth of the season. Parsons had 30 saves after two periods.
