Boston College men’s hockey’s 2024–25 schedule wasted no time throwing the Eagles into an intense matchup.
Over the weekend, No. 2 BC faced off against No. 4 Michigan State on the road in its first two tilts of the season, playing in front of a rowdy, sellout crowd of 6,555 at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich.
“I thought we handled it very well last night,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “Played a pretty smart game and had lots of energy. Tonight … the team that loses the first game plays extremely desperate, and Michigan State did that tonight.”
After taking the first of the two-game series on Friday with a 3–0 shutout win to open up their season, the Eagles (1–1) fell to Michigan State (3–1) after a three-goal second period propelled the Spartans past the Eagles to hand them their first loss of the season.
“They were dictating the play much more to their style,” Brown said of the second period. “We were trying to create some things on the rush, but they had lots of guys back, so it was hard to find ice through the neutral zone for us. And then they were heavy in front of our net, and they made a few strong, simple plays, and we got a little out of position, which was something we have to correct.”
Michigan State found itself with a one-goal lead at the 10:04 mark in the first period. On the rush, Isaac Howard sent a pass across ice to a patiently waiting Charlie Stramel, who gathered the puck and launched it past a sprawling Jacob Fowler to give the Spartans a first-period edge.
The Spartans held that lead for nearly 7:00 until James Hagens and Gabe Perreault took matters into their own hands.
In a 2-on-1 opportunity, Hagens dished the puck to Perreault, who took full advantage, firing the puck into the top shelf for his first goal of the season with three minutes left in the first frame.
Hagens picked up his second assist of the season with the pass.
“He’s aware of all situations going on on the ice, so he has great judgment with his decision making,” Brown said of Hagens. “James is all about the team and winning … if he thinks that someone else has a better [chance to score], then he’s gonna dish.”
Just over a minute later, Ryan Leonard joined the scorers’ circle with his first goal of the season. In another wide-open opportunity, Leonard dribbled the puck before launching it past Trey Augustine to give the Eagles a 2–1 lead that they took into the second period.
“Everyone has a little more confidence when they see the puck go in,” Brown said of Leonard’s goal. “Ryan had a couple great shots last night that hit the post. We know he’s going to create opportunities … Usually it can snowball.”
Just 30 seconds into the second frame, Red Savage collected the puck in stride toward the net and flicked it into the back of the net to tie the game up.
The Eagles wasted little time regaining the lead. Off a pass from Aram Minnetian, Lukas Gustafsson rifled a one-timer that ricocheted off a skate and past Augustine to make it a 3–2 game.
Michigan State refused to let the Eagles run away with the game, though, rattling off two more goals before the second period came to a close. Stramel and Daniel Russell potted the goals at the 12:28 and 6:32 marks, respectively, to give the Spartans a one-goal lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
“Overall, they were playing a little heavier, a little smarter and a little more desperate than we were,” Brown said.
The intensity of the top-5 matchup was apparent as the horn sounded to signify the end of the second period. BC’s Andre Gasseau and Michigan State’s Joey Larson were tacked with roughing penalties after a scrum broke out behind the net to end the second frame.
“We stood up for ourselves,” Brown said. “The guys had some fight.”
Augustine locked the Eagles down in the third period, though, saving 13 shots and keeping Michigan State’s one-goal lead intact until the clock hit triple zeros.
“We did a better job late in the game, the third period, of having some pushback, but we couldn’t get one by Augustine,” Brown said.
