Eagles have zero to show for ugly loss
Veteran Boston College coach Jerry York didn’t mince any words following last night’s 7-0 drubbing the Eagles suffered at the hands of potent No. 2-ranked St. Cloud State.
“Certainly not a good night if you’re a BC guy,’’ said York, whose club has opened the season with four straight setbacks. “It’s something we’ve addressed. Something we’ve worked hard on. We’re just dry, dry, dry. At this level, you have to be more gritty in front of the net, get more greasy goals. “It’s a hard pill to swallow. I told the team that we have to stay tight. No one blame anybody. It’s not complex. We just have to keep working hard.’’ The Huskies were led by a hat trick from freshman left wing Sam Hentges and a solid 32-save effort by senior David Hrenak. “Number one, Dave Hrenak was the difference in the game. He was really, really solid,’’ St. Cloud State coach Brett Larson said. “They probably outchanced us 2-to-1. His play kept us in the game. Without him that’s probably a 4-4 game.’’ The Huskies (5-0-0) have not been scored upon in 140:11, spanning portions of three-plus games. The local hockey world has been turned on its proverbial head thus far in the early season as traditional powerhouses BC and crosstown rival Boston University have started off at uncharacteristic 0-3-0 marks before last night. You have to go back to the 193334 season to find the last time the Eagles (0-3-0 that year) and Terriers (0-7-0) both were winless through the first three games of the same season. BC, which had been ranked as high as No. 12 in the first two national polls, missed a chance to snap that skein. The visiting Huskies grabbed a commanding 2-0 lead after one period that featured a fortuitous bounce on the first goal and an awkward shot on the next that left the hosts sputtering. The bad bounce came along the left sideboards 6:10 into the period with Hentges rifling the puck over the glove hand of BC junior goalie Joe Woll. St. Cloud padded its lead later in the stanza at 17:17 when backup defenseman Luke Jaycox snapped a short side wrister on which Woll thought he had the angle covered. BC was not without chances as junior left wing David Cotton, who had his first career hat trick earlier this season, fired a sizzling wrist shot that Hrenak snared from mid-air, and a 2-on-1 when senior J.D. Dudek received a pass a bit late and fired high of the net. An alert play by BC defenseman Michael Kim to clear a loose puck from the crease and a subsequent right pad stop on a break-in by Huskies center Kevin Fitzgerald kept the score manageable in the second frame. However, St. Cloud refused to pull back on the throttle and connected twice in a span of 42 seconds to send Woll (four goals, 11 saves) to the showers. A wrap-aroud play ended with left wing Jack Poehling knocking home the rebound at 11:43. That was followed at 12:25 on Hentges’ second goal of the night. On came junior Ryan Edquist (nine saves, three goals), who was greeted rudely by St. Cloud fourthline center Nolan Walker’s second of the season at 13:02 to make it a 5-0 bulge. Hentges pinged a shot off the left pipe 1:40 into the third and his prospects of a hat trick appeared to diminish. Then, at 4:44, Hentges received another chance and flipped in a low backhand while cutting across the crease and the Minnesotan had his first troika. St. Cloud added a late power play goal at 18:09 off the stick of Walker, his second of the night.