Dean Letourneau’s long-awaited first collegiate goal came in Friday night’s game between No. 11 Boston College men’s hockey and No. 12 Minnesota. It couldn’t have come at a better time.
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The 6-foot-7 sophomore scored the equalizing goal for BC (1–1–1) with less than five minutes to play, knotting the game up 2–2 and eventually sending it into overtime. But after a scoreless overtime, the matchup ultimately ended in a shootout won by Minnesota (1–2–1).
Letourneau’s goal came after nearly 47 minutes of scoreless play for BC, following the Eagles’ opening goal that came eight minutes into the first frame.
After LJ Mooney got called for slashing, the Eagles found themselves looking at a man-up situation. They were 2-for-3 on the power play this season when they headed into Friday’s game.
It was the junior New Hampshire transfer Ryan Conmy that capitalized on the advantage, as Lukas Gustafsson dished him the puck and he flicked in a one-timer from the left side to give BC the lead.
The goal was Conmy’s second of BC’s young season, as he has quickly turned into a fixture in head coach Greg Brown’s first line.
It initially seemed like Letourneau’s fellow Bruins’ pick James Hagens would get his first goal of the season as well, as he scored a game-tying goal in the second frame. But an offsides call on BC wiped that score off the board, and Hagens pounded his stick against the ground in frustration as the Eagles continued to trail.
Despite needing Letourneau’s late-game goal to keep things even, the Eagles weren’t struggling offensively for the entire game. They recorded the first five shots on goal of the game and led 8–2 in the first period.
But with 18 minutes left in the second period, the Golden Gophers had taken the previous nine shots. Minnesota turned up the heat as the game progressed, pushing BC into its defensive zone and keeping it there.
But freshman goalkeeper Luka Cloutier kept the damage to a minimum, picking up 31 saves in his second career start. He came up big in overtime, too, even while facing 1-on-1 pressure from Minnesota in transition.
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Minnesota’s go-ahead goal was not a result of a lapse in Cloutier’s play—it was about what happened before the goal.
Landan Resendes was called for roughing 5:24 into the second period to put the Gophers on the power play. Less than 30 seconds later, Brodie Ziemer scored a short-side goal—the Gophers’ first man-up goal of the season.
Ziemer’s goal avenged his goal that was wiped off in the first period when a slashing penalty on Minnesota negated the score.
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After that, it was an uphill battle that the Eagles just couldn’t get over, no matter who scored—or didn’t, in the case of Hagens.
Minnesota seemed to be skating cleaner and more intensely than it had during BC’s road win on Thursday night, resulting in a tie for the Eagles to close out the second weekend of their season.