Bust. Fourth-liner. Failed prospect. First-round mistake.
These were titles Dean Letourneau was all too familiar with at the end of his first year with Boston College men’s hockey, fresh off a season during which he put up zero goals and three assists.
But things have changed quicker than the water freezing over on Chestnut Hill Reservoir for the 19-year-old. On Monday night, the sophomore surpassed James Hagens as BC’s leading goal scorer with his first-period goal against Lake Superior State.
“He’s always been fun to work with,” BC associate head coach Mike Ayers said. “But it’s nice to see him get rewarded with all the hard work he’s put in.”
Thanks to two more goals from Will Vote in the third period, the No. 12 Eagles (11–6–1, 7–3–0 Hockey East) scraped past the Lakers (6–13–1, 3–9–0 CCHA) 4–3 in the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off’s consolation game.
Letourneau’s opening goal was like any other: a hard-earned, hard-rifled snipe.
Gavin Cornforth found the 6-foot-7 figure streaking on his right and slid him a pass. Letourneau found his spot and scored to give the Eagles their first lead of the tournament following a 5–3 loss on Sunday.
“[Dean] scored a great goal coming off the bench, and it was a really smart change by Brady Berard and Will Traeger up in the offensive zone,” Ayers said.
About 90 seconds later, Will Moore potted his third goal of the year on the power play after redirecting Oscar Hemming’s shot. The freshman Hemming recorded his first collegiate point with the assist.
Jan Korec was welcomed back between the pipes for the first time since BC’s loss to Northeastern in October. He stopped all six shots in the first and ended Monday with 19 saves on 22 shots.
“I think the team feels comfortable playing in front of either guy,” Ayers said “Overall, I thought [Jan] played well. He made some big saves towards the end of the game.”
Lake Superior State cut into BC’s lead less than six minutes into the second period, however, providing no comfort for Korec.
The game was tied at 2–2 before the beginning of the third period. It seemed that the Lakers had scored, but a scrum in front of the net pushed around Korec, and the refs deemed no goal on goalie interference.
Ryan Beck got the best of the Slovakian netminder again just 2:38 into the third, however, as he tied things up with his fourth goal of the season.
A costly too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty on BC led to a lead-taking goal for the Lakers about five minutes into the final period, and BC’s first lead of the tournament vanished quicker than it had come.
“I think [these games] showed the resilience of the group,” Ayers said.
One forward in particular proved resilient, standing out among the rest.
Oscar Hemming picked up a loose puck and delivered a perfect pass to Will Vote. Vote moved the puck backhand to forehand and flipped the puck top shelf to tie the game 3–3 just 33 seconds after the Eagles had fallen behind.
Vote positioned himself in front of the net once again a few minutes later, creating a slot for Aram Minnetian to find him for a one-timer goal and a 4–3 BC lead with 11:26 to play.
It was Vote’s first multi-goal game since BC’s season opener against Michigan State last season.
Back-to-back penalties from Berard and Drew Fortescue gave the Lakers a sliver of hope with a little more than two minutes left in the game, as they had 54 seconds of 5-on-3 play to tie the game.
Korec delivered, though, and no empty-netter was needed for insurance in his first win of the 2025–26 season.
“It’s nice to have those guys that don’t normally play a lot get more minutes and get more opportunities,” Ayers said. “So it was nice to see a win come out of it.”