Fresh starts are, well, refreshing, and that’s certainly the mindset for Boston College men’s hockey—it’s two leading scorers off to the NHL, the Hobey Baker–candidate goaltender shipped up to Canada, and plenty of new faces.
That is, until it’s rotten. And the No. 13 Bobcats played spoiler.
Storming into Chestnut Hill, and fueled by a three-goal second period, Quinnipiac (1–0–0) walked out of the 2025–26 season opener with a 4–3 win over BC (0–1–0) on Friday night.
“It’s always hard in the beginning,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “But as we get more organized, hopefully we’ll be able to create more chances and finish.”
The “fresh” start was sloppy from the get-go.
Immediately after the initial puck drop, Quinnipiac had its first prime opportunity after a fumbled puck at the blue line gave Antonin Verreault a breakaway chance. His five-hole attempt was pushed wide by Jan Korec.
It only took 9:25 for first blood to be drawn. Quinnipiac’s Jeremy Wilmer streaked through the left side, drew back the puck from a laid-out Michael Hagens, and rifled it top right for an early 1–0 lead.
An end-of-period goal from the Eagles saved them from a first-period headline of fumbles, turnovers, and late decisions.
“We put ourselves behind the eight ball,” Brown said. “Turnovers we didn’t need to make, spending too much time in their d-zone—it just looked like a first game.”
After a holding call on Marcellus Mason with 34 seconds remaining, BC’s power-play unit got its first chance to write off last year’s third-worst power play percentage in Hockey East.
Teddy Stiga circled along the top of the zone after catching a pass and fired a top-left snipe above the shoulder of Dylan Silverstein to tie the game 1–1 with 15 seconds left on the clock.
It seemed Quinnipiac wanted it more, though, because just 2:13 into the second frame they would snatch the lead right back.
A perfectly executed 2-on-1 was capped off by a bullet of a shot from Matthew Lansing after being fed by a slick backhand pass off the hands of Ethan Wyttenbach.
Another three minutes later, and the Bobcats birthed more disappointed faces around Conte Forum after Graham Sward’s screened shot from the point slid through Korec’s five hole.
This team wouldn’t back down that quickly—not in front of the first white out of the season.
A cross-checking penalty at 15:20 put BC’s power-play unit back on the ice, and its brand new addition from New Hampshire–transfer Ryan Conmy quickly made his mark. James Hagens fed Conmy at the face off dot who found the far-side post to cut Quinnipiac’s lead in half 30 seconds into the power play.
“[The first line] had glimpses, but early on, felt like they were trying to do a little too much,” Brown said. “Trying to force some plays that weren’t really there because Quinnipiac had numbers back.”
The theme from tonight, though: the Bobcats answer back. Three-on-two opportunity? Big shot block. Turnover in the neutral zone? Push the puck north. BC climbs within one goal? They score another.
“It’s not that we were loose, but we weren’t just tight enough against a team that is outstanding,” Brown said.
Charlie Leddy—defenseman-transfer from BC—put a shot off the post from the point and the puck bounced off Korec’s back and patiently sat on the goal line. A scrum ensued and Chris Pelosi shoved it home to put Quinnipiac back ahead by two just six minutes later.
The Eagles attempted to shift that narrative to kick off the third period, coming out the fastest they had all game.
At 15:29 in the final frame, Andre Gasseau stripped through the right side and stopped-and-popped a pass to Drew Fortescue who went left post and in for BC’s third goal of the night.
“Third period, we came out and looked much better, more like a hockey team,” Brown said. “Created some chances, had some offensive zone time to play simpler, more predictable style to each other.”
A prime 3-on-2 opportunity appeared, as well, but a block from Leddy on Gasseau’s shot from the top of the zone stifled any sign of a tie game. Hagens had a chance of his own near the bottom of the circle after a pass from the point, but both his initial shot and wraparound attempt were stymied by Silverstein.
From then on, Quinnipiac stuck to the fundamentals, holding BC to four shots for the entire third period. In fact, the Bobcats doubled the Eagles’ shot total throughout the duration of the game at 30–15.
“Go north, like, we got to play fast,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said about what his team needed to do. “I thought when we played fast and we’re at pace, I thought they struggled a little bit with that.”
With the goalie pulled in the final minutes, BC was trying its best to replicate its man-up success from the previous goals. But any, and all, last chance efforts were not enough to surpass Quinnipiac’s hunger to win the game at that point.
“Come back with a little more presence to start the game,” Brown said. “And a little more understanding that we don’t have to go out and try to be world leaders—play within ourselves, and the good things start to follow.”