Boston College men’s hockey has not had the same set of lines once yet this season.
But BC head coach Greg Brown is no stranger to this strategy. And when a team scores five goals, it’s hard to complain about the approach its coach took.
“I feel like every line is gelling,” Brown said. “It’s always that way at the beginning of the year, where guys are figuring each other out, and the more they get familiar with each other, the faster they can play,”
One of two James Hagens goals and Dean Letourneau’s second goal of the season helped make up the four-score second period that propelled the Eagles (2–1–1) to a 5–1 win over RPI (0–3–0) on Friday night.
“I thought we started slow, playing at the pace we needed to in the first period,” Brown said. “But it wasn’t like we were controlling the game or had any strong momentum, so we talked about trying to play faster between periods, and the guys responded really well.”
Hagens showed off his patience on BC’s first score of the night—taking his time at the top of the circle, he found an opening near the left post and perfectly placed a shot for a 1–0 lead.
The sophomore center finished with 11 goals in 2024–25 and just potted his first of the season in his fourth game.
“[James] demands a lot of himself. He holds himself to a high standard,” Brown said. “He always wants to contribute offensively, so it always feels good when you see a couple go in.”
RPI tied the game with 4:55 remaining in the first frame on the power play—BC surrendered only 11 goals on the penalty kill last season, but let up its second of the season on Friday.
The Eagles looked to make a statement early coming out of the first intermission, and did so thanks to Jake Sondreal’s first goal of the year. Sitting in Gretzky’s Office, Letourneau found Sondreal for a one-timer right in front of the net for BC to snatch the lead right back.
The third line continued to impress as Sondreal repaid Letourneau. He hit a one-timer of his own, rifling in his second goal of the season and giving BC a commanding 3–1 lead about halfway through the second period.
“I thought every line picked up their pace and started to generate more chances and spend a lot more time in the offensive zone,” Brown said. “So I think Dean flying got us started with a great goal, and then everyone else, the energy picked up, and we had a strong second and third period.
Three minutes later, the fourth line got involved in the action aided by Brady Berard’s goal, fed by Drew Fortescue and freshman Luka Radivojevic—the assist marked his first collegiate point.
Hagens topped off a dominant second period for BC with his second goal of the night off a perfect feed from Landan Resendes, who also tallied his first point as an Eagle.
Freshman goaltender Louka Cloutier impressed once again, only allowing one goal on 11 shots. Friday’s game also saw brand new defensive pairs who showed promise as the Engineer’s 11 shots on goal were the lowest amount let up this season and the Eagles put up nine blocks.
Five goals has never been more important for BC, as it gears up for its playoff kryptonite in its next game, a home matchup against Denver.
“When you play top teams, you have to be alert and strong in all phases—your special teams have to be good, your faceoffs have to be good,” Brown said. “[Denver is] so good at finding the late guy, getting their D involved in the rush, so there’s really no area that we can be lacking in.”