The Eagles get their season underway with a top 5 match-up on the road
We’re finally back!
The offseason is over and the Boston College men’s hockey team is ready to start their season. The Eagles fell just short of their ultimate goal last year, falling 2-0 to Denver in the National Championship after what was otherwise a mostly-perfect season. There are no tune up games for BC to start things off, as they will immediately open up with two games on the road against one of the top ranked teams in the country.
WHO:
#2 Boston College Eagles (0-0-0) vs #4 Michigan State Spartans (2-0-0)
WHEN:
Friday Oct 11 at 6 PM
Saturday Oct 12 at 6 PM
WHERE:
Ron Mason Rink at Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing, MI
HOW TO WATCH:
Available Friday night on the Big 10 Network
Available Saturday night on Big 10 +
FOLLOW ALONG:
@bcinterruption and @bc_mhockey on Twitter.
PREVIEW:
This is a big time two-game series to get the season underway for the Eagles, as Michigan State is right up there in the top 5 along with BC. The Spartans actually got their season underway last weekend and lived up to their preseason hype, taking two wins on the road against Lake Superior State.
The Spartans are coming off of a strong 2023-2024 season of their own, having gone 25-10-3 last year before losing to Michigan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Two of those 10 losses did come in the two games they played at BC, but they went on a tear right after playing the Eagles, winning 12 of their next 15 games and only losing once in that stretch.
Michigan State had a balanced attack up front last season, with no one on their team scoring more than 16 goals but six players scoring at least 10 and 13 scoring at least five. This year, they have brought back a number of their top scorers from last season, including Isaac Howard, who lead they way with 36 points in 36 games as a junior. There are no prospects on the Spartans that have the same pedigree as some of BC’s big names up front – only three of the forwards they dressed last week were drafted at all – but this is a deep group that has three lines capable of scoring on a regular basis.
Their defense did take a major hit when one of their star freshman from last season, Artyom Levshunov, was selected second overall by Chicago in the NHL Entry Draft. Still, it is a group that returns four of its major contributors from last season and one that has performed well early on, having allowed just one goal in each of their two games last weekend
The name to know on this Michigan State roster, however, is likely their man in net. Sophomore Trey Augustine is one of the top goalie prospects in the country and is already building an impressive resume at the college level. He put up a .916 save percentage last season to go along with a 24-9-2 record and started this season by stopping 50 of 52 shots across two games last weekend. He also won the starting job over BC’s Jacob Fowler in the World Junior Tournament last season, starting in the gold medal winning game over Sweden. BC managed to solve him about as well as anyone did last season, but doing so again will certainly be a challenge for the Eagles.