After Slow Start, Boston College Jumps On St. Francis Xavier

Chestnut Hill, Mass. - It took them 20 minutes to find their legs, but after a lackluster first period, Boston College flipped the switch and jumped all over St. Francis Xavier, scoring 8 unanswered goals and skating to a 8-2 exhibition win.

Despite out-shooting the X-Men 14-5 in the first period, it was the visitors who jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the strength of a pair of goals from junior Michael Kirkpatrick, who connected twice below the dots on plays in front of the net. Despite playing a last night at Boston University, St. Francis Xavier showed no signs of fatigue early on.

"I thought we played really well the first period," said Boston College head coach Jerry York after the game. "When we came off the ice we told our players that; ‘hey, let's keep it going.'

"Sometimes, the hockey gods don't reward you when you're playing very, very well, and in that case, we were down 2-0."

The second period was entirely different for the Eagles though, who scored just under five minutes into the frame on a nice deflection from Kevin Hayes. Boston College would net three goals in a span of 3:22 to take its first lead of the day. Chris Calnan and Bill Arnold followed Hayes' tally with goals of their own, Calnan's marked the first of his collegiate career.

"We're moving the puck really well," said York. "The first period we were down 2-0, but I liked how crisp we were and how we shared the puck an awful lot; a lot of positives to come out of this game."

The Eagles second period explosion continued to the tune of five total goals. Cam Spiro drew a penalty shot after driving hard to the net, and made a nifty move sliding the puck through SFX goaltender Morgan Vlark's five-hole for the Eagles' fourth score of the day.

Boston College got contributions up-and-down the lineup, a welcome sight for a team incorporating a number of freshmen into the fold.

"I thought we had some really good efforts," said York. "I liked how Adam Gilmuor played; I liked how three defensive players-Scott Savage, [Ian McCoshen] and [Steve Santini].

"Those guys kind of jumped at me a little bit because of how they played."

Also present and noticeable throughout the game was Jonny Gadreau, who was effective on the Eagles' top line alongside Hayes and freshman Austin Cangelosi. The 2013 Hobey Baker finalist assisted on the Eagles' fifth goal of the day on a nice feed of the rush to Cangelosi, and scored one of his own on a creative backhand on a partial breakaway to cap Boston College's scoring on the day.

"We had a really short training camp, so this is our first real kind of look at a lot of our young guys. But those four in particular I thought did a nice job for us," said York.

The Eagles will travel to Michigan Wednesday, according to York, with the team opening up it's regular season slate on Thursday against No. 11 Michigan.

"That's going to be a different opponent on Thursday in a pretty hostile environment," said York.