Hot Start Propels Boston College Past Merrimack

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- "Trophy Season" has begun at Boston College.

The Eagles thrust out to a 4-0 lead in the first period and never looked back, continuing their undefeated calendar year with a 6-3 win over Merrimack on Friday night at Conte Forum.

BC matched its win total from all of last season with the victory, improving to 21-4-4. The Eagles are a perfect 8-0-3 since turning the calendar to 2016, again good for the longest current unbeaten streak in college hockey.

Although the Eagles' recent run has been strong, head coach Jerry York knows how important the road ahead is. And it begins on Saturday as the home-and-home series shifts to North Andover.

"Coming off an emotional win on Monday night, we try to talk about the importance of what's in front of us here," York said. "All the important stuff is now staring right at us."

The Eagles got off to a quick start as junior Adam Gilmour opened the scoring just 1:38 into the proceedings. He took a pretty feed from classmate Ryan Fitzgerald for a shot past Merrimack's Collin Delia from the doorstep.

Gilmour, after scoring his tenth goal of the season, fed Zach Sanford on the power play to double BC's lead at 5:27. The Hanover, Mass., native fed Sanford in the low slot, where he deposited a backhander into an open side of the net.

"I thought Zach had a big night with the two goals," York said. "Adam Gilmour had the best game he's had this year. He's skating, moving pucks, finishing checks. He did some good things. ... He can be a real key player for us down the stretch."

Austin Cangelosi scored a penalty shot for the second time this season at 8:57, after being hauled down by Merrimack's Ethan Spaxman on a breakaway. Cangelosi burst down the slot, held the puck until reaching below the dots and whipping his 13th goal this year by Delia.

Freshman Colin White added a shorthanded goal to the board at 16:36, crashing the net by himself and poking his team-leading 17th of the season past Merrimack's sophomore stopper.

The Warriors got one back at 18:21 as sophomore defenseman Jared Kolquist placed a hard, high shot from the blue line cleanly past BC junior Thatcher Demko.

Freshman defender Marc Biega scored his first of two goals on the night 14:55 into the second period, slicing BC's lead to just 4-2. Biega carried a feed from defense partner Alex Carle deep down the left side and roofed a shot over Demko.

"We started really quick," York said. "It's 4-1 after one, and Merrimack responded pretty well. They made it a hockey game. We had to earn the two points tonight."

The game's next goal would be crucial, and it went the Eagles' way just 13 seconds into the third period. Sanford immediately rushed into the offensive zone and fed the puck to a waiting sophomore Alex Tuch along the goal line for his 12th goal of the year.

Sanford lit the lamp for the second time in the game at 10:43, collecting a rebound from defenseman Michael Kim's shot for a point-blank backhander off the crossbar.

At the 15:36 mark, Biega brought Merrimack within three goals. Demko lost his stick in a net-mouth scramble, giving him little chance to stop Biega's hard shot from the high slot.

"Our defensemen work their tails off," Merrimack head coach Mark Dennehy said. "We are working on getting our forwards to work as hard for 200 feet. Our D, Jared Kolquist, Marc Biega, they work as hard as anybody."