CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Eight different goal scorers propelled the No. 4 Boston College hockey team to an 8-2 victory over St. Francis Xavier in the Eagles' opening exhibition bout on Sunday afternoon at Conte Forum.
Six Eagles turned in multi-point efforts with senior Kevin Hayes' three-point performance (1-2-3) leading the way.
Fourteen skaters logged at least one point in the triumph, including six-of-10 newcomers to The Heights. Rookies Chris Calnan and Austin Cangelosi led the charge of freshmen with a goal and an assist each.
Seniors Bill Arnold and Patrick Brown, junior Johnny Gaudreau, sophomore Peter McMullen, Calnan and Calgenlosi lit the lamp while sophomore Cam Spiro converted his penalty shot attempt at the 14:37 mark of the second period.
The Eagles faced an early 2-0 deficit following the first 20 minutes despite outshooting the X-Men, 14-5, in the opening stanza. Boston College then accounted for eight unanswered strikes.
Within a span of 2:38 minutes, the Eagles recouped the lead with tallies from Hayes, Calnan and Arnold at 4:46, 5:31 and 7:24 of the second period, respectively.
Boston College set up shop in St. Francis' Xavier's end and Hayes was in perfect position to shove in a junior Danny Linell carom just inside the right dot. Calnan followed 44 seconds later by burying a perfectly-placed pass from Brown to cinch the contest up, 2-2. Calnan raced in front of his defensemen and tipped the disc over St. FX goaltender Morgan Clark's glove.
Arnold's goal put BC up for good and the Eagles were off to the races shortly thereafter. Newcomer Ryan Fitzpatrick made a defensive stop on the Eagles' blue line and raced the puck up the other end. Fitzgerald triggered on Clark, but it shot right off his pad where Arnold was awaiting to make it 3-2.
Spiro made it 4-2 by placing a nifty backhander through Clark's five-hole after being awarded a penalty shot. Spiro coerced Spencer McAvoy into pulling him down from behind to earn the one-on-one opportunity.
Cangelosi netted BC's fifth marker on a great clear out from Hayes and Gaudreau at the 18:46 mark of the second frame. Hayes cleared it out to Gaudreau in between the circles and the junior speedster raced it up the right side and connected with Cangelosi in front for the 5-2 cushion.
Brown, McMullen and Gaudreau all piled on in the third period. Brown crafted a nice deke and finished strong on the post at 2:51 followed by McMullen's first-ever point 25 seconds later at 3:17. Matthew Gaudreau wheeled the puck around the back of the net and put the puck right on McMullen's tape to finish off the scoring play.
Gaudreau capped Sunday's scoring with a shifty backhand goal on the doorstep after Hayes launched a cross-ice pass from BC's zone.
Michael Kirkpatrick accounted for both St. Francis Xavier strikes, netting an even strength goal at 13:31 followed by a power play deflection at 17:30. Kirkpatrick benefitted from a loose carom off the stick of Rob Slaney and managed to slip the disc underneath junior Brian Billett's pad for the opening marker. After a freshman Scott Savage hitting from behind infraction at 16:56, Kirkpatrick tipped a cross-ice pass from Jason Bast over Billet's glove for the power play goal and a 2-0 lead at 17:30 of the first period.
All three BC netminders earned time, starting one period each. Billett started, stopping 3-of-5 shots while newcomer Thatcher Demko and third-year backstopper Brad Barone each stopped all shots faced. Demko thwarted seven X-Men attempts in the second stanza while Barone stopped six shots to close out the third period.
The Eagles officially start the season at No. 11 Michigan on Thursday, Oct. 10. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Yost Ice Arena.