Bears Men's Ice Hockey Recap

Bears Open Season With A Win and Loss In Connecticut.

Last weekend the Bears opened the season with two games across state lines in Connecticut. In the first game against Western Connecticut State University, BSC trailed by two after the first period but turned things around in the second. Captain Chris Boyle started the comeback just under six minutes into the period with an unassisted goal. John Cole tied it up three minutes later when he scored his first of three goals. Jon Guarino put the Bears on top for good when he scored his first goal of the season and of his BSC career after spending last season at Worchester State. John Simmons played well in net and was able to shutdown the strong attack by WCSU.

In the second game of the road trip the Bears took on Southern Connecticut State. Freshman Zach Dupere got the start in between the pipes. In this game BSC was on the wrong side of a few bounces in the third period which ultimately led to a loss. Southern Connecticut came out to a strong start with 2 early goals. Late in the first senior Derek Fortuna scored to bring the Bears within 1. 

Second year player Craig McKinnon scored the second goal to tie the game up at the end of the first period. After the second period the two teams were again tied this time at 3-3 after Josh Sircar and Jonathan Rodrigues found each other to give Sircar the only goal of the period for BSC.

Senior Nick Winter gave the Bears a 4-3 lead when he scored early in the third period with a slapshot from the top of the circles. This would hold up until a turn over late in the game gave Southern Conn the opportunity to tie things up. Moments later after gaining momentum from the equalizing goal Southern Conn scored the game deciding goal giving them the 5-4 victory.

Bears Kick Off Home Opener with a Bang

In front of a packed Bridgewater Ice Arena the Bears opened their home schedule last Friday night against a strong squad from Keene State.  Senior goaltender John Simmons got the start for the Bears, and did not disappoint. After giving up a goal early in the game, Simmons was able to lock down and hold Keene without a goal for the rest of the match.

Craig McKinnon continued his hot start with a goal to bring the Bears back even at 1-1. After that BSC completely dominated the physical game, and made it hard for Keene to get anything going. After breaking into the zone defensemen Josh Sircar was able to put the bears on top with a shot from the left side of the net.

In the third period Chris Boyle dashed the hopes of the visiting squad when he scored after a highlight reel move on the Keene State defenseman. The three goals by the Bears were all they would need to improve their record on the year to 2-1. For their next game BSC will travel to Smithfield, Rhode Island to take on Bryant University.