By Reece Bastien – Contributor

Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) made the five-hour drive north to take on the Bishop’s club hockey team in a thrilling two-game weekend. The weekend opening game took place at Jane and Eric Molson Arena on Jan. 27 at 2:30 p.m. MMA was the first team to find the back of the net midway through the first period. The final score after one period was 1-0 in favour of MMA. The second and third periods were not much better for Bishop’s as the visitors won a final score of 6-1. Marc-Antoine Lagacé was the lone goal scorer on Bishop’s squad. Frédéric Grenon and Frédéric Nicolas assisted the goal.

However, there was no time to soak up the loss as the two teams would face off the next day at 1:30 p.m. This time, the outcome would be different. Though MMA started strong with an early goal, this would be the only time they found the back of the net for the game. Bishop’s Frédéric Grenon scored midway through the first period to tie it up. Ryan Gudernatsch made it a 2-1 game in the closing second of the first period, giving Bishop’s the lead going into the intermission. Due to time restraints, this game was only going to have two periods. It seemed as though Bishop’s was pulling away with the victory as William Côté scored midway through the second period to make it a 3-1 game. Ryan Massicotte scored the fourth goal to secure the victory. While it was unfortunate that the game got cut short, BU came out with a solid 4-1 win.

When asked about their weekend performance, captain Keyan Hogan said it was a “disappointing result on Saturday in front of a great home crowd, but we turned it around on Sunday and got a much needed [win] to split the weekend series.” Hogan described the MMA as a great team that plays physically, and that “it’ll be a great rematch if we meet them in conference playoffs or at nationals.”

Bishop’s club hockey is currently ranked sixth in the national rankings and has been in the top 15 for ten consecutive weeks now. With three points over the weekend, Fred Nicolas leads the team in goals and points, 15 goals and 17 assists in an impressive 13 games.

Reece Bastien is a member of the BU club hockey team.