Owen Kitzan – Sports Editor

The BU Club Hockey team took to the ice once again, this time to begin their regular season play following their pre-season matchup with ETS. Looking to bounce back in fashion from those outcomes the team welcomed Mass Maritimes Academy, a naval academy from Massachusetts, down to kick off the year against their biggest rival to date.

Friday Oct. 3 rolled around and by 7:30 p.m. the rink was filled to the brim and buzzing with anticipation for puck drop. Fans showed up dressed in all white for the BU “Whiteout” game to set the atmosphere in the Jane and Eric Molson arena. The game started with a ceremonial puck drop done by members of the championship winning Gaiters Women’s Hockey team. The girls also came into the room pre-game to deliver the lineup to the boys and help get them fired up. BU Snow held the raffle for the game, giving away prizes such as a Jay Peak Waterpark pass and more. It was anybody’s game early on as the first period finished 1-1. In the second period, MMA managed to take control with a 3-2 lead, something they quickly built upon to make it 4-2 early on in the third period. Bishop’s then proceeded to make it 5-4 with Spencer Fennell and Jack Knox both scoring twice and Liam Harpin adding a powerplay tally, making that the first time Harpin and Fennell had scored in a BU jersey. Fennell would score another before MMA put it back within one goal and pulled their goalie with very little time left. With the cage wide open, Knox having seen Fennell’s hat-trick decides to match it with one of his own, sealing the game for BU 7-5. Antimmes Leudières played well in net to help secure the victory in game one of the season.

Sunday saw an early afternoon rematch against MMA with another packed crowd ready to support BU. The game was held in partnership with another school club. This time Big Buddies was the one holding the raffle, selling tickets with a chance at receiving a signed Patrick Roy painting. With puck drop at 2 p.m. the game got underway and it was quickly apparent that the dominant forecheck and momentum that Bishop’s had built the day prior had carried over. With Bishop’s leading 3-1 after the first period. In the second, BU really turned up the heat as they scored five goals to MMA’s one and gave themselves a six goal lead heading into the third. Both teams would match each other in the final frame of play with two goals apiece. Jack McFarland played well in net for BU while outside the crease Allesandro Lapietra scored a hat-trick earning himself player of the game. The team capped off the fun weekend of winning with a fundraising event at The Lion.

Stay tuned for updates on games and events on the BU Club Hockey Instagram page. Come out and support the team!