Owen Kitzan – Sports Editor

With the hockey season now well under way the BU Club Hockey team has been busy to start the year, showing why they made it to the elite eight at nationals last year. Off to a perfect start to the season at 7-0, the team went down to Maine to take on the University of Maine in their home barn this time around.

Their first game took place Nov. 15 at the Penobscot arena in Maine, a four hour drive from Bishop’s. Looking to remain undefeated, the team turned to rookie goaltender Nicolas Halle-Tanco between the pipes, showing confidence in their new netminder. After losing twice to Bishops when they travelled down a couple of weekends prior, Maine showed they were going to be a thorn in Bishop’s side with the home ice advantage. After three hard fought periods, no winner had been decided with the score knotted up at 2-2. In the overtime period, Bishop’s would unfortunately fall just short and lose their first game of the year, 3-2, moving their record to 7-0-1. Goaltender Nicolas Halle-Tanco was noted as having a stellar performance for BU in the close loss.

Following the game, the team decided to hit the reset button by going to watch the Maine Black Bears NCAA D1 team take on the University of Vermont in a rivalry game. This also gave them a chance to check out the rink they’d be playing in the next day, perhaps attempting to draw some inspiration for the boys.

Game two saw Antimmes Leudieres get a start in net as the team looked to bounce back from the day prior. With the tight-knit affair the day before, both teams decided to continue along the same path, only this time with a lot more goals on both ends. BU would walk away victorious with a narrow 7-6 victory to improve to 8-0-1 on the season. 

With the team now nine games into the season, they look poised to make a run to nationals for the third year in a row. Rookie defenseman Anderson Hapke and rookie forward Danev Paquin currently lead the way in points for the team at twelve each, followed closely by second-year forward Jack Knox with eleven. The team’s next home game is Jan. 17 against the Anna Maria Bobcats. Make sure to come cheer on the boys!