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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — In a game that wasn’t secured until the final minutes, No. 4 Boston College defeated Colorado College, 3-0, as Ryan Fitzgerald scored twice, Jeremy Bracco had three assists, and Thatcher Demko made 25 saves to notch his fifth career shutout.
It was the first time in three years that BC recorded back-to-back shutouts (Oct. 2012, Parker Milner).
“I thought we were rock solid in goal; Thatcher is on top of his game,” said BC coach Jerry York. “That just makes our club that much stronger. He’s been a good goalie for us for two years, but I think now with the hip surgery, he’s much more flexible and is coming into his own. We battled hard. Colorado played extremely well, I thought, and Thatcher denied them goal-scoring opportunities with some excellent saves, and we got timely goals.”
While BC had more control in the offensive zone in the first period and outshot the Tigers 12-6, the Eagles had trouble generating sustained pressure due to frequent turnovers by their defensemen on passes through the neutral zone.
“They’re a high-flying team; they’ve got some real good skill and real great speed,” said Tigers coach Mike Haviland. “I thought we did a good job with it tonight for the most part, so certainly we’ll look at what on with those last two goals for sure.”
The Tigers meanwhile, couldn’t get anything going, despite two power-play opportunities. On their second, they couldn’t even get a shot on goal and barely got into the offensive zone.
“I think they’re a good team; we’re not going to go up and down the ice, it’s not a five-on-0,” said York. “They’re going to make plays and intercept passes and counterattack us. Most good teams do that. It’s early in the season, and we’re trying to get better in a lot of areas.”
The second period featured much of the same, with neither team able to take advantage of its power plays, and CC again having two and BC one. However, Fitzgerald put the Eagles up 1-0 at 4:21. Moments after Tigers netminder Jacob Nehama stoned Fitzgerald on a breakaway, Fitzgerald got the puck near the blue line and drove down from the right circle, releasing a quick wrist shot that beat Nehama stick side.
“I’d like to say I did [think about where to put it], but I just wanted to put it on net,” said Fitzgerald. “I got robbed on the first one. I just needed to bounce back and luckily, it went in. It was good to break the ice, especially in that moment; to miss on a breakaway and come right back was good.”
At the start of the third, Nehama made a spectacular save on Chris Calnan’s quick release shot from down low in the slot to keep it 1-0.
“I thought Nehama was really good; I thought he gave us a chance to win going into the third down by one, and I thought our effort wasn’t there for the most part during the hockey game,” said Haviland. “We had a chance, and we’re in our own building, and I would have liked to see us go to a different compete level and urgency in the third.”
The Tigers, however, still couldn’t get anything going or build momentum from Nehama’s play and at 14:43, Fitzgerald notched his second of the game on a laser from the bottom of the left circle that beat Nehama top corner, glove side.
“I just picked my head up and saw it real quick and tried to put it on net and it ended up going in,” said Fitzgerald.
BC iced the game late when Bracco carried the puck up the left side and sent a perfect cross-ice pass to Zach Sanford inside the blue line. Sanford’s one-timer beat Nehama top corner, glove side at 18:12.
“It’s his first points of the year,” said York of Bracco. “He’s been playing well up till now, but it’s nice to get rewarded with points.”
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