CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — A festive atmosphere followed Boston College’s game against New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon.
It was somewhat difficult to pinpoint exactly where the festive atmosphere came from. It could have come from the gaggles of young fans making their way down to Kelley Rink for BC’s Skate With the Eagles event.
It also may have had something to do with the performance that Kristyn Capizzano and the second-ranked Eagles had just executed.
Capizzano scored twice in a 6-0 Eagles win over the Wildcats, who are still looking for their first win of the season.
The Eagles were able to take control of the game early, when Kenzie Kent scored her first goal of the season just 2:43 into the game. The goal marked a period that was largely dominated by the Eagles, who outshot the Wildcats 14-8.
One of the other 12 shots in the period came from the stick of Capizzano. She was able to catch Vilma Vaattovaara out of position to net her first goal of the game and send the Eagles into the locker room with a two-goal lead.
The second period saw a UNH team that generated more offensive chances in the BC zone. BC coach Katie Crowley attributed the uptick in UNH’s offense to two Toni Ann Miano penalties, one of which was taken in the first period that ran over into the second. Even with the shot disparity, goalie Katie Burt was still able to keep the Wildcats at bay.
On the other side of the ice, Haley Skarupa added to her eventual three-point day by feeding Andie Anastos in between the faceoff circles. Anastos rifled a shot past Vaattovaara, increasing the Eagles lead to three.
After the dust had settled with the penalties, Capizzano had one more play to dazzle the fans in attendance. Capizzano received a pass from Alex Carpenter at center ice and broke into the UNH defensive zone. She fired a shot on Vaattovaara, who made the initial save, but Capizzano, having fallen down, put the rebound past Vaatovaara as she crashed into the net. It was Capizzano’s second goal of the game, and it sent the Eagles into the dressing room up by four.
“I was happy that [Capizzano] put a couple in today because she can,” Crowley said. “I think she’s going to get opportunities to score, and I hope she continues to capitalize on them.”
The Wildcats made a change in net entering the third period, replacing Vaattovaara with Hilary Cashin. Cashin was tested early after one of her teammates made a costly turnover in the defensive zone. The UNH defense was not able to respond quickly enough to stop Tori Sullivan from firing a pass to an open Meghan Grieves on the side of the crease. Grieves caught Cashin out of position to extend the Eagles lead to five.
The Eagles again found a scoring opportunity around the same spot as the Grieves goal. Carpenter sent the puck to Kent at the same spot that Grieves found success just 1:04 before. Like Grieves, Kent found the back of the net, and she scored her second goal of the game to put the final touches on an Eagles win and a Burt shutout.
The Eagles improved to 6-0 and 2-0 in Hockey East, while the Wildcats fell to 0-5, 0-3.
