CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Luka Radivojevic sent a calculated pass off the boards behind Maine’s net.
In all likelihood, the freshman defenseman’s intention was to dump the puck into the Black Bears’ defensive zone and set up a line change, but it bounced right back into the crease like it was played from the stick of a teammate.
Then Teddy Stiga appeared.
Out of nowhere, the sophomore forward went from absorbing the puck to slotting it straight through the legs of Maine goaltender Mathis Rousseau, handing Boston College men’s hockey a 1-0 lead with 15:11 remaining in the first period.
“I think it was just kind of a normal forecheck play,” Stiga said. “The center kind of goes down, is looking for the bump back. And it kind of, I honestly didn’t really read it until I saw it hit that wall and come out to me.”
Teddy follows it up to smash it home!
📺 NESN pic.twitter.com/2eA3fAUViD
— BC Men’s Hockey (@BC_MHockey) March 13, 2026
It only took 39 seconds for the Eagles to double their lead thanks to James Hagens, the Hockey East points leader.
After a scoreless second period, in which BC outshot Maine 10-9, the fifth-seeded Eagles closed out their Hockey-East quarterfinal matchup against the fifth-seeded Black Bears (18-14-3, 12-11-1 Hockey East) with an early third-period goal from Oscar Jellvik and one empty-net goal apiece for Dean Letourneau and Hagens.
The 5-0 playoff win for BC (20-14-1, 13-11-0) broke its four-game losing streak heading into the postseason, which, according to BC head coach Greg Brown, helped with the players confidence as they head to TD Garden next week for the next round.
“We thought we could have had better results the last four games, but it didn’t happen,” Brown said. “So that’s where we are. … The team stayed positive, the bench was great. The older guys, especially. Brady Berard does a particularly good job on the bench, keeping everybody up and dialed in.”
That confidence piece especially rang true for freshman goaltender Louka Cloutier, who made 18 stops to pick up his 19th win of the season, including the first postseason triumph of his collegiate career and his first shutout since Jan. 24, in a victory over New Hampshire.
During BC’s four-game losing skid to close out the 2025-26 regular season, Cloutier had surrendered three goals per game on average, but he silenced all of the doubts about his ability to maintain poise late in the season — which is inevitably harder for rookies as they have less exposure.
“I thought his puck touches were outstanding,” Brown said of Cloutier. “He had a lot of confidence, and he was really dialed in. It wasn’t just the great saves, but he made great plays on their dump-ins. Maine is such a good forecheck, so the fact that he was able to stop pucks and deliver them to our defense really helped us limit our time in our zone.”
Just seconds after the faceoff following Stiga’s goal — which broke a streak of five games without a point — senior defenseman Lukas Gustafsson coughed up the puck to James Hagens from below BC’s blue line.
Zooming through the middle of the ice, Hagens stickhandled past the opposite blue line with speed and crossed to the left with a deke.
He attempted an initial shot, which knocked off Grayson Arnott’s skate, but the loose puck shuffled right back to Hagen’s stick in the slot. He then lifted a second shot over the shoulder of Rousseau to hand the Eagles a 2-0 lead with 14:32 left in the initial frame, sending the rowdy home crowd into a frenzy.
Hagens doubles the lead just 39 seconds later!
📺 NESN pic.twitter.com/6I5jUooHPZ
— BC Men’s Hockey (@BC_MHockey) March 13, 2026
“The fans here are great, and we feed off that,” Stiga said. “Games like the Beanpot, fans are great, and those are when we played the best. So I think when you have fans that support you, like BC fans do here, it’s great. All the guys love it, and we play better from it.”
Escaping the second period without surrendering a goal was crucial for BC, and Cloutier made a few saves during the frame that likely should have resulted in goals for the Black Bears.
But superman-esque effort prevailed, keeping the Eagles aboard with a 2-0 lead going into the third.
And just over 1:30 into the frame, Jellvik tallied the one that put it away with a snappy flick shot from just above the crease after receiving the puck from Ryan Conmy.
Conmy finds Jellvik for the one-timer!
📺 NESN pic.twitter.com/6AYvanxafp
— BC Men’s Hockey (@BC_MHockey) March 14, 2026
Hagens finished the game with three total points from the empty-netter at the 2:06 mark of the third period and an assist on Letourneau’s goal, which occurred a smidge over two minutes earlier.
“You want to get to the Garden,” Brown said. “That’s the goal, and we know whoever’s there, it’s gonna be tough games, because the league games are tough all year.”
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