Two Touchdowns Is Enough, Right?

Being that this is a Sunday, any other season would see The Rundown make an appearance in this spot. With HBIC only a few articles away from hitting 7000 on this blog and because I'm a man of my word, that's not appearing here today despite us being one week out from the Canada West regular season beginning. I do want to rekindle one thing from The Rundown, though, and that's my dislike of teams running up scores. I know that coaches don't want teams to develop bad habits by letting up, but being up two converted touchdowns on a team should be a sign that one has scored enough to win a hockey game, right?

Pictured above is Boston College and Stonehill who met this weekend for Stonehill University's home opener. The Skyhawks came into the came with an 0-2 record after dropping both games against Syracuse in western New York by a combined score of 7-1, so the Skyhawks were looking to bounce back at home against one of the best teams on the east coast in the Boston College Eagles who were kicking off their season with a game at Warrior Ice Arena yesterday.

Again, I cannot stress this enough, but running up a score against an opponent just makes good teams look bad. Setting a program record for goals scored would be fun if the game was close in score, but Boston College not only set a program record, but an NCAA record for the largest goal differential in NCAA women's hockey history on Saturday. I already have a sour taste in my mouth about this game.

Prior to this season, Boston College and Stonehill had only met once for a regular season game, and the Eagles came away with a 5-1 win on September 28, 2024 which was the game from where the lede image above was taken. Lily Geist scored Stonehill's lone goal that day which tied the game at 1-1 just 4:14 into the first period, but that would be as close as the Skyhawks got in that September game.

Saturday saw Boston College score early, score often, and score a lot more than just five goals on the Skyhawks. In fact, it took the Eagles just 12:13 to score five times in this game as they took a 7-0 lead into the first intermission, a 10-0 lead into the second intermission, and they'd retire to their locker room after the game's final horn with the scoreboard showing the score to the right. So I have to ask what would possess Boston College to run up the score like this in a non-conference game against a clearly weaker opponent? What exactly did this score prove other than Boston College is in a different tier of hockey teams than Stonehill is? Is Boston College proud of this score? How does this blowout help them be better?

Boston College used three goaltenders in this game as Avah Sedore stopped five shots in the first period, Bailey Callaway was the busiest of the Eagles' goalies with nine stops in the middle frame, and Bella Pomarico stopped six shots in the third period to keep Stonehill off the scoreboard. In contrast, Stonehill's Nicole Schumm stopped 11 of 16 shots she faced before being pulled after the fifth Boston College goal at 12:13, and Maria Duffer was thrown to the wolves as she made 32 stops on 44 shots. Again, how does this help either team?

If you believe in karma and that kind of stuff, know that the "Hockey Gods" frown on this sort of score and that Boston College likely has some sort comeuppance awaiting them down the line. I'm not wishing any player harm in any manner, but you know that Boston College will be in a tight game at some point where they need a goal and the puck simply won't bounce their way. Don't say I didn't warn you when the Eagles need a win in the Beanpot or the NCAA National Championship and some weird bounce leads to a goal against them.

Stonehill opens their NEWHA Conference schedule against Saint Michael's College this weekend, and they'll likely play with a little snarl after yesterday's game. Boston College will be in Worcester, Massachusetts for a game against Holy Cross where they'll find stiffer competition. Both teams will likely forget about yesterday's game in quick fashion for different reasons, but you have to wonder if this blowout will have an effect in future years when it comes to having these teams play again. If Boston College is just going to beat up Stonehill, why would the Skyhawks agree to play the Eagles?

Blowout scores do nothing for either program when it comes to tactics, strategies, and positives to build on as the season begins. Stonehill will likely watch a lot of video to see where things went wrong while Boston College will go back to work full of false confidence after posting two converted touchdowns and a field goal.

For outsiders, though, this is a bad look for the NCAA when it comes to how far apart these teams may be in terms of talent, recruiting, and execution. I never expected to be talking about a 17-goal difference between two teams in a single game, and I assure you that I never want to be talking about that kind of disparity again.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!