Although the Boston College Eagles football program has seen multiple changes throughout the offseason, mostly on the coaching side, the team started its rebuild last season.
In 2023, the team finished the year with a 7-6 overall record after coming off a three-win season two years ago and won its bowl game against now-conference opponent SMU in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
The most impactful change on the team, however, was the ground game.
As a whole, the offense tallied 2,593 rushing yards last season, a drastic increase from the 759 tallied in 2022 and was the most yards on the ground since 2019 (3,291). The offense also averaged 198.8 rush yards per game which ranked the 13th highest in the nation and second highest in the ACC last season.
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A majority of the rushing success came from the styling duo of quarterback Thomas Castellanos and running back Kye Robichaux as both first-year Eagles combined for 1,893 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Now, the group has added extra depth to it after picking up veteran running back Treshaun Ward out of the transfer portal. Ward, a graduate, spent his first four seasons with Florida State and last season with Kansas State.
Robichaux believes the addition, as well as the rest of the room will surprise many people during the upcoming season.
“I feel like our whole running back group, as a whole, is going to shock a lot of people this year,” said Robichaux. “Especially with me and Treshaun. I feel like as soon as he got here, we hit it off because we both have similar upbringings, both started out college careers as walk-ons. So, we both kind of had that mindset like ‘you gotta do more, you gotta do more.’ We kind of just feed off each other, so that’s been the whole intention during camp. We’re going to look to continue it during the season.”
The senior also spoke highly of teammate Datrell Jones, a Catholic Memorial product, who is entering his second season with the Eagles after redshirting in 2023.
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“He’s a good one,” said Robichaux. “I think a lot of people are going to be surprised when he steps out onto the field. He works hard, he’s smart, he’s young, he’s fast. I think [if] he puts everything together, you’ll see a lot of him.”
This week’s Anatomy of a Goal is a historical one! We’re breaking down Boston Legacy FC’s first-ever goal.
Before we get into that, though, let’s do a quick Legacy heat check. I won’t dice words here: this team is struggling. It’s taken them three games to score a single goal, and they’ve conceded six. Boston has also been averaging the second-lowest expected goals per game thus far (0.60 xG, American Soccer Analysis), though it’s worth mentioning that we’re only three games into the season.
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BOSTON –– Viktor Arvidsson’s oldest daughter, Navy, turned five on Tuesday.
The dad, and Boston Bruins forward, celebrated the occasion by posting his fifth career hat trick that night at TD Garden in a 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars.
“That was pretty cool, I got a hat trick on her birthday,” Arvidsson said. “She’ll be happy, for sure.”
Arvidsson’s three goals earned the Bruins their fourth consecutive win against top-ranked opponents and extended his point streak to four games; he has nine points (five goals, four assists) through that stretch.
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“I think we have fun together, and we put a lot of emphasis on being hard on each other, really pushing each other,” Arvidsson said. “I think in that regard, we’re really happy where we are.”
The Bruins got out to a 2-0 lead by the end of the first period. Marat Khusnutdinov opened the scoring with his 15th goal of the season. David Pastrnak got the puck down low and chipped it up to Henri Jokiharju, who blasted a shot from the point. Khusnutdinov was there to knock in the rebound at 9:58.
Arvidsson doubled the advantage just as the B’s power play expired. Pavel Zacha threw the puck on net, Pastrnak collected the redirection and pushed it towards the crease where Arvidsson battled for positioning and tapped it in at 18:51 to make it 2-0. Zacha’s helper on the play extended his point streak to five games; he has five goals and four assists in that time.
“It always seems like we play better when we’re playing against better teams. For us, the playoffs already started a long time ago,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “I think that’s a good thing about our team right now – we want to get challenged right now.”
Dallas got on the board in the middle frame with a wrist shot from Jamie Benn at 4:49. Matt Duchene found the 2-2 equalizer at 16:53.
BOSTON –– The push continues for the Boston Bruins.
The B’s will host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday at TD Garden for a 7 p.m. puck drop in the teams’ second and final meeting this regular season.
“We’re playing against a really good hockey team. I feel like it feels a little bit the same when we played Minnesota the other night – on paper, a very good team. Obviously, on points and standings, too. Just very high-end talent throughout the lineup,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “It will be a handful, and we have to make sure we’re ready to go. Hopefully, we learned from big, emotional games in the past.”
Boston is coming off a 4-3 shootout win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday; the group collected all four points available on its back–to–back weekend. Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic’s fights in Columbus sparked the comeback for the Bruins.
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“We’re playing really good teams every single night,” Jeannot said. “It’s a really good build-up to the intensity of what’s to come, and we’re just going to continue to learn and grow from it, just like we’ve been doing all year. To have a come-from-behind win like that, it’s only going to help us.”
The Stars, who sit second in the NHL and the Central Division with 100 points, have clinched a playoff berth. The Bruins are in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 92 points.
“I think every game right now – it’s felt like playoffs for the last month or so. You can just definitely feel the urgency with every game. It’s no different tonight,” Kastelic said. “I think it’s great for everybody to get a taste of that, myself included. It’s really fun hockey to be part of this time of the year. With eight games to go, to be in the position we are, it’s some of the most fun I’ve had playing hockey in a long time. Hopefully there’s more to come, and tonight’s just another step.”
Henri Jokiharju will remain in the lineup for the Bruins in place of Mason Lohrei, who is working through a day-to-day upper-body injury, Sturm said. Jokiharju will skate on the second pair with Hampus Lindholm. The defenseman has 11 assists through 38 games this season while averaging 17:51 of ice time per night.
