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Everything you need to know when Irish hockey welcomes Boston College Friday

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Everything you need to know when Irish hockey welcomes Boston College Friday


No. 1T/2 Boston College Eagles (9-2-1) vs. No. 18/18 Notre Dame (7-4-2)

When/Where: Friday, 4 p.m. at Lefty Smith Rink (4,852) in Compton Family Ice Arena, South Bend, Ind.

Radio: WZOC-FM (94.3) and UND.com. TV/Streaming: Peacock. Tickets: Available.

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Coaches: Boston College, Greg Brown (23-18-7 in second season). … Notre Dame, Jeff Jackson (399-250-73 in 19th season). 

Rivalry: Boston College leads 23-22-2 in series which began with 7-3 Eagles victory Dec. 20, 1969 at McHugh Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass. … In games played in South Bend, Boston College leads 10-8-1. … Notre Dame has won last two games: 8-2 on Jan. 19, 2022 at Compton and 5-2 on Nov. 25, 2022 at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill.

Last weekend: Notre Dame’s second Close encounter at Minnesota ends in 4-1 hockey loss

Rankings: Boston College is tied for No. 1 (with North Dakota) in USA Hockey/The Rink Live coaches’ poll and No. 2 in USCHO.com media poll. … Notre Dame is No. 18 in both polls.

Recaps: Boston College swept Hockey East home-and-home series with Connecticut. … On Friday in Chestnut Hill, Andre Gasseau scored two goals and later Cutter Gauthier scored game-tying goal at 6:16 of third period and game-winner at 4:28.6 in overtime as the Eagles won 5-4. … Saturday at Storrs, Conn., Jacob Fowler made 31 saves for his first collegiate shutout and the Eagles got goals from Will Smith, Gauthier and Oskar Jellvik in 3-0 victory over Huskies. … Notre Dame split Big Ten series in Minnesota. … On Friday, graduate goaltender Ryan Bischel made 32 saves, 16 in the second period, and the Irish got goals from Grant Silianoff, Patrick Moynihan, Drew Bavaro and Landon Slaggert in 4-2 victory. … Saturday, Bischel stopped 29 shots and freshman Carter Slaggert scored first collegiate goal, but Minnesota prevailed 4-1 despite being outshot by Irish 38-33.

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Scouting Eagles: After opening with seven victories in first eight games, Eagles stumbled with 4-2 loss and 2-2 tie in Hockey East series at Maine Nov. 10-11. … Eagles have five players scoring in double figures through 12 games: freshman left wing Gabe Perreault (2-15-17), freshman center Will Smith (6-10-16), sophomore center Gauthier (11-4-15), freshman right wing Ryan Leonard (5-7-12) and sophomore left wing Jellvik (6-5-11). … Senior captain Eamon Powell (0-5-5) anchors defense in front of freshman goalie Jacob Fowler (2.14 goals-against average, .926 saves percentage).

NCAA statistics: Scoring offense, 3.67 goals per game (6th); scoring defense, 2.25 goals per game (8th); scoring margin, 1.42 goals per game (5th); power-play percentage, 0.255 (12 of 47) (9th); penalty-kill percentage, 0.915 (43 of 47) (4th); faceoff win percentage, 0.480 (368-399) (48th); penalty minutes per game, 8.92 (46th).

Scouting Fighting Irish: Notre Dame had 5-0-2 unbeaten string snapped in loss Saturday at Minnesota.… Next Irish victory will be 400th behind Notre Dame bench for Jackson. … Senior captain/left wing Landon Slaggert leads Irish in scoring with nine goals, four assists and 13 points. … Graduate-transfer (from Harvard) defenseman Ryan Siedem (1-9-10) is next followed by senior defenseman Drew Bavaro (4-5-9) and freshman center Danny Nelson (2-7-9). … Nelson is fifth in nation in faceoffs won with 153. … Graduate goaltender Ryan Bischel’s three shutouts tie him for nation’s lead with St. Cloud State’s Dominic Basse. … Bischel also is third in saves percentage (.936) and 11th in goals-against average (2.08).

NCAA statistics: Scoring offense, 2.77 goals per game (38th); scoring defense, 2.31 goals per game (11th); scoring margin, 0.46 goals per game (23rd); power-play percentage, 0.196 (9 of 46) (28th); penalty-kill percentage, 0.884 (38 of 43) (7th); faceoff win percentage, 0.529 (424-378) (14th); penalty minutes per game, 8.69 (49th).

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B1G standings: 1. Michigan State 5-0-1, 16 points (10-3-1 overall); 2T. Wisconsin 4-2-0, 12 points (9-3-0 overall); 2T. Notre Dame 3-1-2, 12 points (7-4-2 overall); 4. Michigan 2-4-2, 9 points (6-6-2 overall); 5. Penn State 1-2-3, 8 points (6-4-3 overall); 6. Minnesota 2-3-1, 7 points (6-4-2 overall); 7. Ohio State 0-5-1, 2 points (3-5-3 overall). Conference series: Michigan State at Minnesota (Friday and Sunday). Non-conference series: Boston College at Notre Dame (Friday), Lindenwood at Penn State (Friday-Saturday), Princeton at Ohio State (Friday-Saturday), Michigan at St. Cloud State (Friday-Saturday), Alaska-Anchorage at Wisconsin (Friday-Saturday).

Quoting Jeff Jackson: (Boston College) “They are a lot different team than what we saw last Thanksgiving because they have that full line of freshmen (Perreault, Smith and Leonard) that came in from the national program who are all first-round (NHL) draft picks. Cutter Gauthier (sophomore center who was fifth pick of 2022 NHL Draft) may be a Hobey Baker finalist. And they are not weak on the back end (defensemen Powell, Charlie Leddy, Aram Minnetian and Drew Fortescue are NHL draft picks) and have one of the best freshmen goalies in the country (Fowler, 2023 third-round pick of Montreal). They are close to being the whole package.”

(Last weekend at Minnesota) “All in all, I thought we played well on Friday and maybe even better on Saturday. Their goaltender (Justen Close) played extremely well on Saturday. I think we’re doing some better things offensively. It’s one thing about getting chances; it’s another about finishing those chances. We need to get to (scoring) three goals a game.”

Next: Irish return to Big Ten competition when Michigan visits Compton Family Ice Arena on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m.

– John Fineran, Tribune Correspondent

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Boston, MA

Braintree prevails in inaugural Don Fredericks Tournament

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Braintree prevails in inaugural Don Fredericks Tournament


DORCHESTER – On the day local legend Don Fredericks passed away last year, the Braintree baseball team pulled out a win in extra innings over rival Walpole in a game that felt as though the former coach was right there with the program.

It’s only fitting then for the Wamps to pull off a similar ending in the inaugural Don Fredericks Memorial Tournament’s championship game – relocated to Monan Park – Sunday afternoon.

Backed by a gritty complete game from Connor Grieve in which he stranded six base runners, Braintree (12-8) rallied from a two-run deficit by scoring a run in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings en route to a walk-off, 3-2 win over BC High.

Eagles (11-9) starter Hudson Verrill held the Wamps hitless for the first 4 1/3 innings, and they only had three overall. But a patient approach drew enough baserunners to give Braintree a fighting chance, and Michael Ryan hit a walk-off single in the seventh inning to deliver an emotional win.

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“It’s just kind of symbolic – I don’t know if I believe a lot of that stuff, but it’s making me think about it,” said Braintree head coach Bill O’Connell. “That was an old-school, grind-it-out, gritty Braintree game. … As it got deeper into the game, and we kept it close, we felt like that’s when we’d have a chance to come back with our mental toughness and all, and they did a great job.”

The day prior, star pitcher Luke Joyce delivered a 15-strikeout masterpiece in the semifinals of the tournament – an outing O’Connell can’t speak enough about. Grieve didn’t replicate that gem, but had a major performance in its own right to earn the championship’s Danny Ventura Most Valuable Player award.

BC High racked up seven hits and a walk against him, only striking out twice. Both of the runs it scored came with two outs, using RBI singles from Wyatt Miller (2-for-4) and Jackson Richard in the third and fourth innings, respectively, to build a 2-0 lead.

Outside of those two knocks, though, Grieve consistently limited damage by throwing strikes and forcing easy outs to the defense behind him. One of his strikeouts came with two outs and two on in the third inning, and he stranded two in the sixth with one out by forcing soft contact.

Once the score was tied after six, Grieve needed just four pitches to set down BC High in the seventh.

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“I just wanted to throw strikes, don’t give them anything right down the middle that they could hit in the gap,” Grieve said. “I feel like I did a really good job of just throwing strikes, attacking hitters, and making them put the ball in play. And my (defense) did a great job behind me.”

“In our program, the greatest compliment you can get is if you’re a grinder,” O’Connell added. “We’re just a bunch of hometown guys playing for their community. Connor Grieve – he’s a grinder.”

Patience proved especially important for Braintree on the offensive end, as Verrill (4 1/3 innings, no hits, four walks, one unearned run, three strikeouts) stymied the Wamps for much of the way. An error on an attempted double-play with one out in the fifth inning knocked him out of the game, and the rally began.

Sean Canavan immediately singled to load the bases, and Owen Donnelly walked in a run to cut the deficit to 2-1. BC High reliever Adam Bushley forced Ryan into a double play to preserve the lead, but Grieve led off the sixth inning with a single. Pinch-runner Max DeRoche advanced on a passed ball, and came around when the Eagles erred trying to throw him out at third on Matt Rogers’ sacrifice bunt.

Bushley stranded Rogers at third with one out, though Sean Stenmon’s walk and another Eagles miscue put runners on first and third with one out in the seventh. Ryan had one pitch to get the job done before O’Connell wanted to signal for a squeeze bunt, and he sent it to right field for the win.

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“I knew we were going to stay in this game, fight back,” Grieve said. “And I had a really good feeling around the fifth, sixth inning – when we were getting guys on – that we were going to win this game. … I knew (Ryan) was going to get it done.”

The win is a big lift for Braintree, which heads into the state tournament without two of their top players in their normal roles because of injury.

But also for what it represented, in honor of Fredericks, in front of his family in attendance.

“It was emotional because Donny has meant so much to all of us,” O’Connell said. “He was such a great mentor. Not only to watch him as a coach, but when I got the job, he wrote me personal letter in pen and (paper). I still have it to this day. … This tournament is going to go along longer than any of us are coaching, we just want to kickstart it to keep his legacy and his name out there for years to come.”

“(O’Connell) told us before the tournament that the whole town expects us to win this,” Grieve added. “This was a tournament we need to win, would be a big statement going into the playoffs.”

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Boston, MA

Boston police seek man who disabled traffic lights downtown

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Boston police seek man who disabled traffic lights downtown


Police are seeking the public’s help identifying someone wanted in connection with a vandalism incident that involved Boston Transportation Department traffic control boxes on Thursday.

According to Boston police, the person in the pictures distributed Saturday show someone who reportedly accessed traffic control boxes, cut the electrical wires and disabled the traffic lights at multiple intersections, including at Washington and Kneeland streets, and at Washington and Lagrange streets.

The man police hope to identify is described as light-skinned with a grey beard, wearing a black hat, black jacket, yellow hooded sweatshirt, black pants, and brown construction boots.

The suspect was seen walking with an imbalanced gate or limp, and carrying a long pole.

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He is believed to have been involved in a similar incident that occurred on Saturday at Boylston Street and Hadassah Way, where the suspect was seen wearing the same clothing.

The Boston Police Department is actively reviewing this incident. Anyone with information is strongly urged to contact detectives at 617-343-4239. Photos and videos related to the investigation can also be submitted anonymously via CrimeStoppers, which people can reach by calling 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting “TIP” to CRIME (27463).



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Boston, MA

Cloudy, cool and gray today; weather slowly improves over holiday weekend

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Cloudy, cool and gray today; weather slowly improves over holiday weekend


The weekend is improving, but it will be a slow process.

Lots of clouds around today. We risk a passing shower, but much of the day will be dry (and dull gray).

Glimpses – or even wholesale breaks – of sun are possible, but I don’t want to oversell any bright weather.

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Highs stay in the “I’ll never complain about the heat again” range of the low 60s.

We’ll see more sunny spells tomorrow along with a steady northwest breeze. This will help us reach the mid-60s as we hold back the sea breeze for one more day.

There’s still a very small chance at a shower in the afternoon, but this is nothing to cancel plans over or throw your hands up in disgust. (OK, you’re allowed.)

Memorial Day remains the pick of the weekend, despite the fact that it may fall short of stellar beach weather. The sea breeze returns at the coast, so highs will fall just short of 70.

Away from the coast, we expect low 70s, with abundant sun for all.

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Once again, we may run into a very brief, afternoon shower, predominately away from the coast.

Next week sees a return to steady highs in the 70s with occasional sea breezes at the coast. Heat stays away, humidity stays low, and the next chance for showers may hold off until Thursday.

Enjoy the holiday weekend and be safe!



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