Bradford intent on making up for lost timing

Last season, Brock Bradford missed most of Boston College's NCAA championship run. Bradford suffered a broken left humerus in the season opener against Michigan Oct. 12 and then broke that same bone in a different place Jan. 19, which ended his season.

The senior captain is determined to make up for lost time. Through eight games, Bradford leads the team with seven goals. He is second in scoring with 11 points, one behind Brian Gibbons.

Bradford said plenty of improvements can be made after consecutive losses last weekend during which the Eagles scored just one goal each against Notre Dame and Maine.

"This past weekend wasn't what we were hoping for but I think it was a good eye-opener for us, just to see that we can't get away with not bringing our best work ethic every game," said Bradford, whose team will play at Merrimack tomorrow and against New Hampshire Saturday at Conte Forum. "Everyone is competing and bringing their best game against us. It's early in the year and it was one weekend, but it was a good learning experience for our team."

One area in which the Eagles need to be better is in bringing more of a sense of urgency.

"We need to play more desperate hockey and win more battles," said Bradford. "We can't be getting outworked for pucks and we have to get in the dirty areas to score goals. We're not getting enough second-chance opportunities in front, right in the crease area. But we are a very good team and we're confident if we put in our work through the week that we're going to get better."

Although Bradford missed all but five games last season, the 21-year-old Bruins draft pick worked with the coaching staff and watched his team's run to the title. He thinks it has made him a better player.

"I'm pretty excited every day just to be on the ice and being in the locker room with the guys and being able to suit up for games rather than watching from the stands," said Bradford. "I think about it every day. When you go through something like last year, it puts everything into perspective. I learned things last year, especially watching Nathan [Gerbe, who turned pro after last season]. [This season] I'll do anything to stay on the ice rather than watching."

Inaugural faceoff

Last Saturday marked the first meeting in men's hockey between Northeastern and Bentley. The game at Matthews Arena came about as a result of a scheduling conflict that wound up being a boost to both programs. "Brown was supposed to play us and Brown and I had a miscommunication," said NU coach Greg Cronin. "It was a home and home and we played them at home last December. I thought we were going down to play Brown [on Dec. 6] after we played Maine at home here on Dec. 5. The league was going through the schedule and they called me and said, 'Brown has a game against RPI the night you're supposed to play them.' I called down there and Brown said they didn't think it was a home and home. So I scrambled because I didn't want to have one game short despite the fact that we had two Alaska games. Thank God [Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist was amenable]. I think Lowell and Quinnipiac were involved, and we played a game of musical chairs and we popped Bentley down here instead of having the weekend off." The game, won by the Huskies, 4-1, drew a crowd of 3,354. "For Northeastern, to have almost 3,600 people for a game like this is an awesome crowd," said Cronin. "It's great that the students are coming out. It's loud. We're onto something here as far as filling the building with students. It's something that hasn't been done here in its history." . . . BU has scored five or more goals five times in going 6-1. Sophomores Colin Wilson and Nick Bonino have 12 points apiece . . . Niagara scored three shorthanded goals (Sam Goodwin, Egor Mironov, Dan Sullivan) on the same shift in Tuesday's 5-2 victory over Canisius. It's not the first time it's happened, either. Harvard's C.J. Young scored three shorthanded goals in a 10-0 victory over Dartmouth Dec. 12, 1988.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.