CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.—Forget what the scoreboard said at Kelley Rink last Friday night, and repeat after me.

Will Crothers posted a shutout against Boston College.

Sounds bogus, I know. But consider the facts: Crothers faced 24 B.C. shots. Crothers stopped 24 B.C. shots.

Twenty-four stops on 24 shots—that makes for a shutout, no?

OK, so technically, Crothers stopped only 23 and the other shot was the game-winning goal. But that’s just the official scorer’s version. Here’s mine.

The shot in question came in the form of a first-period slapper by Eagle sophomore Justin Dziama, who fired from the top of the right faceoff circle after skating down the wing.

Dziama put plenty of zip on the shot, but make no mistake—Crothers stopped it.

The Harvard goalie extended his hand and got his glove on it, deflecting the puck wide. It was definitely a save. Only problem was, Crothers couldn’t find the puck after he made it.

“It went off the thumb of my catcher,” Crothers said. “It went up in the air. I had no idea where it was. I totally lost it. I don’t know how it went in, actually.”

For the record, Crothers kicked it in himself. After skipping off his mitt, the puck landed directly behind him. As he backed up into the crease, Crothers inadvertently knocked it past the goal line.

Harvard defenseman Blair Barlow had skated over to try to clear the puck, but arrived late. Crothers had backpeddled too far and the goal light was on.

Oops.

“It’s unfortunate you get beat on a soft goal,” Harvard Coach Mazzoleni said. “It was a soft goal that beat us. ”

It was a cheapy, all right. But credit Dziama with his first goal of the season and an assist each to Eagles defensemen Andrew Alberts and J.D. Forrest (none to Crothers).

The puck didn’t bounce Crothers’ way Friday night. Literally. But that’s all right. He’s just a sophomore, so there’ll be plenty be more chances against B.C. in the future. There’ll even be more chances for Mazzoleni, who is still winless against the Eagles since coming to Harvard.