DURHAM – The losses are starting to pile up in historic fashion.

For the first time since 1988, the University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team is 0-3.

They were blanked in consecutive games for the first time since 1932.

It’s not so much the losses, though, as it is the way the Wildcats have lost. The scores have been ugly. A 5-0 loss at Boston University started the season. A 4-0 loss at Northeastern was next.

Saturday, the Wildcats fell, 5-1, at the hands of top-ranked Boston College in front of 6,501 in the home-opener at the Whittemore Center.

“We expected some growing pains,” said Stevie Moses. “It hasn’t shown much, but we’ve been growing game by game.”

Moses was right – Saturday’s game provided reasons for optimism.

For much of the final two periods, the Wildcats controlled play. Their breakout looked sharp. They’re speed led to opportunities. They began to draw penalties. And, in the final 40 minutes of play, UNH outshot the No. 1 team in the nation, 34-12.

“I think UNH outplayed us in every imaginable way,” Boston College head coach Jerry York said. “It’s unfathomable for me to understand how the Wildcats didn’t score five or six. It’s strictly goaltending. Sometimes, you’re just fortunate to have a good goaltender.”

That was the case Saturday.

First-year starter Park Milner stopped 39 shots. Only Nick Sorkin was able to solve the Milner riddle.

Sorkin took a pretty, no-look pass from Stevie Moses and one-timed a wrister from the slot under Milner’s blocker for UNH’s first and lone goal of the season two minutes into the game to knot it at 1-1 after an early BC goal.

After that, the Eagles added two more in the first and one in both the second and third.

“They finished a few early and put us behind the eight ball,” Moses said.

First period struggles have plagued the Wildcats.

Again, UNH fell behind early, in part because of penalties. The Wildcats picked up three first period penalties, but were hampered by a five-minute game misconduct called on freshman Jay Camper for hitting from behind.

Boston College’s Paul Carey scored on the ensuing power-play to take a 2-1 lead and the Eagles never looked back.

Some of UNH’s problem has been finding the right pairings. The Wildcats started a different trio of forwards to open each period.

“After the major (game misconduct),” UNH head coach Dick Umile said, “we were just making up lines.”

Unlike Friday, getting pucks on net wasn’t UNH’s problem. The Wildcats peppered shots on Milner, but after falling behind early, UNH began settling on shots from tough angles.

A number of chances rung off the post, and the Wildcats were snake-bitten on a few rebound bids.

“We need to get more ‘grade A’ shots and not settle for perimeter ones,” Sorkin said.

The score doesn’t reflect it – but the UNH forwards played well. The Wildcats made ill-timed mistakes in their own zone. A young defense could be problematic for the rest of the season. But, despite what the record or score says, they’ll take the way they played the final two periods.

“We feel pretty confident that we outplayed them for the majority of the game,” Moses said. “We’ve gotten better each period and that’s important for a young team.”