March 21, 2009

Box Score

Audio Recap

 Senior Brandon Yip scored the lone goal at the end of the first period to lift Boston University over UMass Lowell, 1-0, Saturday night in a frenetic Hockey East Championship in front of 13,130 at the TD Banknorth Garden.

With the loss, UMass Lowell slipped to 20-16-2 and awaits NCAA Tournament pairings, to be announced Sunday at 11:30 on ESPN2.

The title is the Terriers seventh, as they improved to 31-6-4 and are expected to earn a No. 1 seed for the NCAAs.

UMass Lowell's showing in the final was its second all-time, last appearing in 1994 in a 3-2 loss to BU.

"We lost tonight, but I told our guys that they are winners," said UML Head Coach Blaise MacDonald."

The result was only the third 1-0 result in the Hockey East Tournament's 25-year history. Shots were 32 apiece, with freshman Kieran Millan, named the Tournament Most Valuable Player, earning his fourth shutout of the season.

"(Millan) looked like Cool Hand Luke in there," MacDonald noted. "Nothing seemed to rattle him. The puck jumped to one of our best players' stick with about four seconds left, and he was sure to make the save. That's what good goalies do."

Sophomores Scott Campbell (Navan, ONT) and Maury Edwards (Rocky Rapids, ALTA) were named to the All-Tournament Team, joining BU sophomore Colin Wilson and seniors John McCarthy and Matt Gilroy.

UMass Lowell came up empty on the power play, going 0 for 7 while BU was also unsuccessful at 0-5.

"That was mostly because of our inability to get good entries," said MacDonald. "There were times that we just couldn't make clean plays. But you got to give BU credit."

The River Hawks went into the first intermission stung, with the Terriers breaking the drought with 1:22 left.

Junior goalie Nevin Hamilton (Ashland, MA) thwarted freshman David Warsofsky's attempt from the left point, and senior John McCarthy tucked the rebound off the pipe.

However, Yip was there for the tuck and the 1-0 lead.

UMass Lowell had a host of chances in the second period. Penalties to each team a minute apart gave the River Hawks a 1:00 power play about five minutes in, during which Millan twice robbed Falite in close succession.

"In the second period we really started to impose our game on them," said MacDonald. "They did a terrific job on the penalty kill, especially very late in the game."

After sophomore Colby Cohen was sent to the box at 9:49, the River Hawks seemingly leveled when junior Ben Holmstrom (Colorado Springs, CO) poked home in the midst of a scrum in front of the crease, eliciting the red light.

After the officials reviewed the play, however, the goal was called back when it was ruled it was scored after a whistle sounded.

"We heard a whistle, but not, in our opinion, before the goal went in," MacDonald said.

"We were staying the course," MacDonald said. "We had our chances to tie it - and maybe we did - and/or win the game. That's because we were pushing the play very well. I thought we were playing a little tentative early in the game, but we got better as it went on."

The Terriers had golden opportunities late on in the second period after junior Jonathan Maniff (Revere, MA) was called for hooking with 1:25 left in the period. Freshman Chris Connolly found senior Jason Lawrence through the slot, which Lawrence put wide from just left of the crease.

After a UML clearance, Hamilton did well to kick an attempt by sophomore Kevin Shattenkirk wide, BU's last chance before the second intermission.

The River Hawks dodged a bullet late in the third period when a blast from the point by Gilroy hit the post while the rebound went to sophomore Nick Bonino, who was also denied by the post despite an empty right side of the cage.

When sophomore Colin Wilson went to the box for tripping at 18:08, the scene was eerily set for a River Hawk equalizer, a la Friday night's against Northeastern.

With Hamilton pulled, BU nearly scored as a deflection from behind the red line agonizingly slid toward the empty cage and off the post, gifting the River Hawks another lifeline.

With the clock under 10 seconds, Maniff crossed to Campbell whose shot was snuffed by Millan, who covered the opposite side well all night.

"(Millan) was spectacular," MacDonald noted. "He made a 1-0 lead stand up."