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Men's Ice Hockey
derek arnold
Steve Babineau

Men's Ice Hockey

BELIEVE IT! UMASS LOWELL CAPTURES HOCKEY EAST CHAMPIONSHIP

MVP Hellebuyck with 36 saves; Arnold nets winner midwaay through third period

Derek Arnold scored the winner
Box Score
View NESN's Highlights | The Celebration

Junior F Derek Arnold (Foxboro, Mass.) scored the lone goal and freshman goalie Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich.) was named the Most Valuable Player as UMass Lowell defeated Boston University, 1-0, Saturday night to win the 2013 Hockey East Tournament Championship in front of 13,738 at the TD Garden.

The title is UMass Lowell's first in 29 years as a charter member of Hockey East. It was also the fifth straight win and 11th in the last 12 games for the River Hawks, who improved to 26-10-2 and matched a Division I-era record for wins in a single season.

Both teams await NCAA Tournament pairings to be announced Sunday night at 9:00 on ESPNU. Boston University slipped to 21-16-2.

UMass Lowell, ranked No. 3 in the latest Division I Pairwise rankings, is expected to be named a No. 1 seed.

The triumph was UMass Lowell's third appearance ever in the Championship game. Boston University defeated UMass Lowell in 1994 – head coach Norm Bazin's senior year – 3-2, and the Terriers again prevailed in 2009 with a 1-0 win.

The shutout was the fifth of the season for Hellebuyck, who improved to 18-2-0 this season with 36 saves, and only the fourth shutout in championship history.

Sophomore F Scott Wilson (Oakville, Ont.) and junior D Chad Ruhwedel (San Diego, Calif.) joined Hellebuyck on the All-Tournament Team.

Arnold scored the game-winner at 11:09 into the third period on a 3 on 2 break. Arnold took a pass from Ruhwedel which deflected off Wilson's skate. He swerved around the left of the cage and wrapped past sprawling freshman goalie Sean Maguire.
 
Boston University kept Hellebuyck on edge in a scoreless first period which saw the Terriers with an 8-6 edge on shots. UMass Lowell's best chance came in the final minute as freshman F Ryan McGrath (O'Fallon, Mo.) stole behind the BU goal and flicked to junior F Joe Pendenza (Wilmington, Mass.) at the right point, who one-timed well, but Maguire was in good position for the stop.

The River Hawks nearly broke the drought in the opening minutes of the second period when Wetmore found space for a wrap-around to Maguire's stickside, but the keeper snuffed the attempt.

Midway through the period, junior F Shayne Thompson (Stittsville, Ont.) broke free down the right side and crossed to sophomore D Jake Suter (Lac du Flambeau, Wis.), who tapped agonizingly wide left.

Hellebuyck showed his mettle in the opening minutes of the third period when sophomore F Evan Rodrigues took a pass from behind the goal and left fly with plenty of space in the slot. Hellebuyck, however, read the play well and smothered the attempt.

On the ensuing counterattack, senior F Colin Wright (Burlington, Ont.) broke free and went one-on-one with Maguire, and wristed off the post.

The Terriers outshot UMass Lowell, 36-29. Maguire stopped 28 shots for Boston University.
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