LOWELL, Mass. – Despite jumping out to a 2-0 lead and skating a strong third period, the UMass Lowell hockey team (4-7-0) fell, 4-3, against No. 1 Boston College (13-3-1) on Saturday evening in the Tsongas Center.
"We had a lot better effort tonight than last night," said Head Coach
Norm Bazin. "I thought we had some positives. I thought we came out with some energy. Tonight we had passion. The guys were getting after it. We made a push at the end and I really felt that we could come back, so that was a good feeling, but it was just too little too late. We also have to work on some 4-on-4 play because that wasn't good enough tonight."
Senior
Connor Sodergren (Tewksbury, Mass.) led the River Hawks with two points from two assists on the night. Sophomore
Blake Wells (Blackie, Alberta), junior
Lucas Condotta (Georgetown, Ontario) and sophomore
Andre Lee (Karlstad, Sweden) each logged a goal. Junior goalie
Owen Savory (Cambridge, Ontario) registered 20 saves in the decision, while BC's Spencer Knight picked up the win in net, stopping 29 shots.
The River Hawks attacked right from the start, putting 14 attempts on goal in the first period, compared to just six for the Eagles. The pressure paid off within the first five minutes, as Sodergren sent a pass towards the net for Wells, who lifted it just under the crossbar.
The home team skated with the one-goal lead for the majority of the first before making it 2-0 late in the first when junior
Reid Stefanson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) got control of the puck in UMass Lowell's defensive zone and dished it ahead to Lee for the breakaway and back-handed finish.
Savory was challenged in the opening minutes of the second, but laid out to make a huge stop and keep the Eagles off the board. However, Boston College was able to net a pair of 4-on-4 goals in just over a minute from Mike Hardman and Drew Helleson, knotting the score at 2-2.
The visitors then tallied the go-ahead goal nine seconds into the third period, winning the opening faceoff before taking the puck into their offensive zone and scoring on a wrister by Nikita Nesterenko. Four minutes later, Jack McBain deflected a pass from Helleson on target for what would eventually be the game-winner.
The River Hawks continued to battle and had a goal called back later in the final stanza. The squad then made it a one-goal game just before the horn, as Condotta won the final draw and headed for net to knock home a rebound.
UMass Lowell will now await its opponent for next weekend.
