CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.—The UMass Lowell men's hockey team (7-4-0, 4-2-0 Hockey East) suffered a 3-2 setback Tuesday night at the hands of Boston College (4-4-2, 4-3-1 HEA) on the road at Conte Forum.
Sophomore Owen Cole (Dunnville, Ontario) led efforts on the ice with a team-best two points off a goal and an assist. Senior Zach Kaiser (Orangeville, Ontario) also lit the lamp against the Eagles, netting the second-period equalizer for his fourth of the year.
Juniors Ben Meehan (Walpole, Mass.) and Brehdan Engum (Burnsville, Minn.) rounded out the stat sheet for the River Hawks with a helper each. Engum, alongside his linemate sophomore Gabe Blanchard (East Aurora, N.Y.), led the defense with two blocks each, while junior Henry Welsch (Lakeville, Minn.) earned the nod between the pipes once again, stopping 21 shots.
"We came in here thinking we were going to have a lot of energy, but that wasn't the case. I thought that some guys didn't have their legs tonight after a break, and it showed. Overall, we didn't have the start we were looking for, and we had to chase the game," commented Head Coach
Norm Bazin. "I was pleased with our second period, coming back to tie it. In the third, they got a rush goal and that proved the difference. We give up a penalty kill goal and a rush goal, two things we were specifically trying to guard against, and that's the way it goes."
The Eagles controlled the offense in the first period, registering a pair of goals to take an early 2-0. After picking the pass of a UMass Lowell stick minutes into the action, BC quickly turned the puck back towards the net and fired off a low shot into the corner 6:21 into the action.
UMass Lowell recovered from the early tally with a hard forecheck through the back half of the period. Freshman Nick Rhéaume (Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.) and Cole put up a team-high three chances apiece on goal in the opening 20, but their six attempts were gloved down by BC's Mitch Benson.
With just three minutes left in the first, the Eagles extended their lead after a scrum at the goal line led to a scramble for the loose puck. Welsch deflected the initial wrap-around attempt, but an unlucky follow-up chance popped over the right pad to hand BC the 2-0 advantage moving into the first intermission.
Cole's hot hand came to play in the first minute of the second. Taking advantage of a BC miscue in the zone, Meehan intercepted a pass intended for Lukas Gustafsson and circled the puck back high. The sophomore defenseman angled a perfectly timed helper through heavy stick traffic upfront to Cole on the weak side for the tap-in to cut down the lead.
A cross-checking call against the Eagles brought out UMass Lowell's power play unit for the first of the night. Though unsuccessful in converting on the extra man, the River Hawks still earned their equalizer moments after both teams returned to full strength. Transitioning from the defensive zone, the junior defenseman maneuvered up the middle of the ice and stretched to poke a pass to Kaiser alone on the wing. With considerable space between him and his defender, Kaiser snuck a shot right through the gap between Benson's glove and his pad to hold the score at 2-2 for the remainder of the frame.
The UMass Lowell comeback efforts came up short in the third after a call against the River Hawks sent them on the penalty kill. With less than a minute remaining, Eagles forward Oskar Jellvik capitalized on the extra-man opportunity and knocked in the final goal of the night to deal the River Hawks the 3-2 loss.
The River Hawks quickly turnaround for a home-and-home series this weekend, Nov. 18-19, with No. 7/8 Connecticut. The Huskies visit the Tsongas Center on Friday night for a 7 p.m. puck drop. UMass Lowell then hits the road for a matinee matchup with UConn at the XL Center. Game time for the Saturday game is slated for 3:35 p.m.
