CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The No. 10 UMass Lowell ice hockey team (10-4-2, 5-3-1 Hockey East) fell just short, 3-2, against No. 2/3 Boston College (12-3-1, 6-2-1 Hockey East) Monday night at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Freshman Mirko Buttazzoni scored his third goal of the series and fifth of the year, while graduate student Nick Anderson potted his first goal as a River Hawk. Anderson added a helper as well, to finish with a team-leading two points. Freshman Chris Delaney (Hopkinton, Mass.), junior Dillan Bentley (Peoria, Ill.) and freshman Libor Nemec (Bratislava, Slovakia) all added one assist apiece.

Defensively, the River Hawks blocked 12 shots, with junior TJ Schweighardt (Manahawkin, N.J.) and Anderson leading the way with three each. Senior Isac Jonsson and Nemec each had two, while graduate students Jack Robilotti (New York, N.Y.) and Ben Meehan tallied one each. Junior Beni Halasz got the nod in net for the River Hawks, making 28 saves.

"Obviously, we fell short here tonight," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "I didn't think we had the same energy or urgency as we did a couple days ago. We didn't make them earn their opportunities as much as the last game we played them, but they capitalized. I thought we didn't have the same energy and that was a big difference for us. I thought our goaltending was good, I thought we had energy in the third and we showed a little more urgency, but it was too little too late."   

In the first, after Boston College scored on a power play goal at 3:51, Halasz and the River Hawks' defensive unit kept the Eagles' offense at bay, with five blocked shots and nine saves. On the other end, the River Hawks had an opportunity at the 10-minute mark, picking up a power play on a Boston College hooking, but they could not find the back of the net. Seniors Owen Cole (Dunnville, Ontario) and Matt Crasa (South Setauket, N.Y.) each collected solid scoring chances during the period, but the game went to the first intermission with a 1-0 score.

The second period was much more eventful, with four total goals scored. Buttazzoni got it started at the 9:46 mark, tying it up on the power play. Delaney got it started, collecting a pass from Buttazzoni and sending one to Anderson at the top of the faceoff circle, and he quickly dished it to Buttazzoni, who squeezed one through a tight window past the goaltender for the equalizer. Boston College went on to score two consecutive goals at 17:39 and on the power play at 18:45, before Anderson cut the deficit to one with 56 seconds remaining, when he sniped a wrist shot into the top left corner to make it 3-2 at the intermission.

The teams went back-and-forth in the third period, trading off scoring opportunities and crucial saves. The River Hawks threatened a handful of times throughout the period, skating with energy and applying pressure in the offensive zone, but could not cash in, and the game ended with a 3-2 score.

The River Hawks will now have a few weeks off, before returning to action with an exhibition against Simon Fraser on December 29 and traveling to Palm Springs, California to compete in the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup on Friday, January 3 and Saturday, January 4. They will take on Michigan Tech in game one at 3:30 p.m. PST, and depending on the result, will face off against Omaha or Holy Cross in game two.