CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The No. 8 UMass Lowell ice hockey team 13-8-3, 6-6-2 Hockey East) fell short against No. 1 Boston College, 4-0, Friday night at the Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

The River Hawks killed off five Boston College power plays in the matchup. Eight different skaters blocked at least one shot on the defensive end, as graduate student Ian Carpentier (Worcester, Mass.) led the way with four, while the other seven tallied one each. Junior Beni Halasz (Budapest, Hungary) was between the pipes for the River Hawks, making 23 saves.

"We were definitely off tonight in many respects," said Head Coach Norm Bazin. "Execution, forecheck, our tracks and off on our D zone. There was only one team playing for a bull of that game, so they looked pretty good for a lot of sequences. I thought we gave a little energy in the first for a while and then the 5-on-3 happened, and it zaps your energy. It just wasn't a good game for UMass Lowell tonight."

The River Hawks started the game on the offensive, going on the power play just 49 seconds into the game and firing three shots on goal that were saved. The Eagles managed to respond after the penalty was killed, scoring at the 3:04 mark. Despite the River Hawks outshooting Boston College 12-10 in the first and applying pressure in the offensive zone, the Eagles added one more goal at the 15:24 mark, to bring it to the first intermission with a 2-0 score. At the end of the period, the River Hawks were called for two penalties, successfully killing off one with help from Halasz in net to keep it at 2-0, with the other penalty carrying over to the second period with one second remaining.

The squad officially killed off the second penalty from the first period at the beginning of the second, and the rest of the period was a battle, as the River Hawks fought off three additional Boston College power plays with Halasz continuing to come up big with nine saves to keep the Eagles at bay. The penalty kill unit allowed zero shots throughout any of the Boston College power plays to help keep the score the same as both teams traded off possession of the puck through the end of the period to keep it at 2-0 going into the third.

After the Eagles scored at the beginning of the third, the River Hawks responded with some offense, tallying two scoring chances immediately after the goal, including three consecutive shots on goal in front of the net from senior Owen Cole (Dunnville, Ontario), freshman Lee Parks (Ottawa, Ontario) and sophomore Jak Vaarwerk (Clarence, N.Y.). Boston College added one at the 6:58 mark and the River Hawks went on the power play at 9:24, collecting a couple chances from senior Matt Crasa (South Setauket, N.Y.) and junior Dillan Bentley (Peoria, Ill.), but to no avail, and the game concluded with a 4-0 score.

The River Hawks will now return home to host Merrimack tomorrow, Saturday, February 1, at 6:05 p.m. at the Tsongas Center.