LOWELL, Mass. - Paul Worthington (Penndel, PA) scored a breakaway goal with 7:03 left in regulation that rocked the Tsongas Arena and propelled the #19 River Hawks (14-9-2, 8-6-2 HE) to a 3-1 victory over Boston College (12-8-2, 9-6-2 HE) on Saturday night. The win, in front of 5,711 fans, capped a four-point weekend after defeating Merrimack on Friday.
OTHER LINKS: Paul Worthington and Blaise MacDonald Postgame Audio
The teams played a sluggish, back-and-forth first period that seemed destined to stay scoreless before a botched clear landed Scott Campbell (Navan, Ont.) in a golden situation. Trapped in the corner, the Eagles tried a back-handed clear attempt that was cutoff by Michael Scheu (Buffalo, NY), sending the puck tumbling meekly into open ice in front of the net. Campbell capitalized, scooping it up and skating around a helpless John Muse (East Falmouth, MA) who tried to front the junior forward. The hesitation move gave UMass Lowell the 1-0 lead with 1:39 left in the first and was Campbell's eighth goal of the season.
Boston College struggled to answer back, but virtually silenced the crowd with a score at 7:16 into the third period. Joe Whitney (Reading, MA) got free behind the net and found Ben Smith (Avon, CT) open in front. Smith bobbled the puck, but managed to shoot it past Carter Hutton (Thunder Bay, Ont.) on his blocker side. The well-executed goal tied the game, 1-1, with over 12 minutes remaining.
The game-winner came at 12:57 into the third period on a two crisp passes to create a breakaway for Worthington. Ben Holmstrom (Colorado Springs, CO) corralled the puck along the far boards in his own zone and connected with Michael Budd (Burlington, Ont.) as he moved through neutral ice. Budd then shifted the puck to Worthington as he skated in on Muse, shooting five-hole before crashing into the net. As the arena erupted, UMass Lowell took a 2-1 lead and Worthington notched his 11th goal of the season.
The game was put on ice in the final seconds. Nick Schaus (Buffalo, NY) cleared the puck off of the boards and down the ice with under 15 seconds left. Kory Falite (Billerica, MA) beat the defender to the puck and flicked it in with only 3.7 seconds on the clock. Falite's team-leading 14th goal of the season finished off the 3-1 win.
UMass Lowell's Hutton excelled in net, stopping 25-of-26 shots and improving to 8-6-0 on the campaign. Hutton blanked all three Boston College power plays. The Eagle's Muse fell to 7-6-2 as he made 26 saves and allowed two goals, also rendering all five River Hawk power plays scoreless. UMass Lowell outshot Boston College 29-26 in the game.
The River Hawks have only one game next weekend as they travel to Northeastern on Friday at 7 p.m. Likewise, the Eagles will host Providence on Friday at 7 p.m. in their lone contest of the weekend.