CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Junior forward Patrick Brown scored the game-winning goal at 16:23 of the third period and senior goaltender Parker Milner recorded 29 saves as No. 1 Boston College earned a 3-2 Hockey East victory over Massachusetts - its fourth straight one-goal victory over the Minutemen dating back to last March - before 4,606 fans at Kelley Rink.
Down a goal in the third period, Boston College scored consecutively at 9:13 and 16:23 to capture the victory, its sixth straight and 25th in the last 26 games.
Freshman defenseman Michael Mathesontied the game at 2-2 midway through the period, finding the back of the net from the slot. Brown scored the gamewinner with 3:37 to go, pouncing on a loose puck on the edge of the right circle, spinning, snapping and picking the right corner of the net with a wrist shot.
Both goals marked their firsts of the season.
BC beat UMass by one-goal margins in consecutive Hockey East quarterfinal-round wins last March and earned a 5-4 overtime victory in Amherst, Mass., on Oct. 19.
After neither team scored in the second period, Troy Power gave the visiting Minutemen a 2-1 lead at 1:42. His redirected shot from the slot beat Milner over his shoulder, hit the top post and fell in the net for his first of the year.
The Minutemen nearly widened their lead with two close-range shots in the 13th minute of the third period, but junior defenseman Isaac MacLeod knelt in front of net to stop a shot with his knee, then saved the rebound scoring bid with a kick save off his left skate.
Junior forward Bill Arnold gave the Eagles an early lead with a power-play goal at 1:23 of the first period, marking the Eagles 10th power-play score of the season. Senior defenseman Patrick Wey received a pass from freshman Teddy Doherty, hit Arnold at the blue line, and Arnold juked left then beat the goaltender right to the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Massachusetts answered with a power-play goal of its own at 10:01 of the first period. Steven Guzzo grabbed the rebound after a shot by Power and slid the puck past the pads of Milner.
Milner recorded 29 saves to improve to 6-1-0 and 48-10-1 in his career.
Massachusetts goaltender Kevin Boyle recorded 28 saves in 59:12. He falls to 2-2-0.
Team Records: Massachusetts 2-4-0, 1-4-0 Hockey East; Boston College 6-1-0, 6-1-0 HE
Game Notes: Just four penalties were whistled in the contest ... Matheson's goal marked his first collegiate score and his fifth point in seven career games ... Brown's goal marked the second of his career. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native scored his first collegiate goal in a5-2 win over Michigan State in the first round of the 2011-12 IceBreaker Tournament in Grand Forks, N.D. ... BC finished 1-for-2 on the power play and went 4-for-8 with a man advantage over the weekend. The Eagles are converting 40.0 percent (10-for-25) of their power-play opportunities this season and lead the country in that category ... Steven Whitney and Johnny Gaudreau assisted on Matheson's goal to extend each of their scoring streaks to seven games ... With two victories this weekend, coach Jerry York has 919 career wins in 41 seasons.
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