LOWELL, Mass.-A spectacular special teams showing and a thrilling shootout winner from senior Brian Chambers (Weymouth, Mass.) helped the No. 16/15 UMass Lowell men's hockey team (15-9-2, 9-5-2 Hockey East) battle to a 2-2 draw against Boston College (9-10-6, 5-7-5 HEA) and claim a crucial extra point Friday night at the Tsongas Center.
Special teams shone in front of the near-sellout crowd. Freshman Scout Truman (Lethbridge, Alberta) and graduate student Filip Fornåå Svensson found their way back onto the scoresheet with a goal each on the power play. On the penalty kill, UMass Lowell continued its outstanding performance with another flawless outing to keep the second-best power play unit in the conference scoreless. Sophomores Isac Jonsson (Ängelholm, Sweden) and Matt Crasa (South Setauket, N.Y.), junior Ben Meehan (Walpole, Mass.) and senior Carl Berglund (Hammaro, Sweden) all found their way into the assist column with one each. Jonsson and Meehan also joined their defensive counterparts graduate student Jon McDonald (Livonia, Mich.) and junior Brehdan Engum (Burnsville, Minn.) with a block each.
Graduate student Gustavs Davis Grigals (Riga, Latvia) ended the night with 32 saves and just two goals against. He now owns a 9-5-2 record on the season.
"I thought it was a very even hockey game. Despite scoring first, I didn't think we were all that good in the first, but we got a little better as the game wore on. We were able to tie it late in the second, that was a big goal by (Fornåå Svensson)," said Head Coach Norm Bazin following the game. "I thought the third period was pretty good overall. Obviously, when it comes down to overtime, there's a lot of room out there. (There were) a few chances, but I didn't think it was wide open. And then, the shootout, it's always an exciting thing to have a shootout for the fans."
Though Boston College controlled shots in the first with an 8-5 edge, UMass Lowell struck first in the Friday night tilt. After coming up short on an extended power play earlier in the frame, the River Hawks special teams crew headed back out for two minutes on the man advantage. Jonsson, getting a pass from Chambers after failing to break into the zone, settled the play back in the River Hawks' defensive zone. The defenseman sent a stretch pass up to Crasa who skated down the nearside channel into a sea of defenders. With no lane ahead of him, Crasa skipped the puck just past Chambers in the slot to an unattended Truman on the weak side. Truman worked quickly to control the puck before tucking the shot right under the crossbar for the 1-0 advantage heading into the second.
The early minutes of the second period forced the River Hawks to stave off some early attacks from the Eagles. Bentley used his speed to his advantage on the backcheck to shut down a potential 3-on-2 situation and keep the Eagles off the board. Fornåå Svensson followed up with some defensive manuevering of his own, stretching for a poke check before Boston College could convert on the miscue moments later.
The Eagles eventually clipped the River Hawks just 4:26 into the second after a quick rip right off the faceoff stifled the lead and brought both teams to a 1-1 deadlock. The tie held for the remainder of the frame as UMass Lowell clawed their way into the offensive zone. An opportune power play in the final minutes of the second sparked UMass Lowell to launch their comeback efforts. With just five seconds left on the clock, Meehan dropped a pass down from the blue line to Fornåå Svensson for the quick shot to level the score at 2-2.
High-intensity offense from the Eagles coupled with hard-hitting defense and several clutch saves from Grigals kept both teams at a stalemate through the final 20 to force extra time. Though Jonsson and Bentley crept within millimeters of finding twine, the teams headed to a shootout after an uneventful five minutes of three-on-three.
In the shootout, both Boston College and UMass Lowell failed to sneak one in the first go-around. The Eagles got a brief glimpse at victory after a successful second round put them in the lead by one, but Fornåå Svensson came through with his second of the night in the third round to even things up. The pressure mounted as Chambers stepped up in the fourth round and fired one past Boston College's Mitch Benson to give the River Hawks the advantage. With just one save standing between UMass Lowell and the extra point, Grigals held steady and made the easy save to capture the victory and two conference points.
UMass Lowell returns to action on Saturday, February 4, at the Tsongas Center to take on New Hampshire. Puck drop is set for 6:05 p.m.
