CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The second-ranked Boston College men's hockey team closed out the first semester with a 3-2 victory over No. 10 UMass Lowell on Monday evening at Kelley Rink. The Eagles scored twice on the power play and three different players found the back of the net.
BC improves to 12-3-1 overall and 6-2-1 in Hockey East, while UMass Lowell drops to 10-4-2 overall and 5-3-1 in league play.
The Eagles opened the scoring with a power play goal early in the first period. Mike Posma (Pomona, N.Y.) picked up the loose puck and found Oskar Jellvik (Täby, Sweden) down near the goal. Jellvik quickly passed the puck to Will Vote (Arlington, Mass.)in front of goal and Vote fired it home to put BC ahead early.
The River Hawks scored a power play of their own midway through the second period to tie the game at 1-1.
BC scored two goals in quick succession late in the second period, scoring just 1:06 apart. Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) added to his goal total as he fired home a shot from the right faceoff circle to put the Eagles back in the lead. Moments later, Leonard connected with Gabe Perreault (Hinsdale, Ill.) and James Hagens (Hauppauge, N.Y.) in front of goal for a Hagens tap-in to push the lead to two.
UMass Lowell netted its second goal of the night with under one minute remaining in the second period to cut the BC lead back down to one.
Boston College kept the pressure up during the final 20 minutes, outshooting the River Hawks 11-5.
The Eagles allowed a season-low 15 shots as Jacob Fowler (Melbourne, Fla.) made 12 saves. Beni Halasz made 28 saves for the River Hawks.
SCORING
1st 3:51 BC Will Vote (Oskar Jellvik, Mike Posma) - PP
2nd 10:14 UML Mirko Buttazzoni (Nick Anderson, Chris Delaney) - PP
2nd 17:39 BC Ryan Leonard (Aram Minnetian, Drew Fortescue)
2nd 18:45 BC James Hagens (Gabe Perreault, Leonard) - PP
2nd 19:04 UML Anderson (Libor Nemec, Dillan Bentley)
GAME NOTES
- BC allowed its first power play goal of the season. The Eagles started the season 39-for-39 on the penalty kill
- Boston College won its 18th-straight home game, tying the program record for the longest home winning and unbeaten streak that was set during the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons
- The Eagles scored their sixth and seventh power play goals of the season, scoring two power play goals for the first time this season
- Ryan Leonard scored his nation-leading 12th goal of the season
- Gabe Perreault is now second nationally in points (23) and assists (16)
- James Hagens has now scored in three of the last four games
- Will Vote tallied his fifth goal of the campaign
- Mike Posma has recorded at least one point in four of the last five games
- Oskar Jellvik now has at least one assist in three of the last four games
UP NEXT
BC takes a month-long hiatus from the season and will return in early January with a home-and-home series against Merrimack on Jan. 10-11.
