AMHERST, Mass. - No. 1 Boston College bounced back on Saturday with a 4-1 victory over No. 16 UMass at the Mullins Center to split the Hockey East weekend with the Minutemen. Eamon Powell, Andre Gasseau, James Hagens, and Ryan Leonard each lit the lamp for the Eagles, with Leonard also picking up two assists. Jacob Fowler finished the night with 21 saves and one assist.
BC improves to 22-6-1 overall and 14-4-1 in Hockey East, while Massachusetts falls to 16-12-2 overall and 7-9-2 in league play.
The Eagles jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Powell fired home a shot from the point. Michael Hagens' shot was saved and Mike Posma followed up on the loose puck and quickly found Powell. Powell took the shot from the point and put it through traffic and into the net to give BC the lead.
Boston College put the pressure on during the opening 20 minutes, holding a 20-3 advantage in shots on goal.
BC doubled its lead early in the second period when Gabe Perreault found Gasseau open in front of goal for the tap-in. Leonard started the opportunity after skating towards the defense before the puck found its way to Perreault. The Eagles tallied their second goal of the period just a few minutes later when Leonard, from the neutral zone, played a no-look pass into the offensive zone for J. Hagens to fire past UMass goaltender Michael Hrabal.
UMass got on the scoresheet late in the middle frame when Cole O'Hara cut the BC lead down to two.
Boston College had the chance to push its lead back to three with just under one minute remaining in the second period when UMass was called for a penalty, leading to a penalty shot for Perreault. Perreault's attempt was unsuccessful as Hrabal made the stop.
The Minutemen pulled their goalie with 4:01 remaining in the third in search of cutting into the BC lead. Fowler made several stops in quick succession to keep the lead at two. Moments later, Fowler pushed wide a dumped in puck, which Leonard then flung towards the empty net and trickled in to push the Boston College to three.
SCORING
1st 4:27 BC Eamon Powell (Mike Posma, Michael Hagens)
2nd 3:13 BC Andre Gasseau (Gabe Perreault, Ryan Leonard)
2nd 6:42 BC James Hagens (Ryan Leonard)
2nd 15:32 UMA Cole O'Hara (Jack Musa)
3rd 18:20 BC Ryan Leonard (Jacob Fowler)
GAME NOTES
- BC improves to 5-1-0 following a loss this season
- The Eagles finished with a season-high 45 shots on goal
- Boston College went 4-4 on the penalty kill
- Ryan Leonard scored his nation-leading 25th goal of the year
- Eamon Powell scored his third goal of the season
- Andre Gasseau hit the double digit mark for goals with his 10th of the season
- James Hagens tallied his eighth goal of the campaign
- Mike Posma recorded his fifth assist of the year
- Michael Hagens registered his seventh assist of the campaign
- Jacob Fowler tallied his second assist of the year
- Leonard recorded two assists for the third time this season
UP NEXT
BC travels to Vermont next weekend for a two-game series against the Catamounts at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Both games will be available to watch on ESPN+.
