The second-seeded Boston College Eagles escaped Conte Forum with a 6-5 win over UMass on Friday night, improving to 4-0 against the Minutemen in 2009-10 thanks to Cam Atkinson's hat trick.
The Eagles didn't waste any time getting on the board, as Atkinson found the back of the net just 36 seconds into the first. Joe Whitney and Brian Gibbons picked up the assists.
UMass' Justin Braun came through in the clutch for the Minutemen, however, when he tied it up on the man-advantage midway through the first. James Marcou and Matt Irwin tallied the helpers. Atkinson would strike again on the power play before the end of the frame at 14:39, when he took a feed from Ben Smith and Whitney.
UMass' T.J Syner opened up the scoring to start the second at 3:51, evening the score at two. Minutemen Will Ortiz and Doug Kublin picked up assists on the play. Less than three minutes later, BC erupted for three goals within a three-minute span to regain the lead. Chris Kreider and Barry Almeida lit the lamp at 6:18 and 7:11, while Carl Sneep and Matt Price and Matt Lombardi notched the assists, respectively.
BC forward Atkinson picked up his third goal of the night on the power play at 8:22 with assists from Joe and Steve Whitney.
Just when it looked like the Minutemen were closing the gap with a Casey Wellman goal at 17:15, BC came right back to regain a three-goal lead, as Steve Whitney scored at 18:54.
UMass came out on fire to start the third, scoring twice within the first minute. Martin Nolet and James Marcou (unassisted) picked up the team's fourth and fifth goals at 34 seconds and at 54 seconds. Kevin Czepiel picked up the assist on Nolet's goal.
Though the Minutemen had plenty of chances and ended up outshooting the Eagles 38-32, they fell just short. Boston College netminder Parker Milner came up big for BC once again, making 38 saves.
UMass will look to tie up the series on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Conte Forum.
