Hockey East Roundup: No. 6 Boston College Downs UMass-Amherst 4-1

Boston College faced another Hockey East test this weekend, and this time they passed with flying colors.

Massachusetts (2-3-0) and the No. 6 Eagles (3-1-0) entered Saturday night’s contest at Kelley Rink tied for second place in the Hockey East standings, but the Eagles scored three unanswered goals to hand the Minutemen a 4-1 loss.

Freshman forward Alex Tuch got BC on the board first with a goal late in the second period. The Eagles didn’t stop there, getting two power-play goals from sophomore forward Adam Gilmour — one in the second period and one in the third — to take a commanding 3-0 lead.

Shane Walsh responded with a power-play goal for UMass to cut the lead to 3-1 with less than three minutes remaining, but an empty-net goal from BC forward Quinn Smith at the 19:27 mark sealed the deal.

Boston College goaltender Thatcher Demko recorded 21 saves in the win, while UMass goalie Henry Dill notched 27 saves in the loss.

The Eagles will head west to take on No. 11 Denver next Friday, while the Minutemen will battle Maine the same night.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Vermont 2, Connecticut 1: The Catamounts (4-0-0) continued their hot start to the season and got on the board in the second and third periods to take a two-goal lead over the Huskies (1-3-1). UConn’s Trevor Gerling narrowed the score to 2-1 with seven minutes remaining, but goaltender Brody Hoffman and the Vermont defense held on for the 2-1 win.

Alaska Anchorage 3, Maine 3 (OT): It was a seesaw affair between the Black Bears (1-4-1) and Seawolves (3-1-2), as an early third-period goal from Maine’s Blaine Byron quickly was followed by Alaska Anchorage’s Scott Allen 30 seconds later on the power play. The Black Bears outshot the Seawolves 6-1 in overtime but were forced to settle for the tie.

Mercyhurst 3, Merrimack 2: The Lakers (2-2-0) netted three goals in the second period to jump out to an early lead over the Warriors (4-1-0). Merrimack staged a furious comeback, as Brett Seney scored a 6-on-5 goal with less than a minute remaining to cut the deficit to 3-2, but Mercyhurst held on to hand the Warriors their first loss of the season.

Notre Dame 7, Niagara 0: The Fighting Irish (4-2-0) scored three goals in the first period and never looked back, getting a goal and two assists from both sophomore forward Vince Hinostroza and freshman forward Connor Hurley in a blowout win over the Purple Eagles (0-6-0).

UMass Lowell 2, Michigan State 1: The River Hawks (3-1-1) and Spartans (1-3-0) entered the third period locked in a 1-1 tie, but sophomore defenseman Michael Kapla changed that with a shorthanded goal less than a minute into the final frame to break the deadlock. UMass Lowell goaltender Jeff Smith stopped 16 shots in the third period to preserve the win.

New Hampshire 6, Colorado College 2: The Wildcats (2-2-0) got off to a good start against the Tigers (2-4-0) with two goals from junior forward Maxim Gaudreault. Colorado College got on the board in the second period with a goal from Cody Bradley, but UNH rattled off three straight to put the game out of reach.

Boston University 3, Michigan 2: The Terriers (3-0-0) trailed the Wolverines (2-3-0) by one goal entering the third period before freshman Jack Eichel knotted the score at 2-2 early in the final frame. That set up the game-winning heroics from junior Matt Lane, who scored with less than four minutes remaining to help BU remain unbeaten.

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