Aram Minnetian stood behind the net with the puck as the final seconds of regulation ticked off the clock, sending No. 3 Boston College men’s hockey into overtime with No. 14 UMass Lowell.
The Eagles’ comeback magic had found its way to Tsongas Center on Friday night, as they erased a two-goal deficit in the second period in the span of 37 seconds.
BC (11–3–1, 5–2–1 Hockey East) eventually dropped the shootout battle to UMass Lowell (11–3–1, 6–2–0), though, as Owen Cole scored in the third round of the shootout to hand BC a loss.
“[I] thought our compete was excellent,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “We had some chances to get that go-ahead goal, but their goalie had made some good saves, but the effort was there on our side.”
UMass Lowell opened the game up with a Mirko Buttazzoni rip that went through Minnetian’s legs 5:08 into the first period, putting the Riverhawks up early.
BC answered quickly, though. Oskar Jellvik pickpocketed a defenseman below the goal line and slid a pass to Andre Gasseau, who found the smallest sliver of daylight above goaltender Beni Halasz’s shoulder to tie the game 1–1.
Teddy Stiga visited the box for tripping at the 11:17 mark, but the Eagles’ penalty kill continued its dominance, denying all eight of the Riverhawks’ power-play opportunities.
“They’ve been very cohesive the whole first half year,” Brown said in praise of BC’s penalty kill, which ranks first in the nation. “If there have been breakdowns, Jacob’s been excellent behind them.”
Just 34 seconds after Stiga was released, Girts Silkalns fired a catch-and-release from the top of the circle to regain UMass Lowell’s lead.
Nearing the conclusion of the first, things began to get chippy—a huge open-ice hit laid on Stiga triggered a friendly cross-check from Aidan Hreschuk, which broke his stick and handed him a five-minute penalty in the process.
BC ended the opening frame with a 2–1 deficit.
“[UMass Lowell] was going to play hard in the physical way,” Brown said. “So we have to manage our emotions a little better.”
After Minnetian left the box with 14:05 left in the second after serving time for a tripping penalty, a blue-line shot from defenseman TJ Schweighardt was tipped bar down by Buttazzoni for his second of the night, giving his team a 3–1 lead.
BC began to ramp up its offensive push when Jake Sondreal fed Mike Posma on a 2-on-1. Posma deked backhand to cut the Riverhawks’ lead in half with less than three minutes left in the second.
Thirty-seven seconds later, James Hagens, with eyes in the back of his head, hit Gabe Perreault, who faked backhand and finished the forehand tuck.
The matchup saw zero goals for the rest of the night. The third period consisted of a failed through-the-legs attempt from Jellvik and a breakaway opportunity from UMass Lowell’s Connor Eddy, which was denied by Jacob Fowler.
Then a relatively quiet overtime period led to a shootout, and the Riverhawks prevailed after three rounds to hand the Eagles a loss on the road.
“We have to know how to manage the game, make smart decisions, not give up free opportunities,” Brown said. “Those are all things we’re trying to learn now—no team is a finished product in early December.”
