Boston College Hockey vs. UMass Final: Eagles Win 4-1 for 3rd Straight
By Joe Micik
Boston College Hockey vs. UMass Final: On Saturday night at Conte Forum/Kelley Rink, the #6 Boston College Eagles finished off a weekend home sweep by defeating the Massachusetts Minutemen, 4-1.
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The win moves the Eagles to 3-1 on the new season, giving them three wins in a row after having opened the year with a loss at UMass-Lowell. It is also Boston College’s first Hockey East victory of the season.
Boston College Hockey vs. UMass Final: Quick First
Both the Eagles and Minutemen stayed off the scoreboard in the first period, which moved along quickly and without much offensive incident.
The Eagles had six shots on goal for the frame, but UMass managed only three on Thatcher Demko.
It was, however, a chippy first period, and that would extend through the rest of the game.
Boston College Hockey vs. UMass Final: Goals, Penalties Pile Up
Eventually, Boston College would open the scoring when true freshman Alex Tuch found the back of the net for the second time this season, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead late in the second period.
By then, however, ten minor penalties had already been assessed to the two teams, six of them going to Boston College. The teams did not play nice, nor was Adam Gilmour charitable when the Eagles got a 5-on-3 power play late in the period after a Jake Horton slash while BC had a man advantage. Gilmour’s one-timer slipped past Henry Dill and the Eagles doubled their lead.
Gilmour was not done scoring, and UMass was not done engaging Boston College. In the third, UMass’s Troy Power got five and a game misconduct after he elbowed Matt Gaudreau in the head; the latter was shaken up on the play but Jerry York reported after the game that he is fine. The Eagles cashed in on the major penalty, with Gilmour netting his second of the game to make it 3-0.
In fact, Gilmour himself would get involved in some chippiness as the two teams would ultimately trade late goals.
Thatcher Demko earned the win for Boston College, again solid with 21 saves. Dill made 27 saves for UMass in defeat.
Boston College Hockey vs. UMass Final: Goal Chart
| BC | Alex Tuch | 14:15 2nd | Gilmour, Matheson | UM 0 | BC 1 |
| BC | Adam Gilmour (PP) | 16:55 2nd | Hanifin, Matheson | UM 0 | BC 2 |
| BC | Adam Gilmour (PP) | 12:55 3rd | Hanifin, Matheson | UM 0 | BC 3 |
| UM | Shane Walsh (PP) | 17:48 3rd | Kravchenko, Vatrano | UM 1 | BC 3 |
| BC | Quinn Smith (EN) | 19:27 3rd | McCoshen | UM 1 | BC 4 |
Boston College Hockey vs. UMass Final: Bottom Line
The UMass-Lowell game feels far away, as Boston College has won the last three games in a row by a combined score of 16-5. The power play is starting to click, with two more goals there last night (both by Gilmour), but also, the Eagles’ young talent is starting to come forward.
To that end, Tuch’s second goal and Hanifin’s two points look like a very good sign for Boston College.
It is still early in the season, but after a wake up call in Lowell, the Eagles are starting to play like a top ten team, and they took care of business against a conference rival.
Boston College Hockey vs. UMass Final: Next Game
The Eagles fly out to Denver on Halloween night to begin a two-game series against the #11 Denver Pioneers.