The third time was the charm for the Massachusetts Minutemen hockey team.

After two previous games this season in which UMass blew third-period leads — and they did so again tonight — they finally found a way to pull their heads from their posteriors and beat the Boston College Eagles.

UMass defeated Boston College 5-2 on Friday night at Conte Forum; BC is 2-3-2 in their last seven games dating back to the collapse at Providence which resulted in a tie. The victory by the Minutemen at Conte Forum was their first win on BC’s home ice since November 2007.

UMass started the game with a flurry of penalties, giving Boston College several key opportunities to take the early lead, but it was the Minutemen who got on the board first. A bad play by the Eagles led to a Steve Guzzo shorthanded goal at 6:35 of the period (assisted by Carzo). To add insult to injury, even though BC outshot UMass 12-4 in the period, the visitors would strike again with less than a minute to go in the first. Brendan Gracel did those honors on the power play at 19:05 and UMass took a 2-0 lead into the intermission (assisted by Rowe, Sheary).

In the second, the Eagles were badly outplayed by the Minutemen, but in another ironic twist, it was BC that netted the period’s only goal. Freshman Travis Jeke sniped his first collegiate goal at the 18:44 mark to put his team’s deficit back to one (assisted by Hayes, Straight).

Going into the third, confidence abounded because of what BC had done in the previous two meetings, and it seemed justified early on. Steven Whitney found the back of the net at 4:08, tying the game at 2-2 and giving BC a needed boost to get over the finish line (assisted by Gaudreau). That was not to be, however: Parker Milner and the Eagles would then allow three goals in the last seven minutes of the game to give UMass a deceptively comfortable win. Michael Pereira notched the game-winner at 13:03 (Gracel, Shea), KJ Tiefenwerth doubled the lead at 14:11 (Walsh, Czepiel), and Gracel scored again at 16:26 to polish off a bad night for BC (Sheary, Shea).

There is no doubt now that Boston College hockey is in its annual mid-season slump. It is impossible to tell people not to be concerned, because even though most Eagles observers know that this happens every year, someone is still going to freak out. If you aren’t freaking out, don’t. Of course, if you’re a Boston College hockey fan, you want to see them win every game, but this is the time of year where they start racking up losses and fall in the polls. None of it matters until February and the Beanpot begin, anyway.

For now, though there is not much joy to derive from watching this team play, keep perspective that better times are quite possibly ahead.

BC returns to action tomorrow night at Northeastern.

After Jerry York won his record-setting 925th game in Minnesota in December, Boston College announced that the hockey team would hold Jerry York Night at Conte Forum on January 18 to celebrate the Eagle legend.

Unfortunately, for the second-straight weekend, York will not be in the house as he recovers from a second retina surgery. He will miss both tonight’s game against UMass and tomorrow night’s game at Northeastern. There is no established timetable for his return.

On the-night-formerly-known-as-Jerry York Night, the Minutemen will ride into Chestnut Hill after having been swept in a weekend home-and-home against Providence. Overall play has not been great for UMass, as BC’s opponents are 7-11-2 (4-8-1). Two of those losses came against the Eagles much earlier in the season; this will be the final regular season meeting between the two. On the other side, BC split a home-and-home with Top 5 team New Hampshire last weekend.

On October 19, in the first of those Boston College victories over UMass, the Eagles erased a three-goal deficit in the third period. Trailing 3-0 at the second intermission, captain Pat Mullane scored the two tying goals in the final four minutes. Johnny Gaudreau notched the game-winner over three and a half minutes into overtime. On November 4, BC crushed UMass’s spirit again, overcoming a 2-1 deficit in the third period to eventually tie the game and win it on a Patrick Brown goal with less than four minutes left in regulation.

UMass has had two very realistic chances to tie or beat Boston College already this season but were unable to cash in on either one. One would think the visiting team would remember this and try to exact some revenge, but at Conte Forum, that has not been going well for them. The last time UMass beat BC in the Eagles’ own building was on November 17, 2007.

The Minutemen simply aren’t that good of a team, and even though the Eagles might not be playing as well as they did in those very early stages of the 2012-13 campaign, they’re still in a much stronger position. With the directions in which both teams seem to be going, it will be an uphill battle for UMass to try to get their first win at Boston College in over five years.

The puck drops at 7pm; coverage can be heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Good teams find ways to win, and when you’re #1 in the country, the general consensus is that you’re good. Therefore, it is not surprising when that team finds a way.

Boston College did just that on Sunday afternoon against the Massachusetts Minutemen. The #1 Eagles defeated the visiting Minutemen, 3-2, on a third-period comeback. With the win, BC is 6-1 in both overall record and Hockey East play. It is the Eagles’ sixth win in a row, keeping them atop the conference. This is also the second time in two games between BC and UMass this season in which the Eagles have come back from a third-period deficit to win. Dating back to last season, Boston College has now won 25 of their last 26 games.

The Eagles were first to find the back of the net, and very early in the game at that. Just 1:23 into the first period, after Joel Hanley of UMass went to the box for hooking, Bill Arnold scored his third goal of the year on the power play, giving BC a 1-0 lead (assisted by Wey and Doherty). Boston College made that lead hold up for about nine minutes, but the Minutemen scored the equalizer just five seconds into a Patrick Wey slashing penalty. Steven Guzzo had the quick goal, his second of the year, tying the game at 1-1 (assisted by Hanley and Gracel).

Neither team scored in the second period, but the third featured the most excitement. At 1:42 into the final frame, Troy Power scored his first goal of the year (unassisted) to put UMass ahead, 2-1. The goal was reviewed but upheld, putting the home team in another late hole against the Minutemen. In the first meeting between these two teams, it was Johnny Gaudreau and Pat Mullane who led the comeback, but on Sunday, a few unsung heroes got the job done.

The first of those was star recruit Michael Matheson, who scored his first collegiate goal with 10:47 to go in regulation, tying the game, 2-2 (assisted by Whitney and Gaudreau). After some more steady offensive pressure from the Eagles and some great saves by goalie Parker Milner, Boston College broke through for good thanks to Patrick Brown. The fourth-line forward notched his first goal of the season, which could not have come at a better time: with 3:37 to go in the game. This gave the Eagles a 3-2 lead that they would not relinquish (assisted by Wey).

Things are going well from your hockey team when you can not only come back from third-period deficits, but do it with freshmen and fourth-liners coming up with the big goals. While we credit Matheson and Brown for their scores, it must also go to Parker Milner for holding UMass at just two goals on 31 shots. By that logic, UMass goalie Kevin Boyle also had a solid game with 28 saves, but he ultimately broke last.

Very few penalties were called in this contest, as each team was only hit with two. Both the Eagles and Minutemen scored on one of their two power plays.

The Eagles stay on their roll, and will look to stretch their win streak to seven against Notre Dame on Friday night.

This is why they’re the national champions.

In a thrilling game on Friday night in Amherst, MA, the #3 Boston College Eagles defeated the Massachusetts Minutemen, 5-4 in overtime. It is BC’s first win of the season, and comes just a day before they raise their championship banner at Conte Forum.

The Minutemen went without Joel Hanley just minutes into the game because of a major penalty and a game misconduct, but they still struck first. UMass notched a goal at 8:46 of the first period from Rocco Carzo (assists Busillo and Yevenko). That held up throughout the first period, and got doubled in the second as Connor Allen slipped one past Parker Milner on the power play to give UMass a 2-0 lead at 3:43 (assists Power and Sheary).

UMass was not done there, scoring later in the middle frame to give the Minutemen a comfortable 3-0 lead. It was Carzo again at 13:20 for UMass in his second goal of the game (assisted by Guzzo). They rode that 3-goal lead into the final period.

Then came the Eagles.

Just 1:11 into the final period of regulation, Bill Arnold got the Eagles on the board with his first of the year to make it a 3-1 game (assisted by Hayes). It took about seven more minutes, but at 8:26, Boston College found the back of the net again as sophomore Destry Straight scored his first goal of the season (unassisted), and all of a sudden, it was a 3-2 contest.

Boston College’s fans were surely deflated at the 9:35 mark of the third, as UMass got that goal right back. Darren Rowe notched his second goal of the season to restore the Minutemen’s two-goal lead and give them much-needed breathing room (assisted by Czepiel).

The fans might have been deflated, but the team was not.

With only minutes to go on the clock, the defending champion Eagles woke up and tied the game in a flash of lightning. At 16:44, senior captain Pat Mullane scored his first goal of the season to make it a 4-3 game, keeping his team in it late (assisted by Alber). Then, like any good captain does, Mullane took the team on his back again and, at 17:54, scored the game-tying goal (assisted by Gaudreau). BC goalie Parker Milner and his counterpart, Steve Mastalerz, would both hold on for overtime.

This final period only lasts a maximum of five minutes, but with all of their forward momentum, the Eagles did not need all five. Sophomore sensation Johnny Gaudreau picked a fine time for his first goal of the year: at 3:37 of overtime (assisted by Mullane). The game-winner was reviewed for possible high-sticking but the goal was upheld, and Boston College was rewarded with a big comeback victory on the road.

BC can be proud of themselves tonight for a great win, one that looked pretty grim with a few minutes to go. Though Johnny Gaudreau scored the winner, major credit has to go to Pat Mullane, who was in on all of BC’s last three goals, either scoring them or assisting. If I got a vote, I’d make him my #1 star of the game. Give credit also to the Eagles as a whole, who remained resilient in the face of a 3-goal deficit in the third period. A team takes on the personality of its coach, and once again, a Jerry York-coached team stays focused in the face of adversity and finds a way to win.

It was not Parker Milner’s best night, as he saved just 20 of 24 UMass shots, but Boston College’s defense tightened up as the game went on. UMass shots on-goal went down from one period to the next, until BC outshot the Minutemen 16-5 in the game-changing third period. In overtime, the Eagles had a 5-1 shot advantage. UMass goalie Steve Mastalerz was under assault by BC, particularly as the game progressed. He managed 37 saves, but it’s the five he didn’t record that did the damage.

For Boston College, the most thrilling hockey usually comes in the later part of the schedule, but this was a nice October treat for the fans. The Eagles come home on Saturday night to raise their banner with Northeastern in the house.