BC 3, UMass 2: Matheson, Brown Lead Eagles’ Comeback Win
By Joe Micik
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.