Hockey East Tuesday Recap: UML, BU victories create four-way tie for first place

UMass Lowell 4, Boston College 2

The No. 12 River Hawks created a four-way tie atop the league standings with a 4-2 win over the No. 4 Boston College Eagles at Conte Forum, salvaging the final game of the season series after two losses in a home-and-home set back in October. Entering a crucial weekend series this weekend with regional rival Merrimack, UML brings in a five-game winning streak, which dates back to a Super Bowl Sunday loss at Maine. The sides went forward and back in the opening stanza, combining for three goals and giving the River Hawks a 2-1 edge at the stanza's conclusion. For the third game in a row, sophomore Scott Wilson opened UML's scoring at the 10:41 mark with a power-play goal, while junior Josh Holmstrom answered a goal from BC's Bill Arnold in less than 30 seconds. After a scoreless second, Arnold knotted the score with a power-play strike at 8:40 of the third for a 2-2 game, but rookie Christian Folin and senior Riley Wetmore put things on ice in the final five minutes. Despite defeat, Boston College has won 84.5 percent of its games played after Feb. 1 over the last four seasons as it sports a 49-6-3 record in that stretch, with two of those losses coming this season. Additionally, the Eagles fell to 8-2 in their last ten head-to-head contests between the teams. BC returns to action at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I. on Friday.

Boston University 5, Merrimack 2

After suffering a very disappointing sweep at the hands of UMass Lowell this past weekend, the No. 19 Boston University Terriers unloaded their frustrations on the No. 17 Merrimack Warriors, to the tune of a 5-2 victory on Tuesday night at Agganis Arena - the 100th all-time contest between the sides. With the victory, the Terriers earned their 12th Hockey East victory of the season and won for the first time at home since a Jan. 4 overtime win over RPI. By virtue of a 3-1 win on Nov. 9, 2012 and a 4-1 decision on Jan. 11, BU also swept the season series from the Warriors and extended their winning streak in the all-time count to five games in a row since Jan. 6, 2012. Historically, BU has now won 13 of the last 17 games between the teams at Agganis Arena, but fell short of their 12th all-time shutout in the series. BU started the night fast and furious with three goals in the first period, including the game-winner from sophomore Cason Hohmann at 15:41. The period marked the first Merrimack allowed three over the first 20 minutes since Oct. 20, 2012 at Alaska. After junior Matt Nieto found the back of the net on each of BU's first two shots on net in the second period, the Warriors came back with two of their own in the third period as junior Jordan Heywood scored a pair on Matt O'Connor (32 saves) within less than two minutes in the middle stages. The loss was MC's first in exactly a month as it fell by a 6-2 count at New Hampshire on Jan. 26. The Warriors hit the ice again on Friday at UMass Lowell's Tsongas Center, while BU faces Vermont twice this weekend at home.

Joshua Kummins covers Hockey East for SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.