Hockey East Championship Live: River Hawks clinch title, 1-0

FINAL: UMass Lowell 1, Boston University 0

Shots on Goal: BU 37-30

Third Period

19:00 - Hellebuyck makes a huge save on Cason Hohmann in the left circle... That will just about do it.

18:00 - "Lets Go Lowell!" chant raining down. Maguire out for extra skater with 1:45 left.

16:57 - BU has not seen much sustained action in its defensive zone over the last couple minutes here. Sean Maguire to the bench soon?

14:03 - Sophomore Evan Rodrigues has been outstanding down the stretch for the Terriers, but he can not get a clear wrist shot to go from the left circle as Hellebuyck makes the save. The River Hawks have yet to win a Hockey East title and can complete a 4-0 sweep of BU this year with a win.

11:09 - UMASS LOWELL GOAL, 1-0: After picking the puck up out front, junior Derek Arnold circled the net and beat Maguire on a broken puck that bounced off his back and into the back of the net for his 12th goal of the season. Scott Wilson and Chad Ruhwedel assisted.

10:00 - Still nothing as we hit the midway mark of the third. BU's shots on goal edge is 4-3 in the period and 30-24 for the game. Also, media members just completed All-Tournament Team ballots and it was quite a challenge with so many great performances, including a good representation from the rookie class. Following the game, we will find out the consensus.

3:25 - Wright storms from the box and rings a wrister off the post. Lowell is buzzing...

1:12 - Senior Colin Wright quickly changes the even-strength on the ice as he is called for boarding. BU back up a man.

0:40 - Ruikka is out of the box in the first minute of the final period, as his tripping call carried over with 20 seconds.

END OF SECOND: Boston University 0, UMass Lowell 0

Shots on Goal: BU 18-15 (26-21 total)

Second Period

18:38 - Less than 90 seconds left in the middle stanza and this one is still scoreless. Just as the previous penalties expired (two seconds later), the River Hawks will get a crack at the power play - Ryan Ruikka for tripping.

16:38 - Winding down here in the second and we'll play 4-on-4 after a pair of matching minors after the whistle. Lowell's Pendenza off for roughing, but Noonan is charged with embellishment.

11:05 - Junior Derek Arnold is off again for the River Hawks, whistled for diving, allowing BU to take on its second man-advantage of the contest. Big contingent of Lowell fans do not like the call.

10:00 - Rushing up into the play, Lowell sophomore Jake Suter just missed a centering pass from the right wing of the ice as Maguire pushed across his pad to make the save. Exactly halfway through regulation, still no score with BU holding a 17-14 edge.

7:47 - BU got a good passing sequence going on the power play, but could not capitalize for a goal. Junior Garrett Noonan had a good whack at a rebound in front, but Connor Hellebuyck denied it. Still scoreless.

5:47 - Just the second penalty of the game goes to the River Hawks as sophomore Zack Kamrass goes off for interference. Can BU take advantage of the advantage?

4:00 - Freshman Ryan McGrath with a great spin move in the right dot for a shot, but the puck sails just wide. Following that, junior Josh Holmstrom's wraparounder was just batted aside in front of Maguire's goal.

END OF FIRST: Boston University 0, UMass Lowell 0

Shots on Goal: 8-6 Terriers

First Period

18:20 - BU's Sean Maguire made a great save on a shot by Lowell's Derek Arnold inside the face-off circle and stopped a flurry in front. The River Hawks will close the stanza on the start of a power play as Danny O'Regan is off for holding at the end of the net-mouth scramble.

16:00 - Things have slowed down as the opening stanza comes to a close. BU is maintaining a 7-4 shots edge.

10:00 - BU is back to pressuring the offensive zone and is the clear territorial leader at the halfway mark of the stanza. Senior captain Wade Megan just had a juicy rebound pop past him on what would have been a sure first goal of the game into an open end. The Terriers have six of the first eight shots on goal.

7:15 - BU's Matt Nieto had a great open look in front of the net, but the puck bounced hard off the pads of Hellebuyck and over his stick to keep the game scoreless. Lowell seems to be playing with some nerves, even as a top seed in the tournament with three wins thus far.

6:45 - Each side has hit two shots on goal thus far as the game heads into its first media timeout. Neither side is giving up too many hints on offense as the defenses have played up to open things.

3:00 - The Terriers are pushing hard into the offensive zone to start the contest, but have only registered a single shot on goal on Lowell freshman Connor Hellebuyck, coming in the opening minute.

Pre-Game

Good afternoon from TD Garden in Boston for the 29th Annual Hockey East Championship Game between the No. 1 UMass Lowell River Hawks (25-10-2, 16-9-2) and the No. 3 Boston University Terriers (21-15-2, 15-10-2). The contest is a rematch of the deciding game in 2009, a 1-0 victory for the Scarlet and White.

Lowell is making its third appearance in the league championship game (0-2), after a 2-1 victory over Providence on Friday night. This season's results are on UML's side in tonight's 100th all-time meeting, however, as it swept the regular season series against their rivals from Commonwealth Avenue. With a 3-0 win at Agganis Arena on Feb. 22, the River Hawks captured a third consecutive road win from BU for the first time ever.

Both of the River Hawks' previous trips to the final (1994 and 2009) also came against the Terriers, both resulting in defeat.

With Friday's 6-3 victory over archrival Boston College, the Terriers took over BC for the most Hockey East tournament wins in history with 62. The game will mark the final game for head coach Jack Parker at TD Garden, a site on which he has captured 31 combined tournament titles on Causeway Street over his 40-year career.

Here are the starting line-ups:

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Wade Megan – Cason Hohmann – Sahir Gill
Matt Nieto – Danny O’Regan – Evan Rodrigues
Matt Lane – Ben Rosen – Sam Kurker
Mike Moran – Ryan Santana – Jake Moscatel

Sean Escobedo – Ryan Ruikka
Garrett Noonan – Patrick MacGregor
Matt Grzelyck – Ahti Oksanen

Sean Maguire (13-7-0, 2.61, .925)
Anthony Moccia

UMASS LOWELL

Ryan McGrath - Riley Wetmore - Derek Arnold
Scott Wilson - Michael Fallon - Terrence Wallin
Shayne Thompson - Colin Wright - Adam Chapie
A.J. White - Joseph Pendenza - Josh Holmstrom

Greg Amlong - Chad Ruhwedel
Joe Houk - Christian Folin
Zack Kamrass - Jake Suter

Connor Hellebuyck (17-2-0, 1.46, .946)
Doug Carr
Brian Robbins

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