at #3 Boston College 5, #4 New Hampshire 2
A three point effort in Johnny Gaudreau’s return lifted the Eagles over the Wildcats 5-2 at Kelley Rink on Friday night. Gaudreau, who recently won gold at the World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia scored eventual game-winning goal just five minutes into the second period, while setting up two of line-mate Pat Mullane’s goals en route to victory. With the win, the Eagle’s improve to 13-3-2 (10-2-1) and extend their lead in the Hockey East standings to four points over the Wildcats, who fell to 13-4-2 (8-3-1).
Although the Eagles eventually pulled out the win, the first goal came off the stick of Jay Camper of the Wildcats. A Patrick Wey (Washington Capitals) turnover behind his own net allowed Matt Willows to collect the loose puck and center it in front for Camper who finished the shot past Parker Milner. Five minutes later, Kevin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks) evened the game at one and four minutes after that, Mullane scored his first.
The second period belonged to BC, who score three unanswered in twenty minutes to extend their lead to 5-1. In attempt to spark a comeback, Hockey East and Wildcat point leader Kevin Goumas scored past Milner to make it 5-2.
#20 UMass Lowell 4 at Vermont 2
Three assists from Christian Folin allowed for the Riverhawks to skate past the Catamounts Friday night at the Gutterson Field House. With the win, Lowell extends their win streak to six games and improves their record to 10-7-1 (4-6-1). For Vermont, the loss drops them to 6-10-4 (3-7-4).
Just 7:49 into the game, Vermont’s Anthony DeCenzo netted his third goal of the season to break open the scoring and give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead. Just over three minutes later, Scott Wilson evened the score at one following his fifth goal of the year. Assisting on the goal were Folin and Terrence Walin. With 29 seconds remaining in the opening frame, Wilson scored his second of the game which gave the Riverhawks a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.
Following a scoreless middle frame, Josh Holmstrom extended the Riverhawks lead to 3-1 midway through the third. Four minutes later, Nick Luukko brought the Catamounts to within one with a goal of his own but it proved to be not enough as Lowell added an insurance goal off the stick of Adam Chapie just two minutes later.
Providence 5 at UMass Amherst 4
Stefan Demopoulos scored twice, including the game-winning short-handed goal midway through the third period to lift the Friars over the Minutemen Friday night at the Mullins Center in Amherst. With the win, the Friars snap a five-game winless streak and settle their record at 8-8-3 (6-4-2). The loss brings UMass to 7-10-2 (4-7-1).
Providence opened up the scoring early, with a goal from Derek Army just 2:14 into the game. Just 33 seconds later, Patrick Kiley scored his first goal of the season for the Minutemen to even the game at one. With 51 seconds left in the opening frame, Army scored his second of the game to give his team the 2-1 lead heading into the second. Following a power-play goal from Conor Sheary, the Friars pumped two goals in off the sticks of Mauermann and Demopoulos to gain a 4-2 lead. Darren Rowe and Connor Allen each scored 1:09 apart from each other to even the score at four heading into the final 20 minutes, allowing for Demopoulos’ heroics.
Maine 1 at Northeastern 1 (OT)
Senior goaltender Chris Rawlings made 42 stops, but Northeastern could not pull away from the Black Bears as the two sides finished the game in a 1-1 gridlock on Friday night at Matthews Arena in Boston. With the tie, Northeastern posts a 6-10-2 (3-8-2) record and Maine now has a 5-12-3 (1-7-2) record.
Late in the first period, freshman phenom Kevin Roy (Anaheim Ducks) scored his ninth goal of the season to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead on home ice. Roy now has 20 (9+11=20) points on the year which is sixth in the league and first among his classmates.
Early on in the middle frame, freshman defenseman Bill Norman scored his first goal of the year to tie the game off an assist from Adam Shemansky. The two sides skated back and forth all the way through forty minutes of play and eventually ended in a tie.
#8 Boston University 4 at Merrimack 1
Two points including a goal and an assist from senior captain Wade Megan (Florida Panthers) aided the Terriers to a 4-1 victory over the Warriors Friday night at Lawler Arena in North Andover, Mass. BU, now 12-7 (9-4), have been led by Megan all season, who now has 18 points (11+7=18) on the season. Merrimack, who continues to struggle, drops to 7-9-3 (5-5-1).
Midway through the first period, Megan scored a short-handed goal following a Matt Nieto (San Jose Sharks) interference penalty. Heading into the second up one goal, it was apparent that this single tally would not be enough. Five minutes into the middle frame, Sahir Gill scored his fourth goal of the season to make it 2-0 Terriers. Later on in the second, Cason Hohmann scored his sixth goal of the season and nineteenth point (6+13=19) to re-assume his position on top of the Terriers point stat column.
Following a Nieto goal five minutes into the third, Kyle Bigos (Edmonton Oiler) got the Warriors onto the scoreboard with his third goal of the year. Although, this did not to be enough as BU held on to win.