The Whittemore Center Arena this past weekend was ecstatic, as Boston College sophomore forward Pat Mullane clinched a 4-3 win for the Eagles after scoring the game-winning goal over New Hampshire Saturday.
BC finished their regular season with a 26-7-1 record under their belt, compared to last season, when they had 29 wins.
After the first period, the Wildcats led the Eagles 1-0. With nearly 13 seconds remaining of play in the second period, there was nothing separating the teams with a score of 2-2.
Three minutes, 52 seconds into the third period, BC finally took their first lead of the game. However, it didn’t take long – just six minutes – for UNH to even the score. Finally, with the help of Mullane, BC defeated UNH with a final score of 4-3.
The win for the Eagles is their fourth-straight, as the team will host the Massachusetts at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill in the opening round of the Hockey East Tournament.
Friars split series with Warrirors
With the support of a sold-out Lawler Arena crowd, senior night was a success for Merrimack senior forward Joe Cucci. Friday night, Cucci scored two goals, his 13th of the season, as the Warriors beat Providence College Friday night, 6-1, but fell Saturday, 5-3.
The Friars needed a win in order to qualify for one of the eight playoff spots. But in the first period, the Warriors scored three times and the Friars were left out of the Hockey East Tournament.
Two of the goals were scored by junior Ryan Flanigan, who has scored 10 goals this season so far.
Sixteen seconds into the second period, the Friars were finally on the board but not for long. At 14:12, Cucci scored a goal and 30 seconds later, he tallied yet another goal for the Warriors.
At the start of the final period, the Friars were down 5-1. Throughout the game, he Friars had five power play opportunities to score. Merrimack was so far successful on 2-of-4 power play opportunities.
However, Merrimack sophomore Stephane Da Costa scored at 14:05, making the Warriors 3-for-5 in power play opportunities.
Merrimack will proceed to play Maine at Lawler Arena in North Andover, Mass. this weekend in the opening round of tournament play.
HEA Tournament begins Fri
The 27th Hockey East Series Quarterfinals starts this Friday, March 11. The Minutemen will face off against the Eagles Friday
evening at 7 p.m. BC is the No. 1 seed while UMass is the bottom seed at No. 8.
UNH finished the regular season with a record of 19-9-6. The Wildcats, the No. 2 seed will host No. 7 seed Vermont at the Whittemore Center.
Boston University, the No. 3 seed, will be playing No. 6 Northeastern. The date is not determined yet due to a scheduling conflict at Agganis Arena.
The final matchup will be between Merrimack and Maine, the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, respectively. The two will square off at Lawler Arena, as the Warriors will host a playoff series for only the second time in school history.
Amy Chaunt can be reached at [email protected].
