Boston College coach Jerry York won his 924th career game Saturday night, which ties him with Ron Mason as the winningest coach in NCAA Division I hockey history when No. 1 Boston College avoided a weekend series sweep against No. 9 Boston University with a 5-2 win.
The Eagles (11-2-0, 9-2-0 HEA) found themselves in a close game after the first period, as the Terriers (8-5-0, 6-4-0 HEA) found a way to keep the score tied 1-1.
BU was held to just one goal on 13 shots on goal in the second period while the Eagles notched three goals in the frame with two coming from Bill Arnold.
BU failed to respond immediately to the second period beat down, marking a 4-2 score entering the third and final period. After another BC score to tally up the deficit, Evan Rodriguez scored his third goal of the season with six minutes left in the game off of assists from Garrett Noonan and Cason Hohmann to make the score 5-2.
The Eagles scored four power play goals in eight man-up advantages and the Terriers scored only twice on six power play possessions.
UNH handles UMass Lowell
Over the weekend, the No. 2 New Hampshire hockey team overcame the struggling UMass Lowell squad, putting up a final score of 5-2.
The Wildcats (11-1-2, 8-1-1 Hockey East Association) were pushed to a No. 2 national ranking following the victory over the River Hawks (4-7-1, 2-6-1 HEA), extending its unbeaten streak to eight games.
Although the three-goal advantage gave UNH some security to seal the victory, UML kept up for most of the game. Trailing by just one goal entering the final period, the River Hawks outshot the Wildcats, 12-11.
Most of the game’s offense came in the first two periods, as a total of five goals were scored off of 36 shots on goal. UMass struck first with Stephen Buco’s second goal of the season, with assists from Terrence Wallin and Scott Wilson. The lead diminished fast as UNH scored two goals within a five-minute span, one at the end of the first period and the other at the beginning of the second, from Eric Knodel and Justin Agosta. Stephen Buco scored again 22 seconds later to tie up the score, only to have Dalton Speelman steal the UNH lead later in the second period.
The Wildcats look to continue their streak on Thursday, taking on Hockey East foe Boston University. UMass Lowell is scheduled to take on Northeastern on Saturday.
Tom Mulherin can be reached at [email protected].
