No. 8 UMass Lowell capitalized on a rare off night from goaltender Jon Gilles and No. 7 Providence, as the Riverhawks won decisively, 6-1, Saturday night at Tsongas Center in Lowell.
Joseph Pendenza scored twice and added an assist to lead UMass Lowell in a rematch from last year’s Hockey East semifinal.
The Riverhawks (16-7-2, 6-4-1 Hockey East) scored early and often, opening the scoring at five minutes, 24 seconds into the firston a goal from Pendenza, who drove wide and stickhandled his way to the net to tuck one past Gilles. Defenseman Christian Frolin scored late in the period to make it 2-0, the first of his three points on the night. Evan Campbell scored in the second period to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Friars (15-6-5, 7-5-1 HEA) had a glimmer of hope early in the third after Ross Mauermann scored his 16th goal of the season in acrobatic fashion to make it a 3-1 game. But UML stopped any momentum that Providence gained, responding with goals from Pendenza, Frolin and Joe Gambardella to double its total and provide the 6-1 final.
It was a good response for the Riverhawks, as they rallied to split the weekend home-and-home after losing 5-4 in Providence on Friday night. Nick Saracino had three points for the Friars in the win.
Top line leads BC
The first line of Bill Arnold, Johnny Gaudreau and Kevin Hayes combined for seven points and all three of Boston College’s goals as the Eagles beat a scrappy Penn State team 3-2 at Pegula Arena on Saturday night.
Freshman goaltender Thatcher Demko recorded 33 saves for the win. It was the 10th win in 11 games for the Eagles (18-4-3, 11-1-1 HEA), who have not lost since November.
Kevin Hayes got the scoring started with a gritty effort in front of the net to give BC a 1-0 lead seven minutes, 40 seconds into the first period. Eric Scheid evened the game for the Nittany Lions (4-15-1, 0-6 Big Ten) early in the second, fighting through a scrum to sneak the puck past Demko and make it 1-1. Ten minutes later, Gaudreau and Hayes capitalized off a neutral zone turnover and Gaudreau finished the play as the Eagles regained the lead.
Hayes struck again in the third on the power play, finishing a one-time pass from Arnold to give the Eagles the eventual game winner.
Gaudreau extended his point streak to 20 games with a goal and assist. He leads the nation in goals with 22 and total points with 50.
The Eagles have the Beanpot looming, but first will travel to Providence for a top-10 matchup with the Friars Friday night at 7 p.m.
Maine beats UNH
Sophomore Devin Shore had four points and Maine tallied three goals in the third period to top New Hampshire 4-2 Saturday night at Alfond Arena.
Senior goaltender Martin Ouellette had 23 saves to pick up the win in net, his 11th win of the season.
The Black Bears (12-9-3, 6-4-2 HEA) trailed early after UNH sophomore Brett Pesce put the Wildcats on top 1-0, scoring on the power play less than five minutes into the game. Maine responded just two minutes later when Shore tucked in a rebound to even the score.
Nick Sorkin scored his 15th goal of the season and put the Wildcats (14-13-1, 6-6 HE) back on top, 2-1.
Eric Schurhamer scored early in the frame to tie the game and then Ryan Lomberg scored the eventual game winner seven minutes later to give the Black Bears a 3-2 lead. Brian Morgan put home an empty net goal in the final minute to seal the game.
Shore had the primary assist on three of the Maine goals after coming off a Hockey East Player of the Month honor in December.
Ross Gienieczko can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @RossCollegian.
