UMass Lowell hockey team falls to top-ranked Boston College, 6-1

LOWELL – The River Hawks couldn’t contain Gabe Perreault from taking flight Friday night.

The Boston College freshman scored a goal and added two assists, to lead the top-ranked Eagles to a 6-1 win over UMass Lowell in front of a standing room only crowd of 6,421 at the Tsongas Center.

With the loss, UMass Lowell falls to 7-17-2, (3-11-1 Hockey East), while Boston College improves to 19-4-1 (12-3-1 Hockey East).

“These guys were too much for us to handle tonight,” said UMass Lowell Coach Norm Bazin. “I thought we were playing pretty, well until we took a penalty in the first period, and things unraveled a little bit. We have to get better in a lot of areas. We had a good week of practice, but sometimes you can’t tell how things will go in those weeks. In any case, these guys were much better than us.”

BC was coming off an emotional sweep last weekend of rival Boston University, which at the time was the nation’s top-ranked squad, but the Eagles didn’t suffer a letdown.

The River Hawks, meanwhile, dropped their fifth straight game, all league contests. Usually a terrific home team, UMass Lowell dropped to 1-8-1 before the home fans at the Tsongas.

Special teams were the difference in the matchup. BC went 2-for-4 on the power play, while UML was 0-for-7 with the man advantage. BC swept the season series 3-0. The Eagles defeated the River Hawks in a pair of 3-2 games earlier in the season.

“There are several things that impress me (about BC),” said Bazin. “Their freshman line is something college hockey hasn’t seen in a while. I think they accounted for 3-4 goals tonight. We knew they were that good. We were hoping to do a better job checking them and it didn’t work out.”

The Eagles came out flying, building a 2-0 cushion within the first 10 minutes of action. Grad student Jack Malone provided the initial spark, scoring an unassisted goal off a two-on-one break at 5:55. Meanwhile, Perreault provided some power play panache less than four minutes later. Camped in right slot, the Eagles’ leading scorer tapped in Will Smith’s cross ice feed, giving BC the early advantage.

UMass Lowell had some decent looks in the opening moments. Filip Fornää Svensson had the best chance, striking the post after gliding down the left lane in the opening minutes. Overall, the River Hawks were outshot by the Eagles 11-7 in the stanza.

Svensson continued to create a stir for the River Hawks in the second period. The 6-foot-4, 216-pound grad student caught a TJ Schweighardt pass before rifling a wrist shot past BC goalie Jacob Fowler at 4:38, cutting BC’s lead to 2-1.

The Eagles responded less than a minute later, however. Senior Eamon Powell potted the power-play goal from Smith and Perreault, maintaining the Eagles two-goal cushion. Cutter Gauthier extended the BC lead, scoring from the left point at 15:16 of the second period.  Through two periods of play, the Eagles held the 20-17 shots advantage.

The River Hawks were dealt a tough blow to start the third period. Team captain Ben Meehan was assessed a five-minute major and ejected for a check to the head with 15:00 to play. Meehan was playing in his 100th career game. The 6-foot, 188-pound defenseman has netted 10 goals, 38 assists and 48 points over his tenure with UMass Lowell.

Although they managed to kill off the major, the River Hawks were unable to regain their footing, despite catching up on shots 42-42 attempted with 7:56 to play.

“If you’re looking for positives, I guess the five-minute kill was a positive,” said Bazin. “We keep doing it without giving up many shots. I think the situation was very similar to in Maine. You give up seven on 23 shots. Here you give up six on 24, that’s not a good ratio. So we have to be better in every aspect. I’m certainly not singling out the goaltendering because its team defense. We have to be better. We have to keep prodding guys, pushing guys to be better. Hopefully we can turn the corner in some aspect or another.”

Making his first start since Dec. 30, UMass Lowell goalie Henry Welsch hung tough under fire. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound netminder made 23 saves in his return, including a big pad save off Smith. But Gauthier remained undaunted potting his second goal for the Eagles, chasing Welsch from the game with 6:45 remaining. Ryan Leonard put the game away for BC a little later, scoring with 1:30 remaining, with Perreault picking up his third point of the game.

“It’s a tough team to start off against after not starting for four weeks,” said Bazin, who said he will review the film to get a better assessment. “He only had 3-4 days of practice too. He’s a good goalie in this league, its a tough one to start off with.”

Bazin is still just one win away from his 300th overall as an NCAA collegiate head coach. He currently has 299 wins, dating back to the 2008-09 season, when he became a head coach at Hamilton College.