River Hawks Play Eagles to 3-3 Tie, Win Shootout 2-1

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On Friday night, a big game took place at Tsongas Center before a crowd of 6,002. The #3 Boston College Eagles came to Lowell, MA. to play the #14/#13 UMass Lowell River Hawks. The Eagles arrived at Tsongas Center having won their last two games while the River Hawks are unbeaten in their last three (2-0-1). Jacob Fowler, who leads Hockey East in saves percentage at .938, in shutouts with four, and is second in GAA at 1.82, started in net for the Eagles. For the River Hawks, it was Beni Halasz (2-1-0, 1.71 GAA, .935 save percentage). Beni came into this game off back-to-back shutout efforts.

It took the River Hawks 5:08 seconds to get the lead. An odd man rush ended with Mirko Buttazzoni taking a pass from Owen Cole on the right wing side and beating Fowler short side, his third of the year for a 1-0 UML lead. The other assist went to Connor Eddy. Almost two minutes later, the Eagles tied the game at 1-1 on a goal by Andre Gasseau, his eighth of the year. The assist went to Oskar Jellvik. Good board work behind the River Hawks net by Jellvik set up Gasseau on the left side of the net as he roofed a shot past Halasz.

At the 11:17 mark, the River Hawks went on the power play for the first time when Eagles winger Teddy Stiga was sent off for tripping. The Eagles’ PK has been hard to explain. They came into the game having not allowed a PP goal (33-for-33) as the only Division I program that can make that claim. The Eagles would make it 34-for-34 with this kill. At 13:51 the River Hawks took back the lead on the first college goal for Girts Silkalns who beat Fowler to the blocker side with a wrist shot. Ian Carpentier picked up the assist.

UMass Lowell went back on the power play for a second time in the period and after getting three shots on net, the River Hawks could not add to their lead. At 19:37 UMass Lowell went back on the PP thanks to a five-minute cross-check and game-misconduct penalty to Eagles defenseman Aidan Hreschuk. The period ended with the River Hawks on the PP and leading 2-1. Shots were 17-8 BC.

The second period started with the River Hawks power play which had 4:37 seconds left on it. It would get better for UMass Lowell as Aram Minnetian went off for a trip at 3:55. The River Hawks were being given a golden chance to bust this game wide open. They would not cash in on any of the power play chances they had. But at 7:01, they did make it a 3-1 game. Buttazoni scored his second of the game and his fourth of the year by redirecting a shot from TJ Schweighardt past Fowler. Eddy picked up his second assist of the night.

Boston College went back on the PP at 9:35 when Pierson Brandon went off for slashing. The River Hawks had a chance to go up three as Matt Crasa took off on a 2-on-1 with Prandon. Crasa’s drop pass found Brandon whose shot was stopped by Fowler. BC cut the lead to 3-2 on a 3-on-1 that was a result of a fan-shot from Brandon. The odd-man rush was finished off by Mike Posma his third of the year from Jake Sondreal at 17:47. At 18:24, the Eagles tied the game at 3-3 on a goal by Gabe Perreault, his seventh of the season from James Hagens. It was now a brand new game as the teams went to their dressing rooms. Shots in the second were 13 for the River Hawks and 8 for BC.

The third period was crucial for the River Hawks. Having given up the lead, could they get it back together again and reclaim it? The best early chance went to BC off an offensive zone faceoff. Jellvik was all alone in front of Halasz but his shot was stopped by the River Hawks goalie. A save that would be remembered later on. UML’s best chance came on a break-in by Eddy who was stopped by Fowler as Eddy tried to go five-hole on the BC goalie. Halasz came up big again when BC defenseman Drew Fortescue tipped a pass on goal that was stopped by Halasz. With 8;49 left, it was still anyone’s game With 3:32 left the game was still tight. While both teams had chances, the period would end 3-3. Free hockey was on tap. Shots for the third period were UML 12, BC 9

We went to overtime at Tsongas between these two teams playing 3-on-3 hockey. The River Hawks caught a break as Scout Truman was tripped up in the BC zone by Fortescue 34 seconds in. The River Hawks’ head coach Norm Bazin called a timeout to set up the PP. The River Hawks did nothing with the man advantage and were now 0-5 on the power play for the night. The OT would go scoreless. A shoot-out was next.

The River Hawks won the shootout by a 2-1 score. Dillan Bentley and Owen Cole scored. Gabe Perreault scored for BC. Eagles head coach Greg Brown thought it was a “great battle” and his team “played hard.” The 27 minutes of penalty time his team took is something he hopes to clean up ahead of Monday night’s rematch with the River Hawks. Norm Baziin was happy with the win in front of a big crowd. He thought his team’s best period was the third after his team gave up the two-goal lead in the second.

The two teams meet again on Monday night, this time at Kelly Rink at BC.