If you wanted to see Hockey East get a little tighter, your wish came true on Friday as No. 14 UMass Lowell, behind 23 saves from Tyler Wall pulled a road upset of No. 4 Boston College, 3-2.
Lowell pulls into a tie with BC and Maine for second place in Hockey East, two points behind first place UMass, a 3-1 winner over Providence on Friday.
Boston College struck first on a shorthanded goal by Alex Newhook in the second. But Lowell responded with a power play tally by Carl Berglund, his team-leading 11th, and Kenny Hausinger. Those two goals gave the River Hawks the lead heading to the third.
Ben Finkelstein evened the game on the power play just 54 second into the third. But Marek Korencik’s first collegiate goal with 9:09 remaining broke the tie.
GOAL! Marek Korencik with his 1st collegiate goal to give the #RiverHawks a 3-2 lead in the 3rd period from BC pic.twitter.com/XY8NdxlBYE
— UMass Lowell Hockey (@RiverHawkHockey) February 8, 2020
With both BC and Maine idle on Saturday, the River Hawks have the chance to pass both teams when they travel to Merrimack.
Maine 4, No. 12 Northeastern 2
The Maine Black Bears remain perfect at home (10-0-2) after skating past No. 12 Northeastern, 4-2.
Maine trailed early when Northeastern’s Zach Solow scored his 12th of the year in the first. But the Black Bears had the next three goals as Patrick Shea, Adam Dawe and Ryan Smith tallying.
The Huskies tried to creep closer late, as Matt Demelis scored with 6:28 left. But Maine had an immediate answer as Eduards Tralmaks scored 16 seconds later.
3P | Mitch to Ed!#BlackBearNation | #HockeyEast pic.twitter.com/ElPFNmTmv5
— Black Bear Hockey (@MaineIceHockey) February 8, 2020
Maine has won five straight to move from ninth place to a tie for second in Hockey East in just three weekends.
No. 13 Ohio State 2, No. 9 Penn State 2 (F/OT, Ohio State wins shootout)
Sam McCormick’s shootout goal capped a rally from two goals down as Ohio State took the extra point in the B1G standings after a thrilling 2-2 tie against Penn State.
That sweet sound you hear? It's the sound of an @OhioStateMHKY shootout win. ? pic.twitter.com/a4uwmO1FB5
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) February 8, 2020
The Nittany Lions grabbed the early lead on first-period goals by Evan Barrett and Cole Hults.
Jaedon Leslie pulled the Buckeyes within a goal at 5:18 of the second. And Gordi Myer provided the equalizer at the 1:58 mark of the third.
After neither team could solve the goaltender for the remainder of regulation and overtimes, McCormick came up with the winner in the second round of the sudden-death shootout.
The victory keeps the Buckeyes in first place in the B1G, a spot they now share with Minnesota, a 4-1 winner over Michigan State on Friday.
No. 6 Minnesota Duluth 3, Omaha 2
The Bulldogs broke a 1-1 tie with a second period goal by Quinn Olson and tally from Noah Cates midway through the third period then held on for a 3-2 victory.
Dogs win! https://t.co/pzZmI5Z9Ad
— UMD Men's Hockey (@UMDMensHockey) February 8, 2020
With North Dakota idle this weekend, the Bulldogs are now five points behind North Dakota. They also have climbed into the top four in the PairWise Rankings.
Hunter Shepard did the job in net for Minnesota Duluth, earning the win with 24 saves.
No. 11 Arizona State 3, Holy Cross 2 (OT)
Joshua Maniscalco’s goal with 1:16 remaining in overtime lifted Arizona State to a 3-2 victory over Holy Cross, further cementing the Sun Devils position in the PairWise in their race for an at-large NCAA bid.
LOVE to see it! ? pic.twitter.com/1qNMpRErNx
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) February 8, 2020
The Sun Devils trailed, 2-1, through two periods on goals by Logan Ferguson and Neil Robinson for host Holy Cross. But PJ Marrocco’s tally at 1:14 of the third forced overtime.
Goaltender Evan DeBrouwer had to be strong in net, finishing the game with 31 saves.
