Behind 47 saves from netminder Jon Quick and Jamie Solon’s third-period game winning goal, Massachusetts (10-15-0, 7-11-0 Hockey East) upset No. 3 Boston College (17-6-2, 15-4-1 HEA) on Friday night 3-2 in front of 7,132 fans at the Mullins Center.
With the Minutemen holding a 2-0 lead after two periods of play, Boston College could not be kept off the board, finally scoring on the power play at 7:51 of the third. Peter Harrold made a pass across the crease to Brian Boyle, who beat Quick on the far side for his 12th of the season. Brett Motherwell also assisted on the PP goal.
But Solon regained the two-goal lead for the Minutemen at 9:59, his sixth goal of the season and fourth in six games. Matt Anderson made the pass up to his linemate, who scored on the stick side of Schneider. Kevin Jarman was also credited with an assist on the tally.
BC came back 1:31 later with Chris Collins’ 22nd goal to make it 3-2. With traffic in front of Quick, Collins connected on the far side, the pass coming from Boyle again through the crease. Stephen Gionta added an assist on the goal, which brought Collins’ career point total to 100.
Five penalties were called in the remainder of the game, including a tripping call on UMass’ Chris Davis with 2:17 left on the clock. Cory Schneider was pulled with 1:32 remaining, making it a six-on-four advantage for the Eagles. But Quick and the Minuteman defense held strong for the victory, their first over BC since Jan. 3, 2003.
The Eagles had had a 16-game winning streak at the Mullins Center prior to Friday night, with the last Massachusetts win at home coming on Jan. 7, 1995.
Overall, shots were 49-29 in favor of the visitors. Both teams were afforded seven power-play opportunities, with BC converting once.
The Eagles held an impressive 20-7 edge in shots in the first, but neither team converted in the period. The Minutemen successfully killed three UMass penalties, while Quick, who was in net for the first time since Jan. 13 at Lowell, was solid between the pipes. The Hamden, Conn., native held off BC on a partial breakaway at the tail end of a power play, and stopped five point-blank shots at the top of the crease.
The Minutemen opened up the scoring in the second with Stephen Werner’s eighth goal of the season. Scott Crowder made the pass to Werner between the circles, and he skated in at the end of his shift and shot high. The puck hit high in the net and immediately bounced out, but after deliberation with the goal judge, it was allowed by referee Peter Feola. Marvin Degon also assisted.
Cory Quirk made it a 2-0 game at 8:12, assisted by Alex Berry and P.J. Fenton. Fenton fed the puck up to Berry, whose initial shot from the outside of the near circle rebounded out. Quirk was waiting to the right of Schneider and he stuffed it home for his sixth of the season.
The teams skated through the remainder of the period with the 2-0 score. Shots were 28-18 through the opening 40 minutes, setting up the decisive third.
