In an upset, Mass Amherst defeated host Boston College 5-4 in the Hockey East First Round. #9 UMA will travel to Orono to meet #1 Maine, Saturday night at 8 pm. The winner will advance to the HE semifinals at the Boston Garden. NESN will have the game live. The Minutemen never led in the game until sophomore defenseman Dale Hooper's shot from the point deflected in off a BC player with 1:51 left. The goal was only Hooper's 3rd of the year and came on a power play. The BC penalty that caused the power play was the only penalty called in the last 26:38 of play. It was an obvious penalty, but BC might be right to be upset at the call since Hooper had gotten away with a clear board/hit from behind perhaps a minute earlier. It was certainly a very tough way for BC to lose. It was a seesaw battle with BC scoring, then UMA, and so on as the game was tied 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, and 4-4. UMA's Rob Bonneau had tied the game at 12:39 of the second period on a big goal that came just 14 seconds after BC had taken a 4-3 lead, and there was no more scoring until Hooper's goal. The game was very evenly played. A key for UMA was holding BC to only six shots and no goals in the final period, as their defense played very well tonight led by Hooper. He was named the game's #3 star, but I would have made him my first star. He anchored the point well on the power play (2 for 5) and broke up several dangerous plays in his own end. Mike Evans, Tom Perry, and Jon Jacques each added a goal and an assist for UMA. BC's Jamie O'Leary had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Haggerty had two assists. Another key was that although BC led four times, they were never able to establish a two-goal lead that would have put the young Minutemen in a deep hole. Each time that BC went ahead, UMA hung in there and got the equalizer before long. UMA coach Joe Mallen did a good job of keeping his team focused. Neither goalie particularly shone tonight. Brian Regan made 20 saves for UMA, and Greg Taylor turned aside 21 for BC. With the BC students on break, the attendance was very small, officially 723 (capacity 7,884). The game was not shown on tv. The win was only UMA's 6th of the year (6-27-2). BC finishes the season at 11-22-2. This was the Minutemen's second victory over BC this season, as UMA defeated BC 5-3 back on January 7th. It was their first win ever at BC, as the Eagles took both of their regular season home games with UMA. Ironically, the two schools that have entered HE as expansion teams since the league was formed have both played BC in their opening round HE series, and both posted wins against the Eagles. Merrimack lost a best of three quarterfinal to then #1 BC in 1990, but Merrimack posted a 6-3 win in the second game of that series. However, Merrimack has never won a HE playoff series, and now UMA has. Congratulations to the UMA staff and players for a well-earned win that has to mean a lot after the tough opening season they have had. --- --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93