BOSTON COLLEGE 2 0 1 - 3 2-5-1 HE (1-0 SO) 5-8-1 overall UMASS-LOWELL 3 3 2 - 8 5-2-0 HE 8-3-2 overall (complete box posted to list INFO-HOCKEY-L). UMass-Lowell gained a weekend split with a dominant win at home over Boston College. Jon Mahoney's hat trick sparked a powerful attack that scored 4 power play goals against the Eagles. The River Hawks outskated and outplayed BC in this one, scoring 6 unanswered goals in the middle part of the game to put it away. BC, who had won 3 games in a row including Friday's 6-5 triumph, played a poor game (one of their worst of the season.) We arrived late, so I had to listen to the first few minutes on the radio; several penalties, but no goals. Toby Harris's first goal of the season for BC started the scoring at 10:32. Christian Sbrocca, who skated around the BC defense all evening, hit a post after a nice feed but it did not go in. After UML killed off a Jon Mahoney penalty, Mahoney came out of the box to collect a clean breakaway pass at the blue line, and tapped in his own rebound to tie it. BC's Tom Ashe's high shot scored above Fillion's glove on a 4-on-4 situation at 15:19, but Mahoney got his second of the evening 31 seconds later into a wide-open net after collecting a return pass from Sbrocca on a nice setup. Salsman gave Lowell a 3-2 lead late in the first by beating a BC defenseman wide to the right, sweeping to the front of the net, and sliding the puck through Greg Taylor. This goal was typical of the BC defensive play all night, where they either would not or could not stop Lowell forwards from flying to the net. UML was skating well and BC was not. Brendan Concannon's "cannon" shot from the left point beat Taylor cleanly at 0:55 of the second, and Lowell completely dominated the period from that point. BC took several penalties trying to catch the speedier UML players, and Lowell finally capitalized during a 5-on-3 when Jeff Daw slid the puck through the 5-hole after a pretty passing combination from Concannon to Sbrocca to Daw. BC took at timeout at this point but it was to no avail, as Lowell continued to press the attack. More BC penalties led to another power-play goal, as Mahoney got his hat trick at 17:32. (This goal took place at the other end of the ice, and I believe it was actually scored by a BC player trying to deflect a pass away from the front of the goal. This would be 3 goals in 2 nights for Lowell actually scored by BC deflections.) I hoped BC would come out for the third period with some fire, to have a chance at coming back, but it was obvious from the start of the period that they did not have the energy or emotion to lift themselves. The third period was more even, but Lowell still got most of the good opportunities. UML's 3rd ppg of the night came from Sbrocca who popped in a beautiful return pass on a give-and- go with Mahoney. BC got one back just 5 seconds into a power play as Ken Hemenway blasted one from the point. More Lowell pressure led to a delay of game penalty on BC's Buckley for deliberately dislodging the net, and they closed out the scoring when a hard shot trickled through Taylor's pads to lie loose in the crease, where it was swept home by Donovan. This game showed the UMass-Lowell team that has been successful so far this year, as they shut down the top lines for BC and mounted great offensive pressure on Taylor. BC fans have to be disappointed in the poor showing after a tough win Friday night. The freshmen played like freshmen Saturday (even Reasoner), Taylor was only so-so, and the defense was BAD. I thought O'Leary and Harris showed some life, and just about no one else. Still, it is early in the year, and BC hasn't yet learned how to put 2 really good games back-to-back in the same weekend. The team is young, and should continue to grow over the course of the season; they aren't far from being fully competitive in Hockey East, but must improve the goals-against to have chances to steal some upset wins. If they played the rest of the season the way they played at Harvard last week, I would be happy -- that game showed how well the team can play defense when they work hard. We wondered after this game how Lowell could have been tied by Air Force, when UML has some powerful offensive firepower. Our guess was that Lowell overlooked this independent opponent (the games were at Air Force), and in Division I, only the very top teams can get away with that on any night. Lowell fans were excited about the games next weekend, when UML hosts Maine Friday and Saturday night. BC next plays Friday 12/8 at home against UNH and Saturday at UNH. --------------- ---------------------- Rick McAdoo [log in to unmask] Read the FAQ!!! A patient BC fan. GO EAGLES! HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.