No. 13 Boston College Men's Hockey Drops Road Game to No. 17 UMass

The Eagles lost their third consecutive game at the hands of the Minutemen on Thursday night.

Boston College Men's Hockey (BC_MHockey) via X

AMHERST, Mass. — The No. 13 Boston College Eagles (19-13-1, 13-10-0 HE) men’s hockey team suffered its third consecutive loss 2-1 to the No. 17 UMass Minutemen (20-12-1, 13-9-1 HE) on the road on Thursday night. 

Both teams skated to a scoreless frame in the first period. Boston College came out aggressive and outshot UMass 10-2, but were not able to find the back of the net. Minutemen goalie Michael Hrabal saved all 10 shots 

UMass had three advantages in the period, but were unable to capitalize on any of them. Boston College was penalized for too many players on the ice at 3:09, Ryan Conmy was called for hooking at 11:40, and James Hagens was penalized for boarding at 19:35 which bled into the second period. 

UMass got on the board first at the 4:02 mark of the middle frame. Right winger Cam O’Neill ripped one that went just to the side of Eagles goalie Louka Cloutier to put the Minutemen in front 1-0. The score was assisted by left winger Owen Mehlenbacher and defenseman Coleson Hanrahan.

O’Neill’s goal was all either team could put in the back of the net in the period and UMass went into the second intermission with the one-goal lead. 

There was only one power play in the second and it was for UMass. Eagles defenseman Will Skahan was called for hooking at 5:32, but Boston College was able to kill the penalty. Coming into the matchup, BC ranked No. 18 in penalty kill percentage in the nation at .824. 

Early in the third, Hagens knotted things up at 1 at 7:04 after scoring a power-play goal. He rebounded his own shot attempt and tipped it in. Hagens’ goal was assisted by center Dean Letourneau and Cloutier. 

UMass answered 53 seconds later as defenseman Owen Murray scored the go-ahead goal for the Minutemen to put it up 2-1 with help from right winger Lukas Klecka.

Cloutier ended his night with 15 saves and two goals allowed while Hrabal had 34 saves and one goal allowed in his outing. 

Boston College pulled Cloutier with 1:34 remaining in regulation and although the Eagles’ defense did not allow an empty netter, the offense could not score and UMass secured the 2-1 win.

Next up, Boston College returns to Conte Forum to host the Northeastern Huskies for its regular season finale on Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET on NESN.