Eagles Punch Ticket To Frozen Four

The Boston College Eagles love the city of Worcester. Each of their previous three National Championships started in the City of Seven Hills. Now the Eagles head back to the Frozen Four through Worcester thanks to a 4-3 win over UMass Lowell Sunday night.

The match up featured one of the nation's top goaltenders, Connor Hellebuyck, trying to stop one of the most potent scoring lines in the nation, Johnny Gaudreau, Kevin Hayes and Bill Arnold. On this night the offense outdid the goaltending.

The game started as a back-and-forth battle as both teams traded big hits and testing the opposing goalie. Boston College broke through first when Kevin Hayes put one past Hellebuyck on a great feed from Johnny Gaudreau and Michael Matheson. The goal was the third of the tournament for Hayes and was the fourth assist for Gaudreau.

UMass Lowell answered just over five minutes later when Derek Arnold found Michael Kapla on the power play for the equalizer. The goal came with just under two minutes left in the 1st Period. For Kapla, it was his first goal of the tournament and just his fourth on the season. The secondary assist was credited to Ryan McGrath.

The teams continued to battle back-and-forth through the 2nd Period until the Eagles first line broke through again. This time it was Bill Arnold lighting the lamp with Gaudreau and Hayes assisting. The goal was Arnold's second of the tournament while Gaudreau gathered his fifth assist.

The River Hawks once again answered the Eagles, this time just over a minute later. Josh Holmstrom did the scoring for UMass this time, picking up his first of the tournament and eighth of the year. He was set-up by Scott Wilson and Christian Folin. The game went into the 3rd Period tied 2-2 with just 20 minutes separating the in-state rivals from the Frozen Four.

Early in the 3rd Period the River Hawks took their first lead of the game, and their first lead in the two-plus games they played against the Eagles this year, on an Evan Campbell goal. Campbell took an errant pass off the stick of Kevin Hayes and took it in for the go-ahead goal. The goal came just 43-seconds into the 3rd Period.

Yet much like UMass had done two times before, Boston College answered with a goal of their own. The goal came off the stick of Ryan Fitzgerald just 21-seconds later. Fitzgerald was assisted by Patrick Brown and Austin Cangelosi. The Fitzgerald goal was the first goal scored by somebody not on the first line for Boston College.

The Eagles broke through again with just under nine minutes left in the game when Ian McCoshen lit the lamp. The goal was set-up by Teddy Doherty, who won a huge battle for the puck in the corner before finding McCoshen.

The Eagles would not let the River Hawks answer this time and shut down UMass for the remainder of the game. The Eagles defense were so dominant in the final minutes that it took three attempts for the River Hawks to get the puck in deep enough to pull their goaltender.

With the win, the Eagles move on to the Frozen Four in Philadelphia and will take on Union College on April 10.

Related Articles

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.