The No. 11 UMass hockey team dropped both games of their weekend series against the No. 1 Boston College Eagles, as freshman forward and Amherst native Ryan Leonard finished with five goals for the Eagles, including a hat trick on Sunday. The series drops the Minutemen to 16-9-3 on the year, while the Eagles improved to 23-5-1.
“Sometimes you have those moments and obviously your teammates notice and try to get me the puck,” Leonard said. “This weekend was just one of those weekends where I was just feeling it.”
Game One
A near sold out crowd at the Mullins Center Friday night gave Leonard a less than warm homecoming, as thunderous boos filled the stadium when he and the Eagles hit the ice. However, those boos quickly faded throughout the night, as Leonard sealed the victory for the Eagles with two highlight reel goals.
Leonard’s first goal of the night came in the second period with Boston College leading 2-1. Near the end of what had been an uneventful powerplay for the Eagles, Leonard flew up the ice and into the attacking zone, before ripping a shot by UMass freshman goaltender Michael Hrabal.
Leonard added another tally late in the third period to seal the victory for the Eagles.
“He was very excited to play here,” Boston College head coach Greg Brown said. “It was great to see him score.”
Freshman forward Cutter Gauthier scored the first two goals for Boston College, with both goals coming off unorthodox deflections that left Hrabal little chance of stopping the puck. Brown admitted his team took advantage of some fortunate bounces.
UMass, on the other hand, was given a few unfortunate bounces. Multiple shots rang off the post for the Minutemen, drawing gasps from the crowd at the Mullins. UMass head coach Greg Carvel pointed out the unfortunate circumstances when assessing his team.
“It wasn’t our best game, but I thought we played well enough [to win],” Carvel said. “Two fluke goals against are tough against a high-flying offensive team.”
Junior forward Lucas Mercuri scored the lone goal for the Minutemen, squeaking a powerplay goal through Boston College goaltender Jacob Fowler.
Andre Gasseau added an empty netter for the Eagles, as they took game one 5-1, in a game both head coaches agreed was a closer game than the final score told.
Game Two
A back and forth affair at the Conte Forum on Sunday afternoon left the Eagles pulling out a 6-4 victory, with Leonard’s hat trick and multiple third period penalties looming large in the Minutemen’s defeat.
Boston College had their way in the first period, with Leonard roofing a shot from the slot to open the scoring, while freshman forward Gabe Perrault extended the lead in the final minute of the first period on the powerplay.
Sophomore forward Kenny Connors got the Minutemen on the board at the 8:28 mark of the second period, before freshman forward Aydar Suniev scored two goals in 29 seconds, giving the Minutemen the 3-2 lead.
The two teams entered the frame knotted at three apiece after Boston College struck back with a goal from Jamie Armstrong at the 15:17 mark of the second period.
7:56 into the third period, UMass took the lead back, as freshman forward Dans Locmelis sent one by Fowler.
Deep into the third period, sophomore forward Cole O’Hara was assessed a holding penalty. Just a few seconds later, Mercuri was given an interference penalty. This put the Eagles on a near 2-minute 5-on-3 powerplay.
It did not take long for the Hockey East’s best powerplay to take advantage, as Leonard fired one by Hrabal to tie the game with 1:40 still remaining on the Mercuri interference penalty. He then fired another one by Hrabal to give the Eagles the 5-4 lead, a lead they would not lose for the rest of the game.
Carvel seemed somewhat displeased with the officiating after the game.
“We overcame some adversity early in the game and then faced some adversity late in the game that was out of our control and decided the game.” Carvel said. “Tough way to lose a game.”
Gauthier added the empty netter for the Eagles as they completed the sweep, winning 6-4.
