No. 2 UMass Edges Boston College 4-3 in Closing Seconds

AMHERST, Mass. – Jake McLaughlin's one-timer with 2.3 seconds left in the third period gave No. 2 UMass a 4-3 Hockey East victory over Boston College on Friday night at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen snapped an eight-game losing streak and 10-game winless streak against the Eagles.

With the game tied 3-3 in the closing seconds, Joseph Woll lost his stick at the right post on a goalmouth scramble. Mitchell Chaffee curled around the net with the loose puck and fed McLaughlin in the low left circle for the game-winner.

BC fell to 9-6-3 in Hockey East play, seven points behind first-place UMass (22-6-0, 14-4-0 HEA).

Defensemen Casey Fitzgerald and Connor Moore gave Boston College a 2-0 lead in the first period. Fitzgerald went top shelf from the right wing just four minutes into the contest, while Moore capped off a tic-tac-toe passing combination on the power play with 3:03 left.

Cale Makar cut the lead in half just 30 seconds later as he finished a 2-on-1 rush with Chaffee.

UMass netted the only two goals of the middle frame, beginning with Makar's back door feed to John Leonard at 8:13 as a power play was expiring. Philip Lagunov gave the Minutemen their first lead less than 90 seconds later, firing a centering pass from Jacob Pritchard past Woll (24 saves) first time.

The Eagles couldn't capitalize on a power play chance early in the third period but forced UMass to use its timeout with 14:25 left on the clock.

Marc McLaughlin drew another UMass penalty later in the frame, and David Cotton located a rebound near the left post with 6:49 remaining to tie the game on his team-best 17th of the year.

Woll robbed Pritchard on a breakaway with three and a half minutes to go with a glove save, but McLaughlin's one-timer near the final buzzer gave UMass both points.

Christopher Brown and Ben Finkelstein each finished the night with two assists.

SCORING
3:54 1st, BC Goal (1-0) | Brown laid a pass into the right wing circle for Fitzgerald, who whistled a shot into the upper right corner off the crossbar for his first goal of the year

16:57 1st, BC Goal (2-0) | JD Dudek fed a pass to the left goal line for Brown, who quickly looked back door to find Moore as he capped off the tic-tac-toe play with a low one-timer to beat Matt Murray (21 saves)

17:26 1st, UMass Goal (2-1) | On the following shift, Makar capped off a 2-on-1 with Chaffee as he slid a low shot past a sprawling Woll to put UMass on the board

8:13 2nd, UMass Goal (2-2) | In the closing seconds of a UMass power play, Makar waited patiently in the low left wing circle before wristing a pass across the zone to Leonard for a back weak side one-timer

9:38 2nd, UMass Goal (2-3) | From behind the Boston College net, Pritchard sent a pass by the right post to give Lagunov a point blank one-timer that he finished glove side

13:11 3rd, BC Goal (3-3) | Julius Mattila followed a shot from Cotton near the top of the crease, and the loose puck bounced to the left post where Cotton lifted it home from a weak angle to knot the score

19:58 3rd, UMass Goal (3-4) | Chaffee collected a loose puck on a net-front scramble and circled around the net before finding McLaughlin at the weak side for a game-winning one-timer through traffic

UP NEXT
The schools conclude the home-and-home series on Saturday (Feb. 16) on the Heights beginning at 8 p.m. Boston College will raise the jerseys of former Eagle greats Tim Sheehy '70 and Tom Mellor '73 to the rafters during the first intermission at Kelley Rink.

No. 2 UMass Edges Boston College 4-3 in Closing Seconds

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Team Stats

Christopher Brown

Ben Finkelstein

Casey Fitzgerald

David Cotton

Players Mentioned

Christopher Brown

David Cotton

JD Dudek

Ben Finkelstein

Casey Fitzgerald

Julius Mattila

Marc McLaughlin

Connor Moore

Joseph Woll

Players Mentioned

Christopher Brown

David Cotton

JD Dudek

Ben Finkelstein

Casey Fitzgerald

Julius Mattila

Marc McLaughlin

Connor Moore

Joseph Woll