No. 9 UMass Comes Back to Beat No. 1 Eagles 3-2 in Overtime

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Marc del Gaizo was tripped on a breakaway two minutes into overtime and the puck found the back of the net before coming off its pegs as No. 9 UMass beat top-ranked Boston College 3-2 on Friday night at Kelley Rink.

The Eagles saw their four-game winning streaks both overall and against the Minutemen snapped as they fell to 15-4-1 on the season. UMass improved to 13-5-3 and moved into second place in the Hockey East standings behind first place BC.

Making his 50th career start, Spencer Knight stopped 36 Massachusetts shots on the night and suffered just the second defeat in his last 26 starts.

Mike Hardman and Jack McBain handed Boston College a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes, but a deflection off Carson Gicewicz' arm at 14:11 of the third sent the game to overtime.

With an assist on the game's opening goal in the second period, Alex Newhook collected his 50th career point.

The Eagles' penalty kill was perfect at 3-for-3, improving to 16-for-17 over the last five games. BC had just one power play attempt.

SCORING SUMMARY
2nd 7:28, BC (1-0) | Following a failed clear, Newhook fed a pass to the bottom of the right circle for Hardman, who centered toward Matt Boldy and the puck deflected into the net off a UMass stick blocker side on Filip Lindberg.

2nd 15:27, BC (2-0) | Nikita Nesterenko skated across the UMass line along the left wing, cut inside to the top of the circle, and set up McBain with a cross-zone pass for a heavy one-timer glove side.

2nd 15:32, UMass (2-1) | Off the ensuing center ice faceoff, Garrett Wait gained the BC zone and flipped a pass wide left for Bobby Trivigno, who beat Knight glove side from below the left dot.

3rd 14:11, UMass (2-2) | Knight made a blocker save on Jake Gaudet's weak-angle shot from the left wing, but the puck popped up into the air and deflected off Gicewicz' arm into the net to knot the game.

OT 1:59, UMass (3-2) | del Gaizo carried the puck into the BC zone on a breakaway during 3-on-3 play but was tripped by Drew Helleson. The puck deflected off Helleson past Knight just before the goal came off its pegs and the goal was awarded after video review.

UP NEXT
Hockey East will release the schedule for the final weekend of the regular season next Tuesday.

No. 9 UMass Comes Back to Beat No. 1 Eagles 3-2 in Overtime

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Team Stats

Mike Hardman

Jack McBain

Michael Karow

Nikita Nesterenko

Players Mentioned

Matt Boldy

Mike Hardman

Drew Helleson

Spencer Knight

Jack McBain

Nikita Nesterenko

Alex Newhook

Players Mentioned

Matt Boldy

Mike Hardman

Drew Helleson

Spencer Knight

Jack McBain

Nikita Nesterenko

Alex Newhook