AMHERST — The UMass hockey team let an opportunity slip away in its 3-1 loss to Boston College at the Mullins Center on Friday night.
Dressing just 10 forwards for the entire game, the Eagles scored the first three goals of the game and pulled off a gutsy victory against a Minutemen team that iced their complete lineup.
“The hope was that we’d spend a lot of time in the offensive zone and really wear them down,” UMass head coach Greg Carvel said.
“We didn’t use [their short bench] against them,” Carvel continued. “We took too many penalties. We didn’t make them defend enough. We gave them way too many power plays.”
Two of BC’s three strikes came on the man-advantage (2-for-5), including a Dean Letourneau buzzer beater during the first period. The Eagles’ last goal came while short-handed as all three of their tucks occurred in special-teams play.
“It turned out to be very much a special-teams game,” Carvel said. “A lot of shots, I thought both goalies played well.”
Senior Jack Musa got on the board for the Minutemen, converting on the power play, which had six total tries in this one, while Tobias Trejbal took the loss in goal despite racking up 36 saves.
“When we’re at our best we’re desperate,” junior defenseman Francesco Dell’Elce said. “We’re playing hard, we’re playing fast. I think just as a group, our intensity is just not where it needs to be. I think once we get back there we’ll be back to playing UMass hockey.”
Boston College beat the clock for a 1-0 lead when Letourneau ripped a snap shot past Trejbal off a clean faceoff win with 1.5 seconds left. The Eagles earned an offensive-zone faceoff after sophomore Coleson Hanrahan took an avoidable roughing penalty.
“One of our issues is discipline,” Carvel said. “If you remember last year, we hardly took penalties. We take a lot of penalties now and to me, that’s a real indicator that we’re off.”
Ryan Conmy doubled BC’s lead with a power play goal midway through the second period. The Minutemen got lost in coverage in the defensive zone and Conmy slipped past both defensemen before tucking in the 2-0 goal at 9:30.
Less than two minutes later, the Eagles struck with a shorthanded strike after Maxim Masse’s breakout pass was picked off in the neutral zone, leading to a BC 2-on-1. Landan Resendes slipped the puck past Trejbal seconds later at 11:29, extending its lead to 3-0.
Puck management, or the lack thereof, was an issue on Friday for UMass, particulary in instances like the third Eagles goal when stretch passes were attempted.
“Puck decisions and also holding onto the puck, we haven’t really been doing that,” Musa said. “That’s why we haven’t been getting the offense that we want.”
Musa fired home UMass’ only tally of the night with a one-time rocket from the top of the right faceoff circle during the Minutemen’s fourth power play of the contest. Musa’s third goal of the season came at 18:04 and made it a 3-1 score.
A late, third-period penalty from BC gave UMass another golden chance, but even with Trejbal on the bench for a lengthy 6-on-4 opportunity, the Minutemen were left with nothing but questions after the Eagles killed it off, 30 seconds prior to the final buzzer.
Louka Cloutier, BC’s starting goalie, concluded with 38 saves.
The Minutemen will try to salvage a split when it heads to Chestnut Hill for the series finale on Saturday.
