A tie for first place in Hockey East would have been on the line had Saturday night’s game in Lowell been played two weeks ago.
Instead, the No. 9 University of Massachusetts-Lowell’s 5-3 victory over the No. 15 University of Massachusetts-Amherst lifted the Riverhawks into fourth and dropped UMass to fifth.
What’s happened to the pair of reeling Baystaters?
The Minutemen, top-ranked in last week’s Daily Free Press power rankings, have lost three in a row, beginning with an out-of-conference loss to Quinnipiac University on Nov. 28, 5-4 in overtime. Dating back to a Halloween loss to Providence College, they have fallen in four of their last six Hockey East contests.
With the win, the Hawks snapped a three-game losing streaking of their own, the latest loss in the stretch coming to the No. 19 University of New Hampshire, which has stormed up the Hockey East standings with a 5-0-1 record in its past six games, all against in-conference opponents.
UNH coach Dick Umile’s squad now sits atop the league standings, 7-2-2 in-conference, after an abysmal 1-4-1 out-of-conference stretch.
The ‘Cats are led by senior forward Bobby Butler (12 goals-10 assists-22 points), who shredded BU to the tune of a goal and three assists during a two-game set on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21.
He ranks third in Hockey East in points behind UMass junior forward James Marcou (5-20-25) and University of Maine sophomore forward Gustav Nyquist (11-13-24).
1980 USA Teammates Honored
BU teammates and 1980 Olympic champions Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Jack O’Callahan and Dave Silk were honored during the first intermission of Saturday’s game against No. 10 Boston College by BU athletic director Mike Lynch.
This winter marks the 30th anniversary of their ‘Miracle on Ice’ run.
All four took center-ice to a roar of ‘USA! USA! USA!’ billowing from the Dog Pound. Terrier and Eagle fans alike stood and applauded, as each man received a commemorative trophy.
How to use the break
Assistant captains Nick Bonino and Eric Gryba will seek refuge in a nearly month-long break to prepare their team for the second half of the season.
After the Dec. 11 matchup with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, BU doesn’t play again until Jan. 2 against UMass at Agganis Arena.
‘We have RPI this weekend coming up and we need two points out of that,’ Gryba said. ‘To get two points out of that and then take a break, everyone take a step back, and really come back prepared for the second half.’
‘I know my freshman year, we got off to a similar start,’ Bonino said. ‘I think we’re more talented this year, and I think we’ve found what kind of team we are quicker this year.’
Millan
After switching up his goalie rotation to give sophomore Kieran Millan an extra day of preparation, BU coach Jack Parker was pleased with his netminder’s effort against BC.
‘I thought he played really well the whole game,’ Parker said. ‘A game where he gives up four goals, you’re not really happy with, but I thought he played pretty well. He looked like Kieran tonight. Another reason why I feel really good.’
Parker also gave credit to Millan for holding BC to 0-for-6 on the power play.
‘I thought we got confused a couple of times and Kieran bailed us out, but in general, we did a good job on the penalty kill,’ he said.
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