Sweep BC weekend for Maine

NEW ENGLAND HOCKEY

Maine came into Kelley Rink this weekend and made some history, completing a two-game Hockey East sweep of No. 3 Boston College with a 3-1 victory in front of 7,126 fans last night.

Black Bears junior Jon Swavely scored his first two goals of the year, while junior Martin Ouellette made 24 saves. As a result, the Eagles lost their first consecutive home games since November 2007, and the first weekend series loss to the same foe since Maine did the deed Jan. 22-24, 1993.

“Give Maine credit coming into our building. Not many teams have done that to us over the last decade,” said BC coach Jerry York.

Maine (7-14-4, 3-9-4) got goals from Swavely on a 3-on-2 at 18:43 of the first, sophomore Connor Leen off a rebound at 2:48 of the third, and Swavely on a wraparound at 13:44 of the third. BC (14-7-2, 11-6-1) averted a shutout with 10.9 seconds left on a goal by junior Patrick Brown, his third of the season. Sophomore Brian Billett, making his first start of the season, had 26 saves.

“The biggest thing is this gives us confidence,” said Swavely. “Two road wins over BC, (it) doesn’t get any better than this.”

BC had several glittering opportunities. A tic-tac-toe passing combination that started with center Bill Arnold to left winger Kevin Hayes before winding on the stick of right winger Destry Straight ended with Ouellette committing highway robbery at 2:30 of the second. A blast by defenseman Patrick Wey, just out of the penalty box, at 14:41 of the second struck Ouellette in the mask, glanced off the crossbar and fell precariously close to the goal line. The play was reviewed to no avail for the injury-plagued Eagles, who were missing freshmen Colin Sullivan and Mike Matheson to concussions, and senior Patch Alber (knee surgery).

“The only thing you can do is try and stay positive,” said Arnold. “It can be frustrating when you’re not burying your chances.”

Ouellette, who registered a game-high 34 saves on Friday, was solid.

“I know they like to go backdoor and wait for the opportunity,” he said, “so I was able to hold my ground and stay patient on the play.”.

UMass-Lowell 5, Northeastern 4 — After ending the hosts eight-game win streak on Friday with a 4-4 draw, the Huskies were poised to end the RiverHawks’ ninegame unbeaten run, up 4-1 with 12 minutes to go at the Tsongas Center. Instead, the RiverHawks (14-7-2, 8-6-2) staged an improbable Hockey East comeback, scoring three times with the extra skater on to force overtime, where Christian Folin scored at 3:07 to shock the Huskies (7-12-3, 4-10-3).

Steve Morra and Braden Pimm (goal, assist each) helped stake NU to a threegoal lead, despite UML holding a huge shot advantage. But the RiverHawks finally broke down NU goalie Bryan Mountain in the third, Joseph Pendenza starting the comeback at 8:53. Derek Arnold scored a power-play goal at 13:59 to pull within one, and Riley Wetmore’s ninth of the year, off a Pendenza assist, tied it up at 19:04.

Pendenza also set up Folin’s winner, giving him a four-point night.

Boston University 3, Providence 3 — In a tight affair in which neither team had a lead more than a goal, Danny O’Regan had the final say, scoring his ninth of the year with 6:39 to play to give the No. 11 Terriers (13-9-1, 10-61) a Hockey East draw with the Friars (10-10-4, 8-6-3) at Agannis Arena.

Providence’s Jon Gillies made 28 saves, while BU counterpart Matt O’Connor had 26 stops. Steven Shamanski had two assists for the Friars. Matt Nieto joined O’Reagan in the goal-assist club for BU.

New Hampshire 6, Merrimack 2 — Casey DeSmith made 35 saves while Grayson Downing had a goal and two assists as the Wildcats (156-2, 10-5-1) took care of the Warriors (10-10-5, 8-6-2) in a Hockey East game in Manchester, N.H.

Trevor van Riemsdyk had four assists on the UNH blue line, while Austin Block and Connor Hardowa each had a goal and an assist.

Vermont 3, UMass 2 — Brody Hoffman made 36 stops, while Kyle Reynolds scored twice and Jacob Fallon’s seventh of the year was the one that was necessary as the Catamounts (7-13-4, 4-9-4) held on to beat the Minutemen (9-12-2, 6-9-1) in a Hockey East game in Burlington, Vt.

Michael Pereira and Branden Gracel scored for UMass.

St. Lawrence 4, Harvard 3— George Hughes scored at 3:27 of overtime to give the Saints (11-10-3, 4-5-3) an ECAC overtime win over the Crimson (5-13-1, 3-11-1) at Bright Arena.

Jimmy Vesey scored twice and Alex Fallstrom had the other for Harvard, while Raphael Girard had 39 saves in a losing cause.

Holy Cross 2, Bentley 1 — Down a goal entering the third period, tallies from Jake Youso and Evan Zych 2:11 apart lifted the Crusaders (13-9-2, 9-6-2) to an Atlantic Hockey win over the Falcons (11-11-1, 9-7-1) at Ryan Arena in Watertown.

Alex Grieve’s ninth of the season gave Bentley a 1-0 lead. Matt Ginn had 31 saves for HC, and Branden Komm had 29 for the Falcons.

Women

Boston College 4, Providence 3 — Melissa Bizzari scored with 3:21 to play, lifting the Eagles (18-4-2, 11-2-1) over the Friars (11-11-4, 5-62) in a Hockey East game in Providence.

Alex Carpenter had two assists for BC, giving her 27 on the season. Corinne Bule had her ninth and 10th goals for the hosts.

Harvard 3, St. Lawrence 2 — Down 2-1 in the third period, Jillian Dempsey’s 22nd goal of the year tied it, and Kalley Armstrong won it in overtime to lift the Crimson (17-2-1, 14-1-0) over the Saints (14-10-2, 9-4-1) in an ECAC game in Canton, N.Y.