#13/12 Massachusetts Falls To #1 Boston College In Hockey East Semifinal, 8-1

BOSTON- No. 13/12 University of Massachusetts hockey fell to Boston College in the Hockey East semifinals at the TD Garden Friday night, 8-1. UMass now sits with a record of 20-13-3, 12-11-2 in Hockey East while the Eagles advance to tomorrow's championship game with a record of 30-5-1 and 21-3-1 in conference play.

"Against that team you better be at your best and we were a long way from it right from the start," said head coach Greg Carvel. "It didn't feel like our group tonight much at all. BC is a tremendous team, such a high offensive powerhouse and we didn't manage the puck very well."

Junior Lucas Mercuri gave the Minutemen an early 1-0 lead after netting his ninth goal of the season with assists from Ryan Lautenbach and Scott Morrow at the 6:33 mark.

Less than two minutes later, the Eagles tied it up as Ryan Leonard scored a power play goal from Will Smith and Cutter Gauthier.

At the 14:34 mark of the first, Boston College's Mike Posma was whistled for contact to the head. After a UMass challenge, the call was upgraded to a five-minute major. Despite the man advantage, UMass was unable to reclaim the lead and headed to the first intermission leading in shots, 9-5.

In the second period, the Eagles scored four straight to take a 5-1 lead heading into the third. BC received tallies from Gabe Perreault, Andre Gasseau, Smith and Gauthier in the frame.

Boston College tacked on three more in the final frame and earned a spot in tomorrow's Hockey East Championship.

The Eagles finished with a 36-29 edge in shots on goal and were 2-for-4 with the man advantage, while the Minutemen were 0-for-3. Michael Hrabal totaled 28 saves for UMass and Jack Fowler turned aside 27 stops for Boston College.

UMass will await the rest of the weekend's results and learn their season's fate on the NCAA Hockey Tournament Selection Show this Sunday, March 24th, at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

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