UNH splits series with No. 3 Eagles

         It was a weekend of ups and downs for the No. 4 University of New Hampshire Wildcats in their home-and-home series with the No. 3 Boston College Eagles. Following a dismal 5-2 loss at Conte Forum, the Wildcats found redemption in Durham on Saturday night putting the Eagles away 2-1 in front of 6,501 fans.

        The game winning tally came in the early minutes of the third period when UNH senior forward John Henrion found a rebound in front of crease and put it past Parker Milner for his seventh goal of the season. The rebound came off of a slap shot fired from the point by junior defenseman Justin Agosta.

        The goal was scored with the Wildcats on the powerplay coming from a tripping penalty on BC junior Kevin Hayes.

        Despite the loss, the Eagles still sit on top of the Hockey East standings with the Wildcats only two points behind them. It was the first UNH victory over BC since 2010, a six game losing streak that has finally come to a close.

        The first period was scoreless, despite two one-on-one opportunities for BC sophomore Johnny Gaudreau who was denied both times by UNH netminder Casey DeSmith. DeSmith had 22 saves on 23 shots for the night.

        Another chance came when the UNH second line picked up a wobbling puck at center ice and carried it into the zone on a three-on-one situation, but could not find the back of the net.

        The Wildcats owned the second period with 21 shots to BC's 3. Despite having two full minutes of a five-on-three powerplay, UNH had trouble finding a way to score. 

        It was not until the final minute of the period when freshman winger Dan Correale dished it across the crease to sophomore Matt Willows  on the left side who patiently waited just a moment as Milner broke down and then threw the puck into the twine. It was Willows' first career goal.

       BC racked up 23 total penalty minutes in the second period. Five of those minutes were served for a game misconduct penalty on freshman defenseman Michael Matheson who made illegal contact to the head of UNH points leader Kevin Goumas. 

        Goumas was coming up the right side of the ice on a breakout from the defensive zone just as time was expiring on a Matheson penalty for hitting from behind. As Goumas skated near the penalty box, about to pick up a pass, Matheson burst onto the ice as the door opened and threw his elbow into Goumas' head, sending the junior forward to ice. The play was whistled and trainers came onto the ice as Goumas had to be helped to the bench. After being looked at, he returned to the ice on his next shift.

        That was Matheson's third penalty of the game.

        "[Matheson] came out of the box, and certainly the other player didn't see him." BC assistant coach Greg Brown said. "You definitely got to watch it when the guy is unsuspecting of it."

        BC tied up the game 7:57 into the third when Correale tried to pass to Jay Camper in the defensive zone, but the puck merely slid slowly into the middle of the slot and was picked up by senior forward Brooks Dryoff who beat DeSmith on the blocker side. 

        The Wildcats had a scare in the third period when Goumas was suspect of covering the puck with his hand in the crease, which would have led to a penalty shot. After discussion amongst the officials, no penalty shot would be taken. 

        "It was a good game for us to come back from last night," UNH coach Dick Umile said. "I liked the pace we played...we competed much harder defensively tonight than we did last night"

        The Wildcats return to action on Saturday against Providence College at the Whittemore Center.