The Eagles hockey team jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two periods, let the River Hawks hang around for a bit, then scored three goals in the third period to earn a 5-1 victory at Tsongas Center last night. The win was BC's first win in Lowell in nearly three full years.
This year's senior class hasn't had much success against Lowell over the years. Entering the game, the class led by John Muse, Joe Whitney and Brian Gibbons were a pedestrian 5-5-1 against the River Hawks. Nice to go out with a win in what will likely be the senior class's final game against Lowell.
Junior Cam Atkinson scored twice to up his season total to 19 goals through 24 games. Atkinson's 0.792 goals per game average is fourth best in the nation, behind only Niagara's Bryan Haczyk (0.846), Niagara's Paul Zanette (0.846), and UNH's Paul Thompson (0.833).
John Muse stopped 29 of 30 shots to improve to 15-4-0. Muse is off to his best start of his four years on the Heights. A scary thought considering he already has two National Championships under his belt.
The Eagles win combined with a pair of Yale losses -- 3-2 loss to Union and a 5-2 loss to RPI -- should move the Eagles back into the top spot when the rankings are released on Monday.
BC, winners of 9 of its last 10 games, are hitting their stride at just the right time of year. The Eagles will host the Minutemen on Friday night in a Beanpot-tune up before Monday's first round date with Boston University. The Eagles are currently tied for first with New Hampshire with 28 points, though the Wildcats have two games in hand. BC is a full five points ahead of third place BU with 23 points.
The Minutemen are coming off a 1-point weekend after a home-and-home with Northeastern.