BU, UMass Lowell Meet in Top-10 Matinee Sunday
January 18, 2015 | Men's Ice Hockey
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Inside BU Hockey - Episode 14
BOSTON - In a battle for first place in the Hockey East standings, the No. 2/3 Boston University men's ice hockey team hosts No. 6 UMass Lowell on Sunday in the teams' first meeting of the season. Game time at Agganis Arena is set for 2 p.m.
Lowell sits atop the Hockey East standings with 18 points (8-1-2) while the Terriers are right behind in second place with 16 points (7-2-2).
BU is 0-6-1 in its past seven contests against the River Hawks, having last topped Lowell on Feb. 17, 2012, at the Tsongas Center.
The Terriers had a six-game (3-0-3) unbeaten streak snapped in a 4-2 loss to Boston College on Friday. It was their first loss on a Friday all season.
BU is 68-25-9 (.711) in 102 all-time meetings with the River Hawks. However, Lowell is riding a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) in the series, which is its longest ever versus BU.
The Terriers are 8-6-3 (.559) against the River Hawks in the 17 meetings at Agganis Arena.
Last season, BU dropped a 3-1 contest at UMass Lowell before the teams skated to a 2-2 draw in their most recent meeting on Feb. 7, 2014, at Agganis Arena.
Since the start of December, UMass Lowell is 7-1-0 with the lone blemish being a 2-0 loss at UConn on Jan. 10. The two-time defending Hockey East champions are coming off a 2-0 win of their own on Friday at Maine.
The River Hawks boast the fifth-best offense in the nation, averaging 3.64 goals per game. Lowell boasts a balanced scoring attack with 10 players totaling 11 points or more thus far.
Freshman C.J. Smith has impressed and currently has a team-best 18 points on seven goals and 11 assists. Sophomore Evan Campbell has added 17 points (6g, 11a) while classmates Dylan Zink (8g, 8a) and Joe Gambardella (6g, 10a) have contributed 16 apiece.
Junior goaltender Kevin Boyle, who transferred from Massachusetts, boasts a 2.11 goals-against average to go along with a .924 save percentage in 17 starts for Lowell.
BU freshman Jack Eichel continues to lead the nation in points per game (1.68), assists per game (1.16) and plus/minus (+20). Junior linemate Danny O'Regan is one of only six players in the country with at least 15 goals this season and his 27 points put him in a tie for ninth nationally.
Senior Evan Rodrigues is on a five-game point streak with nine points (2g, 7a) during the stretch. Junior defenseman Matt Grzelcyk has recorded four assists over the past four games and his +17 rating ranks tied for third nationally.
