BOSTON, Mass. - Sophomore goaltender Matt O'Connor turned in another strong effort and senior Matt Ronan closed the scoring with his first collegiate goal as the Boston University men's ice hockey team skated to a 2-2 tie with No. 7 UMass Lowell on Friday evening at Agganis Arena.
The Terriers erased deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to get a point against the team ranked second in the Hockey East standings. Junior Cason Hohmann also scored for BU, which moves to 8-15-4 overall with a 3-8-3 conference mark.
O'Connor and Lowell netminder Connor Hellebuyck each made 33 saves of the night. The River Hawks went 1-of-2 on the power play while the Terriers went scoreless on three chances with the man advantage.
After the Terriers had generated a few odd-man rushes that did not yield a goal, UMass Lowell opened the scoring 11 minutes into the contest. Sophomore Michael Fallon found senior Derek Arnold at the left post for a tap-in to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
BU got an equalizer less than five minutes later when Hohmann beat Hellebuyck far post from the left circle off a lead pass by sophomore Ahti Oksanen. Sophomore Matt Lane also assisted on the play.
The River Hawks, however, would regain the lead before the first intermission thanks to a 5-on-3 power-play chance. Senior Josh Holmstrom sent home a rebound from the top of the crease at 18:52 following a shot by sophomore Adam Chapie.
Early in the second, Ronan forced a turnover and got the puck in the Lowell zone. Freshman Brendan Collier won the puck as it made its way into the left corner and spotted Ronan crashing the net. From behind the net, Collier slid the puck to Ronan, who roofed it over Hellebuyck's glove at 2:31 to tie the game and earn his first goal as a Terrier. O'Connor stopped the final 20 shots he faced to make sure the visitors would not take the lead for a third time. BU matched Lowell shot for shot in the final two periods and recorded five of the seven shots in overtime, but settled for the draw.
BU will return to action on Monday (Feb. 10) when it closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a meeting with Harvard in the consolation game of the 62nd Beanpot. Game time at TD Garden is set for 4:30 p.m. Lowell will visit UMass on Saturday (Feb. 8) in a game broadcast by NESN.