AMHERST — Jake McLaughlin buried the pass from Mitchell Chafee with 2.3 seconds left to lift UMass to a wild 4-3 win over Boston College on Friday at the Mullins Center.
The defenseman had pinched down from his spot on the blue line with time ticking away and found himself open in space right below the faceoff dot. Chaffee had scooped up the puck that was pinballing around the crease area in the final 15 seconds and took it behind the goal before feeding it to McLaughlin. The junior took the pass in stride and sent the shot over a sprawled-out Joseph Woll to move the Minutemen four points clear of second place in Hockey East.
“I didn’t know how much time was on the clock and neither did my teammates,” McLaughlin said. “It was such a surreal feeling.”
The third-ranked Minutemen (22-6-0, 14-4-0 Hockey East) fell behind 2-0 in the first period after allowing a power-play goal with about three minutes left. But sophomore Cale Makar joined Chaffee on an odd-man rush on the ensuing shift and was able to cleanly snipe a shot past Woll to cut the deficit in half 29 seconds after the Eagles (10-15-3, 9-6-3 HEA) scored with the advantage.
The momentum of the goal carried over into the second period as UMass played heavier and controlled most of the play. The pressure eventually led to Amherst native John Leonard tying the game on the power play after a silky cross-ice feed from Makar. Less than 90 seconds later, Jacob Pritchard caused a turnover behind Woll and sent the puck in front to Philip Lagunov for the tally that put the Minutemen ahead 3-2.
The lead stood for most of the third period as UMass tried to protect its lead. Yet, Boston College scored 13 minutes into the third period after Matt Murray failed to glove a shot and the rebound fell to David Cotton, who roofed a shot over Murray from an awkward angle. The goal seemed to re-energize the Minutemen, who had a flurry of chances in the final five minutes, highlighted by a breakaway for Pritchard that was stopped by Woll.
The two teams meet again Saturday at 8 p.m. in Newton to complete the season series between the schools.