UMass picked a great time to finally pick up their first road win.  After their last trip to Agganis Arena ended in disappointment after they gave up a three goal lead to lose in overtime, they played a full sixty minutes last night to pull off the improbable upset of #1 Boston University.  They did so by really excelling in three areas where they’ve struggled all season.  The first was the power play.  UMass ended up going two for six in extra man opportunities.  Second was penalty kill.  Against a talented BU team they were able to hold them to just one power play goal in their six opportunities.  And finally, UMass got some excellent goaltending from Kevin Boyle who saved 33 shots, including 27 through the first two periods.

Offensively UMass got good play from players you’d expect, like Mike Pereira who picked up a goal and seems to be heating up just at the right time.  Joel Hanley continues to build on a great second half of the season, scoring a goal and assisting on the gamewinner.  Mike Marcou had a solid game, finishing +1 and adding three shots.  But UMass also got excellent play from others as well.  I thought Troy Power stood out with his performance last night, grabbing an assist and leading the team with six shots.  Another thing that I saw and loved is that the team was actually forechecking and it was really affecting BU’s ability to move the puck up ice.  I’ve been wanting for the team, given their speed, to be allowed to forecheck more.  Hopefully we see more of it in the next few weeks.

The win gets UMass back into the playoff picture, as they’re now tied with Northeastern for 8th place.  The Huskies are idle tonight, which means a win will put the Minutemen two points ahead of them.  A win would also put UMass just a point behind Providence who is currently tied with UNH for 6th.  UMass has to be very careful not to have a letdown tonight.  A split is not enough this weekend and they already got the tougher win against top ranked BU on the road.  Now it’s time to take care of business against Providence.

Fear The Triangle Player of the Game
Hanley deserves recognition for his multipoint game but I have to give this one to Boyle.  For the second time this season he has gotten a win over the #1 team in the country.  I’d love to see Toot stick with him and see if he’s able to get some momentum and stability going in net.

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Here’s the game story from the Republican.

The Globe has coverage of the win, as does the Herald.

That’s it.  Short recap since it’s along ride to Amherst this afternoon.