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BOSTON – The Northeastern men's ice hockey team (7-10-3, 3-6-2) led No. 16 Boston College (11-7-2, 4-4-2) by a goal late in regulation, but Adam Gilmour leveled the score with 2:15 to play in regulation to force a 1-1 tie on Friday night at Matthews Arena.
 
Clay Witt backstopped the Huskies throughout the evening with 32 stops, while Mike Szmatula scored the lone goal for Northeastern five minutes into the second period. Thatcher Demko had 30 saves for the Eagles, who outshot NU 33-31 in the game.
 
Northeastern collected a power play goal for the third straight game, going 1-of-2 while BC was held to an 0-of-4 showing on the man advantage.
 
The Huskies tested Demko throughout the opening 20 minutes, outshooting the Eagles 12-6 in the first period. Nolan Stevens got things starts for NU when he stole a clearing pass before dropping to Ryan Rosenthal cutting to the net for a one-timer that Demko steered aside. Minutes later, Szmatula had two opportunities to draw first blood on shots from in tight that Demko was able to handle.
 
The line of Kevin Roy, Dalen Hedges and Mike McMurtry went to work in the second half of the first period, and combined to generate half of NU's first period shots on several one-timers from the slot. At the other end of the ice, Witt made his biggest save of the period when he stoned Matthew Gaudreau on a chance from the left side with five minutes left in the frame.
 
Both teams had their chances in the second period as the Eagles held a slight 9-8 edge in shots on goal, but it was the Huskies who capitalized on their lone power play of the frame to take a 1-0 lead into the dressing room.
 
After McMurtry drew a slashing minor on Teddy Doherty, the NU power play went to work and cashed in five minutes into the period. Roy began the play by firing a pass up to Colton Saucerman at the point. Saucerman then sent a low shot on goal that Szmatula redirected up and over Demko. An Eagle defenseman was able to keep the puck out of the net momentarily, but Szmatula followed the play and buried the loose puck for his eighth goal of the season.
 
Later in the period, Northeastern went up by two when McMurtry made a slick move to get past a defenseman to create space before sending a pass across to Hedges at the right face-off dot. Hedges' shot, however, rang off the right post. Witt stood tall at his end of the ice during the second period, and was tested when Alex Tuch blasted a shot from the right dot that sailed just wide.
 
Shots were flying in the third period, as BC peppered Witt with 17 shots before tying the game late in regulation. Chris Calnan almost tied the score early in the frame with a burst of speed through the attacking zone, forcing Witt to go post to post to make a pad save. BC was awarded a power play with 7:28 to play in regulation, and continued to test Witt with grade-A chances from Tuch and Ryan Fitzgerald, but once again Witt was up to the task.
 
It wasn't until the final three minutes in regulation when the Eagles drew even as Gilmour buried a loose puck in front of Witt's crease for his fourth of the season to make it 1-1 and force overtime.
 
Neither team could create much in the extra five minutes, with Boston College recording the lone shot on goal from Gilmour just inside the blue line.
 
The Huskies and Eagles will meet again tomorrow afternoon at Conte Forum in the series finale. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be aired live on NESN and TSN2.

Season tickets, as well as individual game tickets, are available for men's ice hockey and can be purchased by visiting GoNU.com/tickets. In addition, the student sale for the 2015 Beanpot will take place on Saturday, January 17, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Matthews Arena lobby. Please contact the Ticket Office by calling 617-373-4700 or emailing huskytix@neu.edu with any questions.

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Game Notes: 
• Northeastern is now 47-161-15 all-time against the Eagles, and collects its first league point against BC since Oct. 13, 2012.
 
• Northeastern is unbeaten in its last six games (4-0-2), and begins January with a four-game unbeaten streak in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.
 
• The NU power play converted for the third straight game, and has 10 goals on the man advantage in its last five games. The power play is operating at 35.7% (10-of-28) in that span.
 
• Roy extended his point streak to five games (five goals, six assists). Twelve of his 21 points this season have come with Northeastern on the power play.

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