LOWELL, Mass. - For now, all it cost them was a chance to enter the brief holiday break as Hockey East's best team.

Though later on, if they're chasing a championship, they may lament last night's lost point.

For just the second time this season, the University of New Hampshire hockey team let a third-period lead slip away, allowing UMass-Lowell to salvage a 3-3 tie at Tsongas Arena and scrape out its first conference point. Surrendering the equalizer with only 3:20 to go, the tie sent the Wildcats to Thanksgiving dinner with bitter tastes on their tongues.

"We're down in the dressing room right now," said UNH forward Brett Hemingway. "We felt we should've won that game. We had the lead and gave up a late goal, which no team likes to do. We've been good with that lately, and it's too bad we gave that one up."

Because of Andrew Martin's fluky tally with 200 seconds remaining in regulation, the 'Cats (8-2-2, 5-1-1 Hockey East) missed a chance to move into a first-place tie atop the conference with Boston University. Lowell (4-5-1, 0-5-1), in the meanwhile, avoided its sixth consecutive league loss by nullifying New Hampshire's neutral zone ability and forcing a frantic tempo.

"Their team seemed to play really defensively, and our team didn't seem to handle it," Hemingway said. "They seemed to be clogging up everything, not giving us much room to skate, and it seemed to work for them. We couldn't get much going throughout the game. I thought we should've won the game, but it's all right to get a point on the road."

Despite their struggles and only 30 shots - the lowest during what is now a five-game unbeaten streak -the Wildcats were still in position to win because UNH had erased a late Lowell lead with scores from Justin Aikins and Brett Hemingway. Aikins, with 15:02 to go, fired a beautiful wrister from between the faceoff circles to tie the game at two, then Hemingway, with 8:22 left, slid Tyson Teplitsky's rebound into the empty side for what looked like it might stand as the deciding score.

But then Lady Luck gave a gift to the hosts. When Jason Tejchma attempted to center the puck from the bottom of the right circle, it either hit Martin's - or a defenseman's - stick and trickled toward the goal line. Anticipating the pass, Wildcats goalie Jeff Pietrasiak (20 saves) had already shifted across the crease, and before he could recover, the rubber was behind him.

"They were throwing it to the net in the third period, and putting some pressure on," Umile said. "You've just got to play the bounces and play tough defense. That might have gone off one of our sticks, I'm not certain."

From the bench, Lowell Coach Blaise MacDonald didn't have any angle to see the play. He was just happy he saw the light.

"It might have gone off Andrew Martin's stick, or it might have gone in indirectly," he said. "I was just thankful the (goal) light came on."

The teams went to the third tied at one after a pair of evenly played periods. UNH got its goal in the first, taking advantage of Hockey East's second-worst penalty kill and punishing Mark Pandolfo for his tripping penalty. Brian Yandle scored the goal, his second of the season, after playing catch with Hemingway in the high slot and wristing a shot through a screen with seven minutes remaining.

Each team got six shots to the net in the first, though the 'Cats held an abundant advantage in quality, with the Riverhawks attempting to score only once from below the faceoff dots. That changed drastically in the second, evident by the goal that made it 1-1. Lowell got five chances from the area coaches consider "Grade A,"including the one Bobby Robbins stuffed inside the right post after collecting the puck off the back boards.

The Riverhawks struck again from short range early in the third to take their first lead. After the opening draw of the period was dumped so Pietrasiak could do nothing but cover up, Lowell used the following faceoff perfectly. Ben Walter won the puck, pushing it in the corner at Pietrasiak's right for Brad King. He then slung a feed to the front of the net, and Danny O'Brien redirected it into the short side only 13 ticks after intermission.

The lead wouldn't last long, though in this series, that was probably to be expected. This marked the third straight meeting between these teams to end even at 3-3.

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