AMHERST - With 32 seconds left and the University of Massachusetts hockey team clinging to a one-goal lead over No. 2 Boston University Friday night, all 8,123 fans at the Mullins Center stood and cheered as the teams set up for a faceoff to the right of Minuteman goalie Paul Dainton.

Casey Wellman won the draw into the corner and the Minutemen kept the puck on the perimeter and eventually iced it, setting up another faceoff in the same spot.

BU goalie Kieran Millan was out the net, giving the Terriers a man advantage.

Wellman won another draw and Justin Braun cleared the puck again, setting up a faceoff to Dainton's left with six seconds left.

Senior captain Brett Watson took the draw this time and he won the third straight faceoff for the Minutemen. Wellman headed to the corner and absorbed two hits as he used his body to shield the puck as time ran out and UMass held on for a 3-2 win over the defending national champions who are currently ranked No. 2.

"We had some good faceoffs in the third period and obviously those last three were very crucial," said Minuteman coach Don "Toot" Cahoon whose team improved to 2-0 (1-0 Hockey East).

"When you're killing a 6-on-5, you need to come up with the puck," he added. "That's a big part of killing that off."

The teams were tied 2-2 after the second period.

The Minutemen failed to produce a scoring chance in the final 55 seconds of a power play that carried over into the third period.

But shortly after Boston University (0-1) returned to even strength, Minuteman sophomore forward Danny Hobbs beat a Terrier to the puck to keep possession and sent it to Will Ortiz who was forechecking from the left-wing side.

The senior wing drove it through a defenseman's stick and past Millan (23 saves) with 18:03 left in the game to put the Minutemen up 3-2.

"It started on a great play by Danny Hobbs," Ortiz said. "I think I got it through (the defenseman's) stick. It was kind of a swing for a home run. Luckily it went in."

BU outshot UMass 16-4 in the third period, but Dainton was equal to the task, finishing with 39 saves that matched his career high.

The defeat was Boston University's first loss away from Agganis Arena since last Nov. 14 when the Minutemen stunned the Terriers 5-1.

"It was a very entertaining game for a game played in the middle of October," Cahoon said. "I think everyone walked away thinking they just saw two teams go to battle pretty good ... It was obviously a good outing for us, a real test for sure, a great early season game to grow from."

Boston University coach Jack Parker agreed.

"It was a great college hockey game to watch. There was a lot going on out there," Parker said. "There were a lot of great plays and great goaltending.

After slow starts in the team's exhibition game and season opener, Cahoon implored his players to start the game at full speed. The Minutemen responded by taking an early 2-0 lead.

Freshman Rocco Carzo's second career goal put UMass ahead 1-0 with 5:21 played as he knocked home a centering pass by Ortiz from behind the net.

The Minutemen scored again when defenseman Matt Irwin, who had two goals in the 5-2 win over Rensselaer Oct. 8, took a point-to-point pass from Martin Nolet and one-timed it past Millan with 11:02 left in the first.

"We wanted to come out and play hard from the get-go and I don't know if that's something we've done in the first two games," Cahoon said. "I don't know if we were so sharp, but I thought we competed. We played hard and we were skating. We were ready to play."

BU cut the UMass lead in half on a power play when freshman Alex Chiasson tapped a rebound over Dainton's outstretched glove to make it 2-1 with 6:43 to play in the first.

Chiasson tied the game 6:32 into the second period, when a rebound bounced right to him off the left post and he knocked it in the goal.

The play ignited a terrific back-and-forth second period with both teams getting chances which neither could finish. The Minutemen hit a post and a crossbar on back-to-back possessions.

Both goalies were sharp, setting the stage for the third period.

NOTES - The first goal was reviewed by Replay was used at the Mullins Center for the first time to review whether BU had scored in the first period. Hockey East this season adopted a replay rule on uncertain goals.

Officials originally ruled that Sean Escobedo had not crossed the goal line, but elected to review. The replay showed the puck hit the cross bar, bounced down and rolled in front of the goal, but never crossed the line.

BU freshman forward Justin Courtnall is the son of former Boston Bruin forward Geoff Courtnall.

Minutemen Watson and Eddie Olczyk also both had fathers in the NHL.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to http://www.gazettenet.com/blog/umass-sports.