CHESTNUT HILL - It took two minutes in the second period for everything to fall apart Friday night for the University of Massachusetts in the first game of its Hockey East quarterfinal series at Boston College.

Three minutes after a goal by Minuteman T.J. Syner tied the game 2-2, the Eagles scored three goals in two minutes, propelling them to a 6-5 win.

Chris Kreider, Barry Almeida and Cam Atkinson scored for Boston College (22-10-3) in that two-minute period. It was Atkinson's third goal of the game, and sixth in four games this season against UMass (18-17).

"The second (of those three goals) was an absolute missed assignment with a weak-side defenseman failing to make a play that he clearly has to make," said Minuteman coach Don "Toot" Cahoon. "We made mistakes, they made mistakes, and that's how you end up with a 6-5 game."

It was the sixth game this season when UMass goaltender Paul Dainton (26 saves) surrendered five or more goals.

"It was hard to tell how Paul played," said Cahoon. "There are a couple of plays he would have liked to have back. I thought he made some good saves and I thought he got better as the game went on.

"Who knows? He might have been a little uptight," added Cahoon. "There were exchanges with defensemen, communication with defensemen. He'll tighten those up."

All the momentum seemed to shift to the Eagles when they took the 5-2 lead with 11 minutes, 38 seconds left in the second period. When Casey Wellman scored a power play goal to get the Minutemen back within 5-3 with 2:45 left in the period, Steven Whitney scored for Boston College 1:39 seconds later, restoring its three-goal lead.

"Three goals is a tough deficit to come out of, especially against a team like BC with their high-powered offense," said UMass forward James Marcou. "We made a couple mistakes and we'll clean them up (Saturday). We got a three-game series here."

Late in the second period, UMass had 1:57 of five-on-three play, but could only get one goal. The Minutemen made the game interesting less than a minute into the final period when Martin Nolet and Marcou scored within 20 seconds of each other, cutting the deficit to 6-5.

The teams play the second game of their best-of-three series at 7 p.m. Saturday at Conte Forum. If UMass wins, the deciding game would be played at 7 p.m. Sunday, also at Conte Forum.

"It's a whole new game (Saturday) night," said Cahoon. "Obviously, our backs are against the wall, but at the same time, there's a lot of hockey to be played so hopefully we'll show up and compete."

The Minutemen survived a scare just 36 seconds into the first period Friday. Atkinson came bursting down the ice to Dainton's left. Rather than taking the shot, he skated behind the UMass net and slid his wraparound shot by Dainton. However, after a review by the referees, the goal was waved off because Dainton was obstructed.

Atkinson scored a goal that counted three minutes later to get the Eagles on the board first when he put home a one-timer from teammate Joe Whitney from just inside the left faceoff circle.

The Minutemen answered at 9:13 of the first during a five-on-three power play when senior captain Justin Braun's slap shot from just inside the blue line found its way through the Boston College defense. It was the eighth goal of the season and fifth in three games for the San Jose Sharks draftee.

Atkinson struck again five minutes later with a power-play goal on a third-chance opportunity to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.