Senior Cason Hohmann scored two goals as the third-ranked BU mens hockey team defeated New Hampshire 6-3 on Friday night at Agganis Arena.

BU improved to 19-4-4 and 13-2-2 in Hockey East, extending its lead over second-place Boston College to six points with five league games remaining.

New Hampshire fell to 10-17-2 with the loss.

Hohmann scored twice in the first 7:06 of the game, including the opening goal just 42 seconds into the proceedings.

He had a shot at a hat-trick at the end of the contest when New Hampshire pulled the goalie. At the 18:50 mark of the third period, Hohmann had an opportunity in front of the net to put the puck in, but he was pulled down and he could only touch the puck with his hand. Junior Ahti Oksanen ended depositing the puck in the back of the net, but Hohmann really wanted the hat-trick.

“I almost threw it with my hands I wanted it so bad,” Hohmann said with a grin on his face. “But I had to take my hand off it and let Ahti score, so it was a good night from everyone out there.”

Hohmann ended up with three points on the night, as did freshman Jack Eichel and sophomore Robbie Baillargeron. Eichel found the back of the net and recorded his NCAA-best 30th and 31st assists of the season. Baillargeon assisted on both of Hohmann’s goals and had a helper on a crucial third-period tally that gave BU a 5-3 lead.

Junior goaltender Matt O’Connor made 30 saves to earn his 16^th victory of the season.

Despite BU’s quick start and the final result, UNH did not go away quietly. In fact, after Eichel put the Terriers up, 3-1, 4:14 into the second period, UNH rallied to tie it with goals by freshman Warren Foegele and senior Matt Willows.

Junior captain Matt Grzelcyk put the Terriers up for good, however, with a blast from the left point with 2:50 remaining in the second period.

Head coach David Quinn said that while he thought his team’s play was inconsistent throughout the game, he believes this was a key win against a team that is not as bad its record would seem to indicate.

“I thought we were irresponsible with the puck the first two periods and it became kind of a track meet with both teams exchanging chances,” Quinn said. “I really liked our third period. It’s been our best period all season, and a huge two points against a good team whose record is very deceiving.”

The teams will wrap up their weekend home-and-home series on Saturday Feb. 14 at 4 p.m. in Durham, N.H.