Lofty national rankings count for nada in the hardscrabble halls of Hockey East.

The No. 1 ranked Boston College Eagles scored the game-winner early in the third period and outlasted unranked UMass Lowell, 3-2, in a schoolyard brawl on Friday night on Kelley Rink at Conte Forum.

BC improved to 6-1 and 1-0 in its Hockey East debut while UML dropped to 4-3 and 1-2 in the opener of a home-and-home weekend series. The two teams will have at each other again on Saturday night at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.

“Obviously it is nice to have that ranking but at the end of the day it doesn’t mean all that much in the sense every team is going to come out hard and Hockey East is a tough league,” said BC senior defenseman and team captain Eamon Powell. “Each and every weekend we know we are going to have a battle.”

BC broke the 2-2 deadlock at 1:19 of the third with an unlikely collaboration between a pair of aligned blue-liners. Junior defenseman Aidan Hreschuk led his partner Aram Minnetian on a deep rush down the left boards.

The freshman Dallas Stars’ fourth-round draft pick sliced diagonally through the Lowell crease and slipped the puck inside the far post for the first tally of his collegiate career. BC killed off a late penalty during a six-on-four onslaught.

“He is a great skater and he has been making good plays like that and it was great to see him get to the front of the net,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “That wasn’t an easy move, there wasn’t a lot of space but he uses his edges very well.”

BC closed out October with a series sweep against the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing, Mich., a performance that elevated the Eagles to the top spot in the USCHO and USA Hockey polls. The River Hawks were coming off a home-and-home split against UConn with the road team winning and both games decided by one goal.

“I thought it was a well played hockey game and both teams were energetic,” said Lowell coach Norm Bazin, who is in his 13th season on the bench. “Both teams had their chances but we were doing a little too much watching in the first 10 minutes, but we woke up and started playing.”

BC has been a dominant first-period team all season and two 2023 NHL first-round draft picks collaborated with precise timing to put the Eagles on the board 51 seconds into the contest.

Freshman left wing Gabe Perreault, who was taken by the New York Rangers with the 23rd pick, won a puck battle along the end boards and spied freshman left wing Ryan Leonard unattended in the low slot.

Leonard, who was taken with the eighth pick by the Washington Capitals, one-timed it by Lowell goalie Henry Welsch for his second of the season. Perreault has registered a point in five straight games.

BC has a proven power play and sophomore center Cutter Gauthier has been its designated finisher. Gauthier, a Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick (5th) in 2022, took a pass from sophomore left wing Oskar Jellvik at the top of the right circle. Gauthier one-timed the offering inside the near post at 9:49 for his seventh of the season and fourth on the power play.

Lowell regrouped and got on the board before things got out of hand. River Hawks sophomore left wing Nick Rheaume set up Swedish graduate Filip Fornaa Svensson for his first of the season at 10:30. BC has outscored its opponents 11-5 in the first period in seven games this season.

“I think every team would tell you they want to start strong but the first (period) has been good for us,” said Brown. “Conversely the second period has been our tough period so far and we have to figure that out.”

Lowell opened the second period with an urgent energy and tied the game 2-2 at 1:40. Junior center Owen Cole set up Scout Truman on the right edge of the BC crease and the sophomore left wing redirected it home for his second of the season.

Welsch would atone for the Eagles’ opening tally when he stoned Leonard on a clean breakaway a minute later. The senior goalie from Lakeville, Minn., stood on his head during a relentless BC power play in the middle of the period to maintain the deadlock.

“He has been very good for us this year,” said Bazin. “He is a good goalie and he is feeling it and I really like the way he has prepared for this year.”