FINAL SCORE: No. 3 Boston University 2, No. 12 Vermont 1 (OT)
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Jack Eichel tipped a point shot off the right post at 2:56 of overtime as No. 3 Boston University came back from a goal down late in the third period to beat 12^th-ranked Vermont 2-1 on Saturday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
 
The Catamounts dropped to 15-8-2 (7-6-1 HEA), while the Terriers improved to 15-4-4 (10-2-2 HEA) with the Hockey East victory and swept the weekend series. Vermont led 1-0 with 2:18 remaining in regulation but BU tied the game before winning the game in overtime.

"Hockey can be cruel sometimes and sometimes the team that plays the best doesn't always win," said head coach Sneddon. "I kind of felt like that tonight. I felt we really, really played well. We're going to win a lot of hockey games if we play like that. Unfortunately it wasn't good enough against BU this weekend."

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The teams skated to a scoreless first period, but BU was dangerous on its only power play chance. Mike Santaguida made a partial glove save on a shot from the mid point and the puck trickled behind him. Ahti Oksanen collected at the right post and moved to his backhand but missed the empty net wide left.
 
Midway through the frame, Eichel sent a saucer pass to Danny O'Regan on a 2-on-1, but Santaguida dove across his crease to make a pad stop at the left post.

Vermont broke through exactly two minutes into the second period with a power play tally. Mario Puskarich worked the puck to the center point for Mike Paliotta, who floated a wrist shot through traffic inside the right post. Brady Shaw picked up the second assist on Paliotta's fourth power play goal of the season.
 
Santaguida came up big later in the frame, robbing Eichel from the right circle on a glove save with six minutes remaining. The Catamounts killed off BU's only power play and carried their 1-0 cushion into the third.
 
UVM held the lead until the closing minutes when the Catamounts turned the puck over inside the blue line after a neutral ice faceoff. Evan Rodrigues stole a pass in the slot and wristed a shot past Santaguida low glove side inside the right post. The goal was unassisted and knotted the score at the 17:42 mark.
 
Three minutes into overtime, Rodrigues set up the game-winner as he reeled in the puck at the right point. The senior spun a shot toward the left doorstep, and Eichel tipped it back across the face of goal off the right post into the net. After a lengthy video review for a potential high stick, the call on the ice was upheld and BU skated away with the win.
 
"We had two chances to get out of the zone and we didn't and he made a great play on the shot from the point," Sneddon said. "It's unfortunate. I thought our guys deserved a better fate tonight. We played extremely well. We had a tough turnover late but our guys did a good job of coming back and playing hard right through the rest of regulation and certainly through overtime."

Santaguida finished the night with 32 saves, while Matt O'Connor stopped 31 shots for the victory. UVM went 1-for-4 on the power play and held the Terriers scoreless on three chances.
 
Vermont travels to face Penn State next Saturday (Jan. 31) at 1 p.m. in the third annual Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff at the Wells Fargo Center. Pre-game radio coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. on WVMT 620-AM and SportsJuice.com with Alastair Ingram on the call.

Tickets are on sale exclusively through Comcast TIX online, over the phone at 1-800-298-4200, or in person at the Wells Fargo Center box office. All fans are encouraged to attend a pre-game event at the Victory Beer Hall inside Xfinity Live near the Wells Fargo Center from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. before faceoff. The event is presented by Vermont Athletics and the UVM Alumni Association.