FINAL SCORE: No. 9 Boston College 4, No. 17 Vermont 2CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Ninth-ranked Boston College scored three goals in the span of 4:08 to begin the second period on Friday night and held on for a 4-2 win over No. 17 Vermont in Game 1 of the Hockey East Quarterfinal at Conte Forum.
The Catamounts fell to 20-14-4, while the Eagles improved to 21-11-3 and took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
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CatamounTV HighlightsPhoto GalleryNear the midway point of the first period, Noah Hanafin gave Boston College a 1-0 advantage as he skated past a check along the right half wall. Hanafin cut below the faceoff circle and lifted a weak-angle shot into the upper right corner over
Mike Santaguida's shoulder.
Zach Sanford netted back-to-back tallies early in the second period to stretch the lead for the Eagles. The freshman stepped into the low slot off a faceoff and wristed a backhand high glove side at 1:15. Sanford then skated in alone down the right wing just two minutes later and deked the puck past Santaguida.
Boston College added a power play goal less than a minute later as Ryan Fitzgerald wristed a shot through a Chris Calnan screen and the Eagles took a 4-0 lead. Vermont replaced Santaguida with
Brody Hoffman after the fourth goal and called its timeout.
Within 50 seconds, UVM was on the board as
Brady Shaw fired a slap shot on target from the top of the right circle. Thatcher Demko got a piece of the puck, but it trickled through his pads and rolled just over the goal line at the 4:58 mark. Alexx Prvitera picked up the lone assist on Shaw's team-leading 17
th of the season.
Brendan Bradley brought the Catamounts back within two just past the 8:00 mark, following up
Yvan Pattyn's right point shot and lifting a rebound past Demko at the right doorstep. The tally extended Bradley's season-high point streak to six games and cut the BC cushion to 4-2.
Vermont pressed for a third goal later in the middle frame and held a heavy shot advantage, but Boston College retained its two-goal lead heading into the final period.
Jake Fallon nearly cut the lead to one during a 4-on-4 in the third, but Demko came out to challenge a 2-on-1 and made a chest save. UVM pulled Hoffman with just over a minute remaining and but BC held on for the Game 1 victory.
Hoffman stopped all 12 shots he faced in nearly 36 minutes of action. Vermont finished with a 34-33 edge in shots on goal and out-shot Boston College for the third straight game.
"We have to look at the positives we had tonight," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "We created a lot of scoring chances and did some really good things when we did have some opportunities to work it down low. It's backs against the wall. If we want to keep playing, we need to win two now."
The teams face off in Game 2 of the series on Saturday (March 14) at 7 p.m. in Chestnut Hill. The game will be televised live on NESN with Alex Faust and Billy Jaffe on the call.
Pack Network will also stream all the action on a pay-per-view basis via HockeyEastOnline.TV. Fans can purchase a league pass for $59.95, and individual games are available for $9.95 each.
Pre-game radio coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on WVMT 620-AM, SportsJuice.com, and the TuneIn Radio app with Alastair Ingram and Joe Gervais on the call from Conte Forum.
