BURLINGTON, Vt. - Junior Brian Roloff (West Seneca, N.Y.) scored the tying goal on the power play with one second remaining in the third period as No. 10 Vermont and No. 9 Boston College skated to a 3-3 tie in front of a sellout crowd at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Friday night in Hockey East action. Seniors Dean Strong (Mississauga, Ont.) and Peter Lenes (Shelburne, Vt.) setup the goal as the Catamounts moved to 11-4-3 (6-3-2 HEA) in a game televised on NESN.
OTHER LINKS: Video Highlights Courtesy of NESN.com - Jerry York Audio (mp3) - Kevin Sneddon Audio (mp3)- Brian Roloff Audio (mp3)
2009 Hobey Baker Award nominees, Viktor Stalberg (Gothenburg, Sweden) and Lenes, each added goals for the Catamounts. Freshman Rob Madore (Venetia, Pa.) made 14 saves.
Senior Kyle Kucharski scored two goals and Cam Atkinson notched a power-play goal for the Eagles (9-5-3, 5-4-3 HEA).
"There are good ties and bad ties," Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon said. "Usually when you're the team that scores the last goal to make it a tie, it's a good tie."
"I was just pleased with the process tonight. I was pleased with how we played. In games past, we've really struggled with BC. We've been the team that kind of sits back and watches or is reactive to BC and we've let their team speed take over. But tonight I thought right from the opening face off we did a nice job of using our speed; it was speed against speed tonight."
Kucharski made it 1-0 BC at 16:56 of the first. Junior Matt Price found Kucharski for a one timer at the left circle during a 2-on-1. The Eagles took their one goal lead to the locker room despite being out shot 9-4 in the opening period.
Vermont tied the game 1-1 when Stalberg recorded his team leading ninth goal of the season at 12:24 of the second. Stalberg spun around at the right circle and fired a wrist shot by Boston College sophomore goalie John Muse (26 saves). Defensemen Patrick Cullity (Tewksbury, Mass.) and Dan Lawson (Oak Forest, Ill.) both assisted.
BC responded when they took advantage of a five-minute hitting from behind penalty on Brayden Irwin late in the second. Atkinson beat Madore with a low wrist shot from the right circle with five minutes left in the period to make it 2-1 Eagles. The power-play goal ended a 0-for- 27 drought on the man advantage for BC.
Lenes tied the game for Vermont at 10:27 of the third period on a quick one timer off a draw in the BC zone. Strong won the face off back to Lenes, who notched his eighth goal of the season. Strong finished the game 14-for-22 on draws.
Kucharski put BC back in front 3-2 at 13:24 with a wrister from the left circle that beat Madore on the short side.
Then with 58 seconds remaining the Catamounts pulled Madore from net for an extra skater. BC's Brian Gibbons was whistled for a trip with 23 seconds left giving Vermont a 6-on-4.
With four seconds remaining, Strong won a face off in the Boston College zone. Lenes steered the puck to Roloff at the right circle, who found the net with one second left in regulation. The Eagles had killed off 21 straight power plays prior to the goal.
"Phenomenal, it's indescribable," Roloff said of the goal. "I just jumped for joy and knew that we had five more minutes to try and get a win."
Vermont out shot Boston College 3-2 in overtime and 29-17 for the game yet had to settle for one league point.
"I guess we've got to say that is a great tie," Stalberg said. "It's obviously a big momentum change for both tonight and coming into tomorrow's game. So, I thought it was a great way to finish off the game."
Vermont and Boston complete the regular season series on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The game will be televised on Comcast SportsNet New England.
NOTES: Vermont went 40-for-71 on face offs ... Brian Roloff went 15-for-22 on draws ... Viktor Stålberg had a team-high five shots ... Stalberg currently has a career high eight-game scoring streak and has at least one point in 12 of the last 13 games ... Vermont was 1-for-7 on the power play while BC was 1-for-6 ... The Catamounts are 2-0-3 in overtime this season and 9-5-24 in their last 38 overtime games ... BC is 10-2-2 against UVM since the Catamounts joined Hockey East in 2005-06 ... With two assists Dean Strong now has 98 career points and is just two points shy of becoming the 41st Catamount to reach the 100 point mark ... Check back to UVMathletics.com for Kevin Sneddon's post-game comments and game highlights.