BURLINGTON, Vt. - Alex Chiasson scored twice to lead No. 14 Boston University over Vermont 4-2 in men's hockey at Gutterson Fieldhouse Sunday night in a game televised on CBS College Sports.
Chris McCarthy picked up his fifth goal of the season at 9:56 of the first period when he tried to feed a pass to Connor Brickley. McCarthy moving down the center of the ice played a backhand pass that deflected off of a Terrier defender and wound up in the net past BU goaltender Kieran Millan. Brickley and Drew MacKenzie both assisted on the play.
The Terriers tied things up on a 4-on-4 situation at 15:39 of the first period as Max Nicastro blasted a shot from the point that beat Rob Madore low and just inside the left post. Sean Escobedo and Matt Nieto provided the assists on the goal
Just over two minutes after BU tied things up, the Terriers took the lead at 17:55 of the second period, when Alex Chiasson tallied an unassisted goal. With UVM trying to break out on offense, a miss pass left the Catamount offense too deep and Chiasson started the break for the Terriers. Chiasson whipped a shot from the right circle that beat Madore.
Josh Burrows tied the game 2-2 at 3:31 of the third frame when he muscled a loose puck past Millan. Burrows took the initial shot that came off the pads of the BU goaltender. After a second chance shot from Jack Downing (assist on the play) Burrows fired a third bid from the right side through traffic. The goal was Burrows' first of the season.
The Terriers regained the lead 3-2 at 7:01 of the third period as Brickley was serving a penalty for tripping. Chiasson notched his second goal of the game when he sent a low rocket through traffic at the right interior hash mark. Charlie Coyle and Matt Nieto picked up assists in the play.
The Catamounts pulled Madore to gain an extra skater with just over 50 seconds to go in the game. Vermont turned the puck over and Corey Trivino skated in alone on an empty net to give the Terriers a 4-2 cushion, which would prove to be the final score.
"We said as a staff that we should feel better about how we played than we do right now," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "It's just tough in that I think BU had six shots on their power play and 10 five-on-five for the whole game; and you've got to win that game."
Vermont went 0-6 on the power play, while Boston University went 1-3 with the man advantage.
"It really boils down to the fact that we don't have a power play right now. We've got to make a lot of changes." Sneddon said.
Madore finished the night with 12 saves for Vermont which falls to 3-11-4 (1-7-3 HEA). Millan turned aside 29 shots for the Terriers who improve to 9-5-6 (7-3-4 HEA).
The men's hockey team returns to action when it travels to Northeastern for a two game series with the 3-9-4 Huskies at Matthews Arena. UVM and NU will face off at 7 p.m. Friday (Jan. 14) and Saturday (Jan.15) at 7 p.m. Next weekend marks the second "Bus-With-Us" trip. Fans interested in attending the "Bus-With-Us" trip to Northeastern should contact Erica Hunt, Marketing & Promotions Coordinator at 802-656-8454 or Erica.Hunt@uvm.edu. The game can be heard on WVMT-AM 620 and on the Internet at SportsJuice.com
Follow UVM Athletics on Twitter at www.twitter.com/UVMathletics. Follow the UVM Men's Hockey Team at www.twitter.com/UVMmhockey and follow John Vazzano at www.twitter.com/JOVazzano. Also find Vermont Athletics on Facebook at www.facebook.com/vermont.catamounts.
NOTES: Check back to www.UVMathletics.com for game highlights and postgame comments from Kevin Sneddon ... The Catamounts have not faced a Hockey East opponent since Dec. 5 ... The Chiasson goal was the first even strength goal Madore had given up since Dec. 18 ... Burrows' goal was his sixth career against the Terriers and now has 10 career points against BU ... The Cats outshot the Terriers 31 to 16.