BOSTON - Freshman Nick Roberto had a hand in three goals and sophomore Sean Maguire made 36 saves as the Boston University men's ice hockey team got back in the win column with a 4-2 victory over No. 17 Vermont on Friday evening at Agganis Arena.
The Terriers (8-13-2, 3-7-1 Hockey East) opened the scoring early in the second and added two more before the end of the period to take a 3-1 lead into the third.
Vermont (12-9-3, 4-7-0 HE) had nine power-play opportunities, including four in the third, and used the man advantage to make it a 3-2 affair with 12:36 left in regulation.
BU hung on, however, and got an empty netter in the closing seconds from Roberto to seal the victory and snap an eight-game winless streak (0-7-1).
Roberto primary assist on BU's second and third goals to post a three-point night. Sophomores Danny O'Regan and Matt Lane each found the back of the net and classmate Ahti Oksanen's 5-on-3 tally in the second proved to be the game-winner.
Vermont, which got a 22-save performance from sophomore Brody Hoffman, outshot BU by a count of 38-26 with 16 of its shots coming on the power play. Freshman Mario Puskarich made it a 1-1 game with his fifth power-play goal of the season and junior Colin Markinson potted UVM's third-period tally.
BU had given up at least one goal in 18 straight periods before blanking the Catamounts in the first.
Following the scoreless first period that featured equal scoring opportunities, the Terriers opened the scoring at 5:27 of the middle frame when O'Regan finished off a rush at the right post following some slick passing by freshman Robbie Baillargeon and junior Cason Hohmann.
Just over a minute later, the Catamounts got an equalizer on the power play. Jake Fallon passed the puck to Puskarich, who sent it home from the foot of the right circel. Michael Paliotta earned his first of two assists on the play.
With 6:17 remaining in the second, BU was able to regain the lead when sophomore Lane notched his fifth goal this season. Roberto flipped the puck over the neutral zone and Lane found a scoring opportunity after the puck slid under a UVM player's stick. Senior Patrick MacGregor, who had a game-high four blocked shots, picked up an assist on the tally.
The Terriers ended the second period with a 3-1 advantage thanks to Oksanen blast from just inside the right circle with 4:26 left in the stanza. Roberto earned his second assist of the evening and senior Garrett Noonan picked up the other.
Near the midpoint of the final frame, UVM recorded another power-play goal when Markison backhanded the puck over Maguire in the slot.
After killing off their fourth penalty of the night, BU withstood late pressure from an extra attacker and used Roberto's late empty-netter to seal the victory.
The two teams will close out their weekend series tomorrow with a 4 p.m. start in a contest televised by NESN.