POTSTDAM, N.Y. - Dana Trivigno scored a late third period goal, but it was not enough for the Eagles as No. 5 Boston College women's hockey team fell to No. 4/3 Clarkson, 3-1 at Cheel Arena Saturday night in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Clarkson took a 1-0 lead at 16:02 of the first period. Renata Fast cycled the puck from along the right boards up to Jamie Rattray at the top of the right faceoff circle, Rattray fired a shot on net that Vanessa Gagnon tipped and redirected into the net for her 16th goal of the season.
The Golden Knights outshot the Eagles 15-9 in the first period, and had the majority of the opportunities in the opening frame. Clarkson nearly took the lead three minutes into the game, but Corinne Boyles made a great glove save to rob Brittany Styner of a goal.
Boston College played the first 1:45 of the second period on the penalty kill, and after keeping Clarkson scoreless, found itself on the PK just 11 seconds after the first expired when Dana Trivigno went off for interference. After killing both penalties, the Eagles turned up the pressure offensively once they returned to even strength.
Melissa Bizzari nearly tied the game at 1-1 when she fired a one-timer off a pass from Emily Pfalzer, but Clarkson goaltender Erica Howe snagged the puck with her glove to rob Bizzari of her ninth goal of the season.
Clarkson then took a 2-0 lead at 11:44 of the second period. Styner was able to get her stick on a feed from Vanessa Plante, sending it into the back of the net in the middle of a scrum right in front, giving Clarkson a 2-0 lead. The goal marked Styner's 13th of the season. Fast picked up her second assist of the night on the play.
The Golden Knights extended their lead to 3-0 just 23 seconds into the third period with Gangon's second goal of the game.
BC cut the lead to 3-1 with a goal at 16:15 by Trivigno. Kristyn Capizzano sent a cross-ice pass in front of the next to Trivigno who buried the backdoor feed for her 12th goal of the season. The Eagles continued to fire shots on net late in the final stanza, but we unable to manage another goal.
Boyles made 29 saves and falls to 23-7-2. Howe stopped 23 shots and improves to 29-5-5.
The Eagles were 1-for4 on the power play while the Golden Knights went 0-for-5 on the man advantage.
Clarkson had a 32-34 advantage in shots in the game.
Notes: Boston College is now 5-2-3 all-time against Clarkson, and 2-2-2 when playing the Golden Knights at Cheel Arena ... The Eagles finish the season tied for the most wins in program history with 27 (2013) ... BC is now 4-6 all-time in the NCAA tournament.