BURLINGTON, Vt. - The 14th-ranked Vermont women's hockey team rallied from 2-0 down to defeat No. 15 Boston College 3-2 Friday evening in Hockey East action from Gutterson Fieldhouse. Senior defenseman Sara Levesque keyed the Catamounts comeback with two primary assists as UVM scored three times in 18:42 to earn all three league points. With the win Vermont is now 5-3-1 on the campaign and 3-1-1 in league play.
COACH'S QUOTE
"Great comeback today that showed how much heart our team has," Head Coach Jim Plumer said. "We were creating chances and playing a lot of offense and we continued to believe in ourselves and it was a great team win. Maddy Skelton scored a huge goal to get us going and then we got two gritty goals to complete the comeback. Even though we didn't give up a lot of shots Jessie McPherson came up huge when we needed her. We are looking forward to another battle tomorrow."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Boston College's Gaby Roy opened the scoring for the Eagles 2:17 into the contest with her third goal of the season. From the point, Deirdre Mullowney one-timed a shot that UVM's Jessie McPherson never saw through extensive traffic in front of the UVM net. The puck deflected off Roy and in.
- Hannah Bilka doubled the Eagles advantage 4:36 into the second frame. In transition, she and Alexie Guay combined on a give-and-go before Bilka tapped it past McPherson for her team-leading seventh goal of the season.
- Down two midway through the contest the Catamounts needed a spark. Lily Humphrey forced a turnover in the neutral zone and UVM pounced on its opportunity. Levesque sent a perfectly weighted pass to Maddy Skelton who blew past two BC defenders and skated in alone on BC's Abigail Levy. Skelton wired a shot bardown past Levy's glove for her second goal of the season.
- The Catamounts pressed for the equalizer in the middle frame outshooting the Eagles 22-5 but Levy stood on her head for Boston College.
- Vermont equalized just 20 seconds into the third period. Natálie Mlýnková broke into the BC zone on a two-on-two rush with Corinne McCool. Mlynková looked to pass but as she entered the slot she fired a wrist shot that handcuffed Levy. The puck hit traffic in front and trickled past Levy as she tried to corral the shot. Theresa Schafzahl and Sini Karjalainen earned assists on the play.
- With 7:05 left in the contest the Catamounts struck for the winner. Behind the BC net Levesque carried the puck straight at Levy attempting to stuff it home. Levesque was stopped but Lara Beecher was able to poke it home for her first career game-winning goal.
- In the final minutes of the contest UVM didn't allow a shot on goal. Krista Parkkonen blocked two shots and Tynka Pátková added another as UVM saw the contest out.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- In January of 2020 the Catamounts snapped a 25-game BC winning streak against UVM with a 2-2 tie. In the last five contests (including that tie) UVM is 3-0-2 against the Eagles and 2-0-0 at home.
- The Catamounts handed Boston College its first league loss of the season, they entered Friday's action at 4-0-0.
- This evening was senior defenseman Sara Levesque's fifth career multi-point game.
- With today's win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to COTS, the Committee on Temporary Shelter, as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since the campaigns inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $72,000 to local non-profits.
UP NEXT
Vermont and Boston College are back at it tomorrow afternoon for a 3 p.m. faceoff from Gutterson Fieldhouse.
