CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - No. 1 Boston College men's hockey picked up two points with a 7-1 win over Vermont in front of 7,246 at Kelley Rink on Friday night. The win moved the Eagles to 24-5-1 overall and 16-3-1 in Hockey East, while the Catamounts fell to 12-14-3 and 6-10-3.
Junior defenseman Lukas Gustafsson (Atlanta, Ga.) broke through for the first goal of the game. Junior Mike Posma's (Pomona, N.Y.) shot was saved off a pad of UVM goalie Gabe Carriere, but Gustafsson was there for the shot from the left dot.
In the second, BC took advantage of the fourth and fifth Catamount penalties of the night starting when sophomore Cutter Gauthier (Scottsdale, Ariz.) scored his NCAA-leading 27th goal of the season. The Eagles forced a turnover and took a 3-on-2 down the ice with freshmen Will Smith (Lexington, Mass.) and Gabe Perreault (Hinsdale, Ill.) setting up Gauthier.
Less than three minutes later it was Gauthier again, with his 28th of the season, on a shot from the right point. The Eagles continued to pour it on in the second with four goals all in a span of 5:10. Graduate defenseman Jacob Bengtsson (Stockholm, Sweden) and sophomore Andre Gasseau (Garden Grove, Calif.) each lit the lamp in the period.
Vermont stopped the BC run with a goal by Mario Gasparini less than a minute after Gasseau's goal, but the Eagles got it back early in the third. Smith and Perreault teamed up to force a turnover behind the net and it was Smith's pass back to Perreault in the slot for the goal. Junior defenseman Aidan Hreschuk (Long Beach, Calif.) padded BC's lead midway through the period on a shot ripped from the right that went through the five hole.
Freshman goaltender Jacob Fowler (Melbourne, Fla.) made 18 saves for the Eagles and was pulled with a six-goal lead and 10:35 left on the clock. Classmate Jan Korec (Bratislave, Slovakia) stopped all three shots faced. For the Catamounts, Carriere made 27 saves in the start, while Axel Mangbo made eight in relief.
SCORING
1st 13:32 BC Lukas Gustafsson (Mike Posma, Jacob Bengtsson)
2nd 6:38 BC Cutter Gauthier (Gabe Perreault, Will Smith) - PP
2nd 9:23 BC Gauthier (Smith, Leonard) - PP
2nd 9:37 BC Jacob Bengtsson (Jack Malone, Charlie Leddy)
2nd 11:48 BC Andre Gasseau (Oskar Jellvik, Eamon Powell)
2nd 12:45 UVM Mario Gasparini (Joel Maata)
3rd 0:19 BC Perreault (Smith)
3rd 9:25 BC Aidan Hreschuk (Jamie Armstrong, Colby Ambrosio)
GAME NOTES
- BC scored five or more goals for the 15th time this season.
- Gauthier recorded his eighth multi-goal game of the season.
- Leonard extended his point streak to 12 games.
- Perreault extended his point streak to 16 games.
- Perreault's goal marked his 50th point of the season; fifth most all-time in a season by a BC freshman as he passed Steve Heinze (1988-89) and Chuck Kobasew (2000-01).
- Powell extended his point streak to nine games.
- Smith extended his point streak to 16 games.
- Smith recorded his third three-assist game of the season.
UP NEXT
Boston College and Vermont are set up for a Saturday re-match at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
