Barry Almeida scored the game-winning goal for Boston College just over three minutes into overtime to help the Eagles (16-10-1, 12-7-1 Hockey East) complete a weekend sweep of New Hampshire (9-14-2, 6-11-1 HEA).
The seventh ranked Eagles were backstopped by the play of Parker Milner as he turned away 31-of-33 shots in the game, outplaying freshman netminder Casey DeSmith of UNH, who made 34 saves on 37 shots.
The Eagles got the scoring started early in the game, as Almeida scored on a tip-in just four minutes in. Five minutes later, the Wildcats responded with one of their own on the power play. Junior Brett Kostolansky beat Milner over his glove nine minutes into the first period.
With only three minutes remaining in the first period, Chris Kreider regained the lead for BC when he beat DeSmith over his shoulder to send the Eagles into the first intermission with a 2-1 advantage.
The second period remained scoreless until UNH sophomore Justin Agosta scored to tie the game at 2-2 with just over a minute left in the period.
After the third period remained scoreless, the game headed into overtime. In overtime, Almeida notched his second goal of the game and give BC the weekend sweep over the Wildcats.
The two one-goal losses for the Wildcats this weekend pushed their one-goal loss total to four in the month of January, with three coming in overtime.
Maine Sweeps BU
Sophomore goalie Dan Sullivan helped Maine complete the weekend series sweep at Boston by stopping 38-out-of-39 shots.
Freshman John Parker scored for the Black Bears (14-8-3, 11-7-2 HEA) in the closing seconds of the first period to give Maine a 1-0 lead going into the first break. But, two minutes, 41 seconds into the second period, sophomore Garrett Noonan tied the game up for the Terriers (15-8-1, 12-6-1 HEA), beating Sullivan for BU’s lone goal of the game. Four minutes later, junior Nick Pryor scored his first collegiate goal to give the Black Bears a 2-1 advantage, which they took into the second intermission.
The third period went scoreless until junior Matt Mangene scored an empty-netter for Maine to put the game on ice.
Maine came out hot in the game, outshooting the Terriers, 21-8, in the first period, but senior goalie Kieran Millan stopped 20-of-21 shots in the period. Overall, Millan had 34 saves on 36 shots in the game.
Despite the two losses this weekend, BU still remains in a tie for first place in the Hockey East standings with Boston College at 25 points. After picking up four crucial points this weekend, Maine sits in second-place.
Northeastern sweeps UVM
Northeastern followed up its 8-3 win Friday night with a 4-2 win at Vermont to complete a weekend sweep of the Catamounts.
The Huskies (10-11-3, 6-11-2 HEA) scored first for the second straight game, when Robbie Vrolyk poked a rebound past UVM goalie Alex Vazzano seven minutes into the first period.
Vermont (5-19-1, 2-15-1 HEA) answered three minutes later when Kyle Reynolds redirected a shot from Nick Bruneteau past Chris Rawlings to tie the game at 1-1. The scored stayed tied at one for the remainder of the first period and into the intermission.
Despite the Cats’ strong push in the early part of the second period, it was Northeastern scoring the next goal when Alex Tuckerman netted one on a rebound to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead. Five minutes later, Northeastern increased their lead with a goal from freshman Dan Cornell, as he and Garrett Vermeersch played a little give-and-go to make the game 3-1 in favor of the Huskies.
Vermont kept coming in the third period, but couldn’t manage to find the back of the net until two minutes remaining in the period when Colin Markison scored on a rebound to pull the Cats to within one. But, with Vazzano pulled, Cody Ferriero scored his fourth goal of the weekend on an empty-netter to give Northeastern the 4-2 win.
Ferriero also had a hat-trick in Northeastern’s 8-3 win Friday night. Northeastern goalie Chris Rawlings was also named the Hockey East Goalie of the Month.
Patrick Strohecker can be reached at [email protected].
