For two periods of Boston College women’s hockey’s matchup against Vermont on Friday, the Eagles dominated and it looked as though they would easily pull out a win. And then it all came crashing down.
No. 15 BC (5–3–1, 4–1–0 Hockey East) traveled to Burlington to face No.14 Vermont (5–3–1, 3–1–1) on Friday and cruised through 40 minutes of play, getting out to a 2–0 lead. But, as the Eagles relaxed, the Catamounts came back and scored three straight goals to take down BC 3–2.
“I thought both of our goals were very good goals and nice plays,” BC head coach Katie Crowley said. “But, I think we need to sustain a little bit more offensive pressure when we get that opportunity.”
The Eagles entered the first period buzzing, with their defensive line making scoring opportunities early on. Just over two minutes in, cross-ice passing from defender Sidney Fess and Dieirdre Mullowney allowed Gaby Roy to skate through traffic and fire a low shot from the point, giving the Eagles a 1–0 lead.
The Catamounts came back with intensity, peppering Abigail Levy with countless on net, but were unable to get past the steady goaltender until the second period.
“She played great for us,” Crowley said. “She was really engaged and locked in.”
Hannah Bilka continued to live up to her Hockey East Player of the Week title by setting herself up for a goal early in the second period.
Bilka collected the puck off the wall and passed it to Alexie Guay, who passed it back to Bilka. Bilka then shot the puck past Vermont’s Jessie McPherson to add a point to the board and rack up her seventh goal of the season.
Levy, who controlled rebounds and halted loose pucks from all angles Friday, finally let one by her. It was from a shot by Vermont’s Maddy Skelton, who swept past three BC defenders to land a breakaway behind Levy and cut the deficit to 2–1.
Guay entered the box for elbowing with less than three minutes left in the second period, handing Vermont the only power play of the night.
The Catamounts littered Levy with shots until the second period buzzer rang, failing to capitalize on the advantage but sparking an intensity for the home team.
It only took 20 seconds in the third period for the Catamounts to even the score. Winning the puck drop, Vermont’s Nátalie Mlýnková came hot out of the gate and was able to sneak the puck past Levy as she sprawled her stick across the crease.
Vermont’s Lara Beecher poked a rebound past Levy in the 13th minute, solidifying the 3–2 win over the Eagles.
“It was a hard fought battle, and I thought we overall played pretty well,” Crowley said.
