Boston College hockey falls to Vermont 5-4 in overtime

In the most frustrating night of the young season so far, Boston College men’s hockey squandered both a 3-0 lead and a 44-22 shots advantage to lose 5-4 in overtime at Vermont.

Just one minute in to the second period, Jack McBain scored to put BC up 3-0 and it looked like the Eagles were in for a rout at the Gutterson Field House, with the Eagles in complete control both on the scoreboard and on the shot count. Jack St. Ivany and Patrick Giles had first period goals for the Eagles, who outshot UVM 14-6 in the first 20 minutes and seemed solidly in control.

But in the next few minutes after McBain’s goal, things got completely unglued. Simon Jellus whipped a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circles against the run of play at 1:43 to put Vermont on the board, and from there BC was in scramble mode.

Patrick Giles took a hooking penalty just seven seconds after the first UVM goal, leading to Philip Lagunov knocking home a goal at the doorstep of Eric Dop to make it 3-2.

BC looked rattled at that point and gave Vermont control of play for the only time really all night, and Dallas Comeau hit paydirt at 15:23 of the third period to tie the game 3-3.

Isak Walther scored just 1:30 in to the third period to put Vermont up 4-3, but BC regained complete control over the flow of the game from there on out, outshooting Vermont 14-3 and tying the game on a Pat Giles goal with just under 7 minutes to play.

BC had a power play opportunity in the final minutes and buzzed the net, with Jack St. Ivany coming close to scoring on multiple occasions, but BC couldn’t solve Vermont goalie Gabe Carriere, forcing the game to overtime.

In the 3-on-3 session, BC appeared to have the game won when Nikita Nesterenko drove hard to the net, creating a rebound Pat Giles pounced on for what would have been his hat trick - but the goal was disallowed due to Nesterenko making contact with Carriere.

Shortly after the waved off goal, Marshall Warren had a breakaway for the Eagles and drove hard to the net, and ended up bowling over Carriere, taking a charging penalty.

On the ensuing power play, Vermont scored, with Lagunov knocking home a shot from Cory Babichuk, putting an end to the game with 2:00 left in OT.

With the loss, BC falls to 3-3-1, with a perplexing set of losses against Colorado College, Bentley, and Vermont, despite impressive performances against ranked Denver, Quinnipiac and Northeastern.

The great mystery rolls on tomorrow night when BC and Vermont finish up a two game set in Burlington, where the Eagles will hope to cash in on more of their opportunities and play a full 60 minutes.