By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
Call it parity, call it a look-ahead game, call it whatever you want. At the end of the day, the scoreboard will read 6-1 in favor of the Vermont Catamounts, their first win at Conte Forum in three years.
The Boston College Eagles were rolling after a 5-1 drubbing of Harvard in the Beanpot semifinal on Monday, with Bruins prospects James Hagens, Dean Letourneau, and Andre Gasseau taking center stage, all in top form. Heading into the rematch with a Catamounts team they had swept in Burlington earlier this season, a similar result seemed inevitable. But that wasn’t the case on Friday night.
The Eagles struggled to carry their momentum into this game at the outset, with Vermont catching them asleep at the wheel by jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. Eagles Head Coach Greg Brown said postgame that “We made some mistakes that you just can’t make”.
The Catamounts punished BC for two crucial errors – a turnover at the offensive blueline and a mishandled breakout pass – into a pair of goals, and before they knew it, BC had dug itself into a hole within the first ten minutes, before they could muster five shots on frame.
Momentum gradually shifted to the Eagles’ favor with three consecutive Catamount penalties, each man advantage waking them up with more dangerous scoring chances. By the end of the period, BC outshot Vermont 16-7, with the overwhelming majority of their offense coming in a late power play salvo that would carry over through the intermission.
BC continued to barrage Vermont goaltender Aiden Wright to start the second period, with James Hagens converting on the carryover power play with a deflection goal to cut the deficit in half. The Eagles firmly seized control of the game from there, but their grip was fleeting. “We had little spurts of decent hockey, but not sustained long enough,” said Brown.
Just as soon as it looked like they were going to tie the game, Vermont scored to extend their lead to 3-1, but the goal was overturned for a kicking motion after review. While the ruling was a blessing for BC in the moment, the prolonged pause stunted their momentum, and an Andre Gasseau cross-checking penalty shortly after swung the game right back into the hands of the Catamounts as they, again, took a 3-1 lead.
Any chance of BC making a comeback was snuffed out quickly in the third, with Vermont again striking twice inside the first ten minutes. A breakdown in netfront coverage left UVM’s Massimo Lombardi wide open to receive a wraparound pass and tap it into the goal, and a BC power play, effectively their last hope, resulted in a shorthanded breakaway and a 5-1 Catamount lead.
The Eagles waved the white flag by pulling Coutier forbackup Jan Korec, and fans began to trickle out of Conte Forum with 14 minutes to play. Vermont continued to pour it on with another power play goal for the 6-1 final score.
The BC Bruins will look to reset quickly ahead of the Beanpot Final on Monday night, the 300th meeting between them and their historic rivals, Boston University. With little time to dwell on the moment and an even bigger stage looming, Brown channeled his inner Belichick: “As Bill would say, we’re on to Cincinnati.”
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