Boston College Defeats Vermont, 3-1
Sophomore Kelli Stack scores twice for Eagles

Kelli Stack scored two goals for the Eagles

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Deb Spillane's goal with 5:06 to play gave ninth-ranked Boston College a 3-1 victory over Vermont in women's Hockey East action Friday afternoon at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Catamounts fell short in their second straight bid for an upset against a team ranked ninth in the nation.

"We played a very good team today in Boston College and went nose-to-nose with them the entire game," said Vermont coach Tim Bothwell. "We had an unlucky break on the deciding goal and it was a disappointing loss but I am real proud of the effort we received from everyone involved."

A week ago Vermont (4-4-0, 0-1-0 Hockey East) had a gritty all-around effort before falling in overtime at then-#9 Dartmouth. UVM gave the Eagles, a team that reached the Frozen Four last season, all they could handle in its first game against a Hockey East foe. Boston College (5-2-1 overall) evened its conference record at 2-2-0 with the victory.

With the game tied at 1-1, Spillane picked up the game- winner on a scramble in front of the Vermont goal. Her shot from in close was initially stopped by UVM goalie Kristen Olychuck (Kelowna, B.C.) but popped over Olychuck and landed just over the goal line. Kelli Stack added an empty net goal with 19 seconds left for the final margin after the Catamounts had two good shots for the equalizer blocked by the BC defense.

After a scoreless first period, UVM's Kate Lesniak (Buffalo, N.Y.) put Vermont on the board with her team-high fifth goal of the season at 9:02 of the second. Molly Morrison (So. Burlington, Vt.) set up the goal creating a turnover at the blue line as BC tried to clear the puck from its defensive zone. Morrison cut down the right side and fed Lesniak who rapped it by BC goalie Molly Schaus at the goalmouth. Stack tied the game with 1:11 left in the stanza speeding down the right side to beat Olychuck on a breakaway.

The Eagles out-shot Vermont by a 30-15 margin for the game but had just a 10-7 edge in the deciding third period. Olychuck finished with 27 saves and Schaus stopped 14 shots for Boston College. The two teams were whistled for just seven penalties, four for Vermont and three for BC, in the hard-fought but cleanly played game.

Vermont continues its homestand hosting second-ranked New Hampshire Saturday at 7:00pm. For ticket information, please contact the UVM Athletic Ticket Office at 1-866-4CAT-TIX or log on to uvmathletics.com. UVM students (with a valid ID) and all Rally's Round Up members are admitted free to all home women's hockey games.