BURLINGTON, Vt. - Blake Bolden scored in the third round to lift the Boston College Eagles past Vermont in a shootout at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Friday evening after the teams played to a 3-3 tie.
Bolden, BC's third shooter in the shootout, was able to place her shot over the left shoulder of Vermont goaltender Kristen Olychuck (Kelowna, British Columbia). Boston College goaltender Corinne Boyles stopped all three Catamounts in their shootout attempts.
The Eagles were aided by a 3-for-7 effort on the power play, but the Catamount fought back from one-goal deficits twice to tie the game up in the second and third periods.
In the first period, despite Vermont holding a 14-7 lead in shots, BC took advantage of three straight Catamount penalties and capitalized on a 5-on-3 opportunity to take a 1-0 lead at the 18:16 mark.
Ashley Motherwell tipped a pass from Bolden just over the blocker of Olychuck for her third goal of the season. Elizabeth Olchowski also picked up an assist on the play.
The Eagles converted another power play opportunity at 5:11 of the second period to push their lead to two, 2-0. Katelyn Kurth switched the puck to teammate Dru Burns and Burns fed Danielle Welch in at the left circle. Welch one-timed the puck and found the back of the net for her third goal of the season.
Vermont answered with its own power play goal at 8:52 to cut the lead to one. Freshman Kailey Nash (Middletown, R.I.) stuffed the puck past Boyles for her team-leading seventh goal of the season. Brittany Nelson (Shelburne, Vt.) and Peggy Wakeham (Bay Roberts, Newfoundland) earned assists on Nash's goal.
The Catamounts tied up the game under a minute later when Celeste Doucet (Memramcook, New Brunswick) broke free and flipped a backhanded shot past Boyles. Emily Walsh picked up the assist on the play.
Boston College responded and regained the lead at the 11:15 mark of the second period. Bolden's shot bounced off the pad of Olychuck and into the net to put the Eagles back on top, 3-2.
Nash scored her second goal of the game on a man-up opportunity, putting back a rebound of Erin Barley-Maloney's (Raleigh, N.C.) shot at 10:10 of the third period to even the score once again, 3-3. Nelson earned her second assist of the contest on the play.
The score remained tied for the rest of the period as neither team could cash in their scoring opportunities. In the overtime period, the Catamounts drew a power play opportunity, but could not convert.
Olychuck finished the game with 18 saves for Vermont, while Boyles was credited with 34 stops for the Eagles.
Boston College moves to 4-4-5 overall and 3-3-3 in Hockey East. The Catamounts stand at 5-6-0 on the year and 1-4-1 in league play.
Vermont will return to action on Wednesday (Nov. 25) when it travels to Boston, Mass. for the final game of the series with Northeastern. The Huskies swept Vermont in two games at Gutterson Fieldhouse in October by the scores of 3-0 and 1-0.