CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Andie Anastos, Melissa Bizzari and Haley McLean each scored multiple points and Corinne Boyles made 22 saves as No. 7 Boston College defeated Vermont, 5-2, at Kelley Rink Friday afternoon.
Vermont got on the board at 12:28 of the first period when Casey Leveillee skated the puck to the left circle and dropped it back to Amanda Pelky who made a quick deke around Emily Pfalzer and fired a backhanded shot on BC goaltender Corinne Boyles. While Boyles stopped the first shot with a kick save, Leveillee was able to pick up the loose puck in the crease and swing it into the net around Boyles' pads to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles knotted up the score just seven second later with Haley McLean's third goal of the season. Andie Anastos won the faceoff at center ice after the UVM goal, pushed the puck back to Lexi Bender who skated it from the neutral zone down the left side of the ice and threw a backhanded pass into the slot where Haley McLean flipped a shot into the top right corner of the net just past the glove of Vermont netminder Madison Litchfield.
Vermont held a 6-3 advantage in shots in the first period, as neither team was able to get a lot of offense going in the opening stanza despite each scoring a goal.
Boston College scored the lone goal of the middle frame at 10:58, taking the lead with a power-play strike. Melissa Bizzari dumped the puck deep into the left corner from the neutral zone where Dana Trivigno dug it out and passed it to Bender just inside the blue line. Bender fed it back to Trivigno who skated to the inside of the left circle and fired a laser just inside the right post to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
After a sluggish start, BC fired four times as many shots in the second stanza as they did in the first, and held a 12-7 edge over the Catamounts in the frame. The Eagles nearly widened their lead at 4:50 of the second period when Trivigno got behind the defense and fired a shot on net that bounced off Litchfield's pads, but Pfalzer's attempt off the rebound went directly into the netminder's chest.
The Eagles took a 3-1 lead at 6:53 of the third period. Kristyn Capizzano passed the puck to McLean in the right corner behind the net, McLean shot on goal and Bizzari scooped up the rebound and hammered the puck home.
BC spread its lead to three goals after Emily Field dropped a pass back in the slot that Andie Anastos fired into the top of the net to give the Eagles a 4-1 lead at 9:23 of the third period.
The Catamounts pulled within two when Victoria Andreakos scored a power-play goal by lifting the puck from the corner of the crease over Boyles' shoulder and into the net.
Kristyn Capizzano concluded the scoring with her eighth goal of the season at 15:30 of the final frame, punching a loose puck under Litchfield's pads from just outside the crease.
The Catamounts had a late power play and pulled their goaltender with two minutes to play, but were unable to find the back of the net with the extra skaters.
Boyles stopped 22 shots and improves to 12-4-2. Litchfield made 22 saves and falls to 4-4-1.
BC was 1-for-1 on the power play, while Vermont went 1-for-5 on the man advantage.
BC (15-4-3, 10-1-1 WHEA) will face off against Vermont (9-11-4, 5-5-1 WHEA) again tomorrow. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Notes: Emily Field scored her 98th career point with an assist on Andie Anastos' goal. Corinne Boyles passed Christy Nentwig for second all-time in career saves with 2,693 after today's contest.