Boston College’s comeback push never fully caught fire Thursday night, and Vermont made sure of it with a 5-2 Hockey East win at Kelley Rink.
Dean Letourneau and Teddy Stiga each found the net for the Eagles, while Alex Pelletier and Carson Woodall picked up assists. But Vermont’s early burst put BC in a hole it couldn’t climb out of, and the Catamounts left Chestnut Hill with the result after adding an empty-netter in the final minute.
The loss drops Boston College to 2-5-1 overall and 1-2-0 in Hockey East. Vermont moves to 5-3-0 overall and 4-1-0 in league play.
Vermont wasted no time getting on the board. Tyler Dysart scored just 1:17 into the game, and the Catamounts kept pressing from there. Midway through the first period, Logan Renkowski scored on the power play, and Ethan Burroughs followed 1:19 later to make it 3-0.
BC finally answered late in the opening period when Letourneau scored his sixth goal of the year. The play started with Pelletier forcing a turnover in the neutral zone, then finding Letourneau as he moved in on goal. Letourneau finished the chance with a shot into the top left corner to trim the deficit.
Vermont pushed the margin back to three early in the second when Michael Hagens scored on the power play. Still, the Eagles kept hanging around and cut into the lead again late in the period. Stiga spun away from a Vermont defender in the neutral zone, carried the puck to the crease, and finished from close range to make it a two-goal game.
Boston College pulled Louka Cloutier for an extra attacker in an effort to close the gap, but Vermont sealed it with an empty-net goal from Tyler Dysart with 52 seconds left.
The teams meet again Friday night to finish the weekend set. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m., with coverage on NESN regionally, ESPN+ nationally, and TSN in Canada. The game will also be heard on WEEI 850 AM.
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