Anthony Petruzzelli's game-winning goal in overtime lifted No. 17 Vermont past No. 10 Boston College.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Anthony Petruzzelli beat Thatcher Demko into the upper left corner at 1:47 of overtime to lift 17th-ranked Vermont to a dramatic 3-2 Hockey East victory against 10th-ranked Boston College on Friday night at Conte Forum.
The Catamounts improved to 17-10-2 (9-7-1 HEA) and earned their first win in Chestnut Hill since Nov. 15, 2009. The Eagles dropped to 17-10-2 (10-6-2 HEA) with just their third loss in the past 15 games.
UVM moved into a tie for fifth place with Providence in the Hockey East standings with 19 points. The Catamounts trail second-place BC by only three points with a game in hand and five games remaining in the regular season.
Vermont led 2-1 for nearly the entire third period before Alex Tuch knotted the score on an extra-attacker goal with only 9.6 seconds left in regulation. Petruzzelli responded for the Catamounts in the extra session, finishing a centering feed from linemate Jonathan Turk in the low slot for the game winner.
"We played to win in overtime. It was special play by that line and a great goal by Petro," coach Kevin Sneddon said. "I just talked to the team about being excited about it. Overtime's fun, but maybe that's not the way to get to it, but we always say, 'next shift.' "
Jake Fallon was the catalyst on the game's opening goal as he found Brady Shaw open at the far post with six minutes elapsed. Shaw tucked the puck into the net for his team-leading 12th goal of the season, and Nick Luukko added an assist on the play.
Boston College responded on the power play with 5:15 left in the first period on a net-front scramble. Mike Santaguida (22 saves) stopped two attempts at the edge of the crease, but Austin Cangelosi located the puck and wristed a shot inside the left post through traffic.
Santaguida made a pair of key saves in the first period, robbing Tuch with his right pad down low and gloving a right circle wrister from Teddy Doherty. Noah Hanafin hit the crossbar on a one-timer late in the frame and the score remained 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Kevin Irwin recaptured the lead for the Catamounts with a power-play tally in the middle frame at the 11:15 mark. Irwin took a feed from Luukko in the high slot and beat a screened Demko (31 saves) with a low shot under his pads.
Boston College pulled Demko with 90 seconds remaining in the third, and Tuch followed up Hanafin's centering feed from the left corner that caromed off Santaguida's pad. Tuch beat Santaguida with a quick one-time shot in the closing seconds to send the game to overtime.
Less than two minutes into OT, Turk threw the puck into the slot from the right corner and Petruzzelli beat Demko high blocker side for his sixth goal of the year. Mike Paliotta collected his team-high 28th point with the second assist for a new career high in scoring.
UVM held a 34-24 shot advantage, including a 24-11 edge in the first two periods, and had the only two shots of overtime.
