Caroline Goffredo snuck across Vermont’s blue line, drawing a Catamount defender with her. She fired a deep slap shot toward Vermont goalie Jessie McPherson, aiming at her stick side. McPherson just missed the puck, and the Boston College women’s hockey bench erupted in cheers as the scoreboard changed to 1–1.
“[Goffredo] was feisty [and] obviously had that goal,” head coach Katie Crowley said in her postgame press conference. “I thought she worked at it today and really—offensively and on the forecheck—led our team.”
The Eagles (10–8–0, 8–5–0) faced off against Vermont (9–7–2, 6–4–1) on Friday for the final game of their fall semester. Despite Goffredo’s efforts, three first-period goals by Vermont left the Eagles in an insurmountable deficit. The Eagles fell to the Catamounts 3–1, their first loss to Vermont since November 2009.
“I thought it was a rough one for us,” Crowley said. “I thought we just overall didn’t play our game the way that we can play. We need to go back to the drawing board and figure it out. Luckily, we can get some rest, and hopefully some of our injuries can get a little bit better, and we can get a couple players back in the lineup that were out, but overall we just need to be better.”
The Catamounts dominated play early on, as they outshot the Eagles 10–2 in the first six minutes. In the seventh minute, Maddy Skelton came flying down the ice and fired the puck through BC goaltender Abigail Levy’s five-hole to jump out to an early 1–0 lead.
Despite the Eagles’ burst of momentum due to Goffredo’s goal, the Catamounts regained their lead with two minutes left in the period. Vermont’s Evelyn Blais-Savoie curled out of the faceoff and fired a shot past Levy, whose vision was blocked by a Vermont player.
The scoring didn’t end there for the Catamounts. Vermont’s Tynka Pátková fired shots at Levy, who, despite making multiple impressive saves, was unable to stop her efforts. Pátková’s goal awarded the Catamounts a 3–1 lead heading into the second period.
“We need to be more disciplined, and we need to capitalize on the chances we get, but ultimately we need to limit them on their scoring opportunities, and we just don’t seem to be doing that,” Crowley said. “So we need to go back to the drawing board and find ways to do that.”
After an action-packed first period, the second period was much slower for both teams, as they struggled to connect on offense. Late in the second, Levy made multiple diving saves to prevent another Catamount goal. She recorded 44 saves on the night.
Four minutes into the third frame, officials called the second penalty of the game on BC. Vermont peppered Levy with shots, but the shorthanded Eagles remained composed. After icing the puck, Goffredo chased the Catamount defenders down and stole the puck, firing it at Vermont’s net, but it went just wide.
“I thought Goffredo was really good for us today,” Crowley said. “She was definitely a highlight for us, especially as a sophomore to come with that much poise.”
Featured Image by Leo Wang / Heights Staff
