Newkirk Wins Game 1 at UVM in OT after Keller Ties it Late

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Junior All-American defenseman Megan Keller scored the game-tying goal with 46 seconds left to force overtime and sophomore Makenna Newkirk scored her second goal of the game 39 seconds into the extra session as the No. 6 Boston College women's hockey team earned a 3-2 OT win at Vermont on Friday afternoon.

The Catamounts built a 2-0 lead with six and a half minutes left in the second period but Newkirk pulled the Eagles within one goal at 14:45 of the second.

UVM maintained its 2-1 lead throughout the third period until Keller converted with the extra attacker with less than a minute remaining in regulation.

In the extra session, the Eagles' second line – which had been buzzing all day and combined for 16 shots in the game – claimed the gamewinner off a line play. Kristyn Capizzano's centering pass to Caitrin Lonergan led to a shot off the post, but Lonergan collected her rebound and fed Newkirk trailing the play where she shoveled in the game-winning goal just 39 seconds into the five-minute period.

With seven saves in the win, BC junior goaltender Katie Burt tied the school record for career wins, collecting her 80th career victory to match Molly Schaus' 11 previous mark.

Keller also collected a pair of Hockey East records with her two-point effort: the league's career scoring and assist marks for defensemen in conference games. She has 60 career points and 49 career assists in Hockey East contests.

BC out-shot the Catamounts 41-9, and limited UVM to five shots in the first, three in the second, one in the third and none in OT.

The game was strewn with special-teams play as the teams combined for 17 penalties and 15 power-play attempts. A total of 11 penalties were called in the second period alone.

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No. 6 Boston College 3, Vermont 2 (OT)
Friday, January 20, 2017
Gutterson Fieldhouse | Burlington, Vt.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1st , 10:00 | 1-0, UVM GOAL – With the Eagles trying to clear the puck from the zone, Mackenzie MacNeil got possession in the near corner and turned, sending pass back through the slot. Amanda Drobot collected in the high slot and sent in a wrister which found space through traffic in front to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead
2nd, 13:28| 2-0, UVM GOAL (4v4) – With teams skating 4v4, Victoria Andreakos skated into the BC end and put a shot on target from the top of the right faceoff circle. Katie Burt made the save but as three Eagles converged on the crease, the puck hit a BC skate and was kicked up and over Burt and in the goal as Vermont took the 2-0 lead.
2nd, 14:45 | 2-1, BC GOAL (PPG) – On the Eagles' sixth power play of the second period, Megan Keller sent a blast in from the center point that directed wide left. Andie Anastos picked up the rebound off the kick plate and put a shot in on Melissa Black from a tight angle. Black made the save, but the rebound popped out to the bottom edge of the far face-off circle. Makenna Newkirk corralled the puck and found space to pull the Eagles back within one.
3rd, 19:14 | 2-2, BC GOAL (EXT) – With Katie Burt off the ice for the extra attacker, Delaney Belinskas picked up the puck off the boards and fed Kali Flanagan at the left point. Flanagan sent a pass across the blue line to Keller. She lined up for a blast from the right point, but then deked around a defender who committed and sprawled for a block. She took the space at the top of the circle and then sent a wrister in through traffic that beat Black to tie the score and force overtime.
OT, 00:39 | 3-2, BC GOAL – Kristyn Capizzano broke into the zone and sent an angled centering pass toward goal for Caitrin Lonergan on the back post. Lonergan's redirection clipped the base of the post, allowing her to collect the rebound off the back boards. Newkirk came into the play off the crease just as Lonergan played the puck back into play. Newkirk took the short pass and beat Black for the game-winner from close range.

GAME NOTES

This was BC's first overtime win of the season and its first since taking a 3-2 win over Clarkson in the national semifinal on March 18, 2016
This was the second time this season – and second time in the last six games – BC has battled back to win a game after trailing by two goals
Today's win extended the Eagles' undefeated run to 12 games (10-0-2), now the fourth longest in program history … the streak started on Nov. 11
With the victory, the Eagles are now 36-3-3 all-time against Vermont … BC is now 16-0-2 at Gutterson Fieldhouse
The win also extended BC's winning streak against the Catamounts to 12 games, and pushed its undefeated run against UVM to 21 games (18-0-3) dating back to 2009
With her victory in goal, Katie Burt tied the program's career wins record … with 80 wins, Burt now shares the mark with Molly Schaus '11
Burt also moved into sole possession of third place on the Hockey East career wins chart with 47 victories in league games … she is five wins back of Melissa Bourdon's record mark of 52, which she set at UNH before graduating in 2007
Burt is now tied for 11th – with Schaus – on the NCAA career wins chart
Makenna Newkirk's two goals marked her second multiple-goal game of the season and the seventh of her career
With her first goal, Newkirk became the 28th player in program history to reach 75 career points … she is now tied for 26th on the program's career scoring chart with Melissa Bizzari '14 with 76 career points
The winner in overtime was Newkirk's team-leading fourth game-winning goal of the season
These were Newkirk's seventh and eighth goals of the season … she now has 30 career goals
Andie Anastos collected her 16th assist of the year with her set-up of Newkirk's second-period goal … it was her 76th career assist and moved her into an eighth-place tie with Lexi Bender '16 on the BC career assist chart
Anastos now has 14 points in the last eight games
With two points tonight, Megan Keller set the Hockey East career scoring record by a defenseman … she now has 60 points in league play, passing Emily Pfalzer '11 and her previous record of 59 points in four seasons … Keller is just a junior
Keller also set the Hockey East career assist mark for defenseman, collecting the 49th assist of her career in league play … she moved past Pfalzer's previous mark of 48
Megan Keller collected her 13th assist of the season and the 73rd of her career on Newkirk's first goal … she is now two back of 10th place (Mary Restuccia '12) on the BC career assist chart
Keller's game-tying goal was her third goal of the season and the 19th of her career … she is now tied for fourth place on BC's career goals by a defenseman chart, matching Lexi Bender's 19 career goals
Keller now has 92 career points and snapped a four-game pointless streak
Delaney Belinskas notched her 11th assist of the season on Keller's game-tying goal … she now has a three-game point streak
Kali Flanagan picked up her 11th assist of the season on Keller's game-tying goal … with 46 career points, she now is in sole possession of ninth place on the Eagles' career scoring list for defensemen
Caitrin Lonergan collected her 14th assist of the year on Newkirk's game-winning goal
Kristyn Capizzano recorded her sixth assist of the year … she now has 95 career points and is tied for 18th on the Eagles' career scoring chart, matching Lexi Bender's four-year total of 95 points
BC went 1-for-9 on the power play tonight, although only four of them were for the full 2:00 … the team's nine power plays were the most since the Eagles went 2-for-9 on Oct. 8, 2008 at New Hampshire
The Eagles were 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, stretching their successful run to 16 straight PKs dating back to Jan. 7

TEAM RECORDS
Boston College: 17-3-4, 13-2-2 HEA
Vermont: 10-8-7, 6-4-5 HEA

THREE STARS

Makenna Newkirk, BC
Melissa Black, UVM
Megan Keller, BC

UP NEXT
The two teams return to the ice tomorrow, Saturday, January 21. Faceoff is set for 2 p.m. at UVM Gutterson Fieldhouse.

Next Event

Team Stats

Makenna Newkirk

Megan Keller

Andie Anastos

Kristyn Capizzano

Players Mentioned

Andie Anastos

Delaney Belinskas

Lexi Bender

Katie Burt

Kristyn Capizzano

Kali Flanagan

Megan Keller

Caitrin Lonergan

Makenna Newkirk