BC Bulletin

Ava Thomas’ Last Second Winner Lifts BC Women’s Hockey Over No 8 UConn in Storrs

Boston College salvages a split as Thomas’ goal, six penalty kills, and 46 saves by Campbell power the Eagles to a road victory which ended a three-game winless streak.
Chris Vogel|
Boston College celebrate a goal in win over No. 8 UConn
Boston College celebrate a goal in win over No. 8 UConn | bceagles.com

Just over 72 hours ago, Ava Thomas was awarded her first Hockey East Player of the Month award in her first month of eligibility. It didn’t take long for the freshman to show why she should be considered for the November award as well. A night after assisting on the only Eagle goal, she played the role of hero, beating Tia Chen with just 2.3 seconds remaining to give Boston College the lead and the win.

For the second straight night, Boston College jumped out to a first period lead over Connecticut. This time, junior forward Sammy Taber collected the puck along the goal line, skated up towards the face off dot to the right of Tia Chan before firing a pass across the ice to a crashing Olivia Maffeo. The defensewoman did not waste a rare goal-scoring opportunity for herself, putting the puck right inside the post for her first goal of the season.

Connecticut had opportunities throughout the next forty minutes as they dominated the shot count, eventually doubling up the Eagles 48-24 in shots over the course of the game as well as generating six power-play opportunities. On those chances, the Huskies peppered the net but as the saying goes, your goaltender has to be your best penalty killer. That rang true as Grace Campbell kept the Huskies off the board. While the Boston College skaters registered 25 blocks, 48 shots still got through to the senior goaltender who put together one of her finest performances this season after early struggles in the campaign. 

It would take until under nine minutes remaining in the third period before the Huskies found an equalizer and beat Campbell for the first time all afternoon. Meghane Duchesne-Chalifoux kept the puck in the zone as she tracked down a Boston College clearance attempt just short of the blue line before turning and banking the puck off the side wall where it rolled to former Eagle standout Julia Pellerin behind the net. Pellerin found Martha Mobark all alone in the slot and the junior wasted no time finding the equalizer.

After Boston College saw a power-play opportunity go begging with just three and a half minutes remaining in regulation, overtime loomed with all the momentum on the side of the Huskies. With just nine seconds to go in the third, the Eagles had one last offensive draw after Chan denied Thomas to keep the game level. Kate Ham won the draw back towards the blueliners as Jade Arnone passed it to her left for Cailin Flynn. Flynn fired the pass right back to where it came and with the clock ticking down, Arnone fired a shot towards the net. Down in the dirty area, Thomas managed to get a stick on the puck, redirecting it into the net with 0.9 showing on the clock. Replay confirmed the goal, added just over a second, and after the puck was dropped one final time, Boston College had its first ranked win of the season.

Boston College returns to action this Thursday in the Battle of Comm. Ave. as it faces rival Boston University. The return game is scheduled for Friday night, with the matchup being moved from Walter Brown Arena to Agganis Arena partially due to the expected turnout.

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Chris Vogel
CHRIS VOGEL

Chris Vogel has spent the last five years in sports media; including as a play-by-play broadcaster for ACC Network Extra and Hockey East on ESPN. He’s a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and in his final year as a graduate student at Boston College, where he serves as the radio voice of Boston College Women’s Hockey on WZBC 90.3; the flagship radio network of Boston College Women’s Athletics. He’s the host of the “All Things Hockey” podcast, and cover women’s college hockey for College Hockey On SI.

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