BC, Northeastern, Vermont Force Decisive Game 3 In Hockey East Quarterfinals

Boston College kept its Hockey East tournament hopes alive on Saturday when it defeated Notre Dame 4-2 at Kelley Rink.

It was a strong bounce-back performance from the Eagles after losing 7-2 to the Fighting Irish on Friday. Top-line forward Johnny Gaudreau, who leads Division I men’s hockey in scoring, led BC’s offense with two goals and two assists. Gaudreau’s first goal at 17:39 of the first period gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead, which they would protect to force a decisive Game 3 of this quarterfinals matchup.

Gaudreau also extended his point streak to 31 games, which ties a Hockey East record set more than two decades ago.

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In other Saturday action, Providence earned a trip to the semifinals with a sweep of Maine after a 4-2 victory on home ice. The Friars will be making their third straight Hockey East semifinals appearance. Sophomore forward Nick Saracino led the Providence offense with two goals, while sophomore forward Trevor Mingoia and senior defenseman Steven Shamanski also tallied two points.

Vermont forced a decisive Game 3 after a 3-2 overtime victory on the road against UMass Lowell. Freshman forward Mario Puskarich scored in the extra period for the Catamounts. Sophomore forward Jonathan Turk and freshman forward Mario Puskarich also scored for Vermont.

Northeastern set up a decisive Game 3 with a 5-4 overtime win against New Hampshire. It’s the Huskies’ first win over UNH in Durham since 2007. Freshman forward Mike Szmatula scored the game-winner for Northeastern at 3:39 of the overtime period. Freshman forward Kevin Roy (two goals), senior forward Braden Pimm (two assists) and sophomore defenseman Colton Saucerman (one goal, one assist) had multi-point games for the Huskies.

The semifinals will take place Friday, March 20 at TD Garden. The schedule for the rest of the quarterfinals is below (all games are Sunday, March 20 at 4:30 p.m.).

Notre Dame at Boston College (NESN)

Vermont at UMass Lowell

Northeastern at New Hampshire

Photo via Twitter/davemagerWBZ