What at one point appeared to be a cakewalk is now officially a barnburner.<\/p>\n
After spotting overall top seed Boston University a 2-0 lead through one period, East Regional champion Vermont responded in the second, exploding for three goals in less than six minutes to take a 3-2 lead.<\/p>\n
A late power-play tally by the Terriers, though, sent the game into the third period tied at 3 in the second national semifinal at the Verizon Center.<\/p>\n
The winner of the game will meet Miami, a 4-1 victor over Bemidji State, in the national title game on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
The Terriers dominated early, outshooting the Catamounts 14-7 in the opening period. Vermont goaltender Dan Madore was forced to be sharp, but was unable to stonewall Colin Wilson, a Hobey “Hat Trick” finalist.<\/p>\n
After Kevin Shattenkirk patiently pulled back at the offensive blueline on the rush, he floated a wrister that Wilson redirected at the center of the zone past Madore inside the right post for the 1-0 BU lead.<\/p>\n
The Terriers extended their lead with 3:33 remaining in the first. Lawrence and Higgins worked a perfect give-and-go with Higgins feathering a feed across the crease that Lawrence roofed over Madore to give the Terriers a 2-0 advantage.<\/p>\n
Early in the second, the Terriers appeared to add to the lead again.<\/p>\n
Sniper Nick Bonino fired a shot from the right faceoff circle that beat Madore over the right shoulder. The on-ice official immediately signaled goal, but after looking at replay, it was clear the puck hit the left post, forcing the referee to reverse his original call.<\/p>\n
With new life, the Catamounts immediately took advantage. Wahsontiio Stacey fired home his eighth goal of the year, using two BU defenders as a screen to beat Kieran Millan and pull Vermont within a goal at 3:50.<\/p>\n
The Cats continued to get chances, including a point-blank bid by Justin Milo at 8:45 that forced Millan to make a sliding left pad save.<\/p>\n
Millan robbed Viktor Stalberg minutes later, but the rebound wound up on Milo’s stick again and this time he wouldn’t be denied. He put his shot into a wide-open net at 9:04 to draw the game even at 2.<\/p>\n
And before the fans finished cheering Milo’s tally, defenseman Josh Burrows fired a shot that completely eluded Millan to give the Cats the lead, 3-2, at 9:49.<\/p>\n
That marked the first time in this year’s NCAA tournament that the Terriers have trailed and led BU coach Jack Parker to call his timeout.<\/p>\n
The Terriers responded with chances, most notably a Colby Cohen bid at 12:08. The shot, similar to Bonino’s earlier in the frame, beat Madore but rang off the crossbar.<\/p>\n
A late power play allowed BU to draw even. After a near-clear by Vermont, Bonino picked up the puck and fed Vinny Saponari near the left post with 1:21 remaining to send the game to the third period deadlocked at 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What at one point appeared to be a cakewalk is now officially a barnburner. After spotting overall top seed Boston University a 2-0 lead through one period, East Regional champion Vermont responded in the second, exploding for three goals in less than six minutes to take a 3-2 lead. A late power-play tally by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n