Free Press Sports Staff

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The miracle at Conte Forum, Chapter 2, is still alive for one more dramatic showdown of underdog and prohibitive favorite.

Bouncing back for a 2-0 first-period deficit, a resuscitated University of Vermont offense tallied four straight goals to deprive top-seeded Boston College of a sweep in this best-of-3 Hockey East quarterfinals series, 4-2, Saturday night.

For the second consecutive year, the Catamounts (15-21-3) and Eagles (25-6-5) will engage in a winner-take-all third game at 4 p.m. Sunday with a berth in Friday’s HEA semifinals at TD Garden awaiting the victors.

Through 20 minutes Saturday, the Eagles had everything under their control. They led 2-0, they had poured 20 shots on UVM freshman goalie Packy Munson — he of the 43 saves — and they absorbed the physical punishment a revamped Catamount lineup dealt out without losing composure.

Then the Catamounts, blanked 3-0 Friday and having only two goals to their credit in 10-plus periods of regular and postseason games with the Eagles this season, tied the game in the second, pulled into the lead for the first time this series midway through the third and threw the defensive clamps on the potent BC offense in the waning minutes.

While Munson did a pretty good imitation of last year’s UVM heroic backup goal in Brody Hoffman, the Catamounts’ Brian Bowen, Liam Coughlin, Brendan Bradley and, finally into the clinching empty net, Rob Darrar gave UVM the offense to score its first win over a top four Hockey East team this year.

The victory was a display of resilience and heart, not only from Friday’s loss and the 2-0 deficit but from a lineup suddenly thrust into flux by a suspension, injury and illness. Forward Brady Shaw sat out a one-game suspension for accrued game misconducts. Defenseman Alexx Privitera (day-to-day) and forward Kevin Irwin (indefinite) were both hurt Friday. Intestinal ailments sidelined forward Jon Turk and defensemen Chris Muscoby and Mitch Ferguson.

That led to the insertion of forwards Coughlin, Dan Senkbeil and Malcolm McKinney along with defensemen Rob Hamilton, Ori Abramson and Jake Kearlely. Munson remained in goal after relieving Mike Santaguida in Friday’s defeat.

“Talk about being proud and showing character with our backs to the wall. We’re down 2-0 on the road against the No. 3 team in the country,” UVM coach Kevin Sneddon said. “The guys certainly showed great character.”

The Coughlin-Darrar-Bowen line carried the UVM offense, scoring three of the goals while Hamilton contributed two assists.

And Munson, said Sneddon, “was sensational.”

“Here’s a young man in his first playoff experience going against an excellent team. After they go up 2-0, he’s got to be perfect for us to come back and he was. After we made it 2-1, they could have made it 3-1, 4-1 but he kept them at 2.”

Meanwhile, after a subdued first period during which Austin Cangelosi at 3:49 and Alex Tuch at 7:06 gave the Eagles all the goals they would get, the Catamounts ratcheted up their physical game, particularly in proximity of BC goal Thatcher Demko (27 saves).

“Look at their first goal,” said Sneddon, pointing to Cangelosi’s goal after a lengthy scrum in the crease. “They were jamming away at our goaltender and we’ve got to jam, too.”

Bowen ignited the Catamount score at 2:50 of the second, ending a Demko shutout streak against UVM of 128:32 extending into the regular-season series. Coughlin pounced on a puck poked loose by Hamilton at 10:20 to tie. At 11:20 of the third, Bradley worked a Mario Puskarich feed past Demko for UVM’s first lead of the series and Darrar scored with 4-10ths of a second remaining.

“As the game went on, we played really smart hockey and Packy didn’t have to work quite so hard,” Sneddon said. Of the final five minutes, when BC struggled to enter the UVM zone, he said, “We were playing with confidence and no sense of panic.”

After the personnel losses, Sneddon said, “It’s a good thing we have depth. Shaw will be eligible and then we’ll see who’s going to be healthy.

Correspondent Ted Ryan contributed to this report. Contact him at TedRyanVT@aol.com and follow him on Twitter at @TedRyanVT.

Hockey East quarterfinals

(Best of 3 series tied 1-1)

No. 1 Boston College , No. 9 Vermont 4, No. 1 Boston College 2

Vermont 0 2 2—4

Boston College 2 0 0—2

First period — Scoring: BC, Angelosi 17 (Wood, Savage), pp, 3:49; BC, Tuch 13 (Kim, Gilmour), 7:05.

Penalties: UVM 3 minors; BC 3 minors.

Second period — Scoring: UVM, Bowen 4 (Hamilton, Coughlin), 2:50; UVM, Coughlin 3 (Hamilton), 10:20. Penalties: UVM 1 minor; BC 1 minor.

Third period — Scoring: UVM, Bradley 10 (Puskarich, Privitera), 11:20; UVM, Darrar 2 (Coughlin, Bowen), 19:59.Penalties: UVM 1 minor; BC 1 minor.

Saves — UVM, Munson 18-16-9—43; BC, Demko 11-8-8—27.

Power plays — UVM 0 for 4; BC 1 for 4.

Records — Vermont 15-21-3; Boston College 25-6-5.