ORONO – University of Maine senior left winger and tri-captain Scott Pellerin has scored 25 goals this season including a league-leading 20 in Hockey East games. His totals are certainly impressive but just as important is the number of clutch goals he has scored, including the one on Saturday night that helped the Bears hold off Boston College 4-2.

Maine is now 25-3-1 overall and 14-2-1 in Hockey East. The Bears, winners of six straight and unbeaten in their last eight, have reduced their magic number for clinching the conference crown to three over Providence. BC is now 10-16-3, 6-9-2.

Pellerin not only has five game-winning goals, all in Hockey East games, but he has also scored four goals in either the second or third periods that have extended Maine’s lead to two goals. Maine won all four games.

On Saturday, Maine watched a 3-0 lead reduced to 3-2 before Pellerin’s goal with 1:55 remaining in the second period halted Boston College’s momentum and gave the Bears that extra cushion they needed.

“That was the biggest (turning) point in the game,” said Maine junior center Jim Montgomery. “They were basically taking the game to us at that point and then Pelly turns around and snaps one home.

“That’s what he’s done all year, come up with real big goals,” added Montgomery.

Pellerin’s goal followed a flurry of action near the BC net. The puck rolled to the face-off circle to the left of BC goalie Scott LaGrand (26 saves).

“I turned around, took a shot and it went between his legs,” said Pellerin. “With a goalie like LaGrand, who is a hyper goalie and very, very quick, you have to beat him with quickness. You have to get your shot off quickly. And if you try to shoot it through him, he leaves openings.”

LaGrand said, “I should have stopped it. He got it off quickly and I had to make a choice of whether to take a step out and stand up or go into the butterfly. I went into the butterfly and it went through me.”

BC had a couple of good flurries in the third period but Maine goalie Garth Snow made some big saves to run his season’s record to 21-3-1. Snow had nine of his 20 saves in the final period.

Maine took a 3-0 lead in the first period on goals by Brian Downey, Randy Olson and Jean-Yves Roy.

But Rob Canavan’s power-play goal and Marc Beran’s goal cut the lead to 3-2 in the second period before Pellerin scored.

Downey converted a picture-perfect two-on-one with Jim Montgomery, lifting it into the open net off Montgomery’s pass.

Effective forechecking by Roy and Martin Robitaille set up Olson’s goal as Olson picked up the puck from Roy behind the net and snuck a wraparound into the short side off LaGrand’s skate.

Roy scored the game-winner with a 30-foot wrist shot that snuck through LaGrand’s pads from the top of the face-off circle.

“I think the reason I scored was that Roby (Robitaille) was going to the net and it affected LaGrand’s concentration,” said Roy. “I just took a little wrist shot, trying to get it on net and get something going.”

“There was a semi-screen and the puck dipped on me,” said LaGrand. “He didn’t hit it well. It was a knuckler.”

Canavan swept home the rebound of a Todd Hall shot at the 5:11 mark of the second period and Beran tipped a John Joyce pass between Snow’s pads 4:17 later.

Black Bears 4, Eagles 2

Maine 3 1 0 – 4 Boston College 0 2 0 – 2

First period – 1. Maine, Downey 16 (Montgomery, Tardif), 3:46; 2. Maine, Olson 9 (Roy), 7:04; 3. Maine, Roy 27 (Robitaille, Silverman), 15:41. Penalties – Maine, Roy, cross checking, 4:42; BC, Rathbone, interference, 12:59; Maine, Weinrich, holding, 13:19; Maine, Pellerin, interference, 18:42

Second period – 4. BC, Canavan 7 (Hall, Rathbone), 5:11; 5. BC, Beran 18 (Joyce, Moran), 9:28; 6. Maine, Pellerin 25 (Ingraham, Imes), 18:05. Penalties – Maine, Olson, tripping, 4:30; BC, Zygulski, interference, 6:33; BC, Buckley, interference, 12:00; Maine, Link, slashing, 14:42; BC, Pascucci, hooking, 19:06

Third period – No scoring. Penalties – BC, Beran, interference, 5:50; Maine, Link, interference, 10:15; Maine, Murphy, holding, 12:11; BC, Hall, hitting from behind, 15:07; BC, Beran, roughing, 17:46

Shots on goal – Maine 12-8-10 – 30; BC 4-9-9 – 22

Goaltenders – Maine, Garth Snow; BC, Scott LaGrand