In their first game since being named the best team in the nation, the Union Dutchmen lived up to their no. 1 ranking, defeating Vermont by a score of 5-2 on Friday in the first game of the Division I NCAA Hockey Tournament.

“It’s always hard to watch your seniors in the locker room after a tough loss, but despite the outcome tonight, I’m certainly very proud of them for putting Vermont hockey back on the map,” said Head Coach Kevin Sneddon in an interview with UVM athletics. “I’m very proud of the accomplishments our team had this year.”

The Dutchman proved too dominant offensively, keeping the Cats in penalty trouble over the first two periods and outshooting UVM 39-25 for the game according to UVM athletics.

Union opened the scoring on a short-handed, unassisted goal by junior Matt Hatch four minutes into the first period. Senior Chris McCarthy tied the score on a wraparound goal later in the period, but Union responded just a minute later when Max Novak netted a putback on the left side on the power play.

Union hardly looked back, and scored twice in the second period. McCarthy scored again for the Cats in the third period, but an empty net goal by Hatch made the deficit too large for UVM to overcome.

This was the Catamounts first NCAA Tournament birth since 2010. The East Regional loss ended the Catamounts season at 20-15-3, their first 20 win season since 2009. Union will move on to face the winner of Providence or Quinnipiac in the next round according to UVM athletics.