Men’s HockeyThe University of Vermont men’s ice hockey team had more than just family, friends and good health to be thankful for during this past holiday break.The red hot Catamounts rode a 7 game win streak – highlighted by upsets over #9 BU and #2 Maine — to secure the #18 ranking in the latest USCHO.com/CSTV poll. Despite a 4-1 loss to #2 UNH, the Cats improved their overall record to 9-5-1 (6-2-1, Hockey East) in the season. Fresh off the heels of a crushing 1-0 defeat to #3 BC on Nov. 4, the Cats’ victory binge was born on Nov. 10 when they doubled up Providence, 4-2. Forwards Torrey Mitchell and Dean Strong led the way with a goal and two assists apiece while goaltender Joe Fallon stoned the Friars with a season high 35 saves. Freshman Viktor Stalberg chipped in with a goal and assist, earning Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors.The Cats continued to sizzle, earning a monumental 2-1 victory over #9 BU on Nov. 14. A power play goal by Strong with just 3:47 left in the third period sent the Gutterson Fieldhouse into a frenzy. Strong paced the next victory as well, scoring a goal in support of Joe Fallon’s 14 saves in a 4-1 thrashing of Merrimack on Nov. 18. Strong earned Athlete of the Week honors while Fallon was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week.UVM’s streak continued with a 3-0 blowout at #14 Massachusetts on Nov. 21. Mitchell lit the lamp twice while Fallon earned his 13th career shutout. The Cats returned home on Nov. 25 and rewarded the 44th consecutive Gut’ sellout crowd with a thrilling 3-2 squeaker.Strong’s empty net goal with 25 seconds remaining proved to be timely insurance as Massachusetts converted to make it 3-2 with just 3 seconds left. Fallon’s 27 saves made him the Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of the Week while Mitchell secured the Hockey East Player of the Week award. A pair of 2-1 nailbiters ran the streak to 7. On Nov. 28, Strong tallied the game winner over Harvard with 1:35 left in overtime, earning freshman goaltender Mike Spillane (25 saves) his first career victory. On Nov. 30, the Cats tripped up UMass-Lowell by the same score thanks to freshman Brayden Irwin’s goal and assist and Fallon’s stellar 17 save performance. The Cats’ prolific streak came to a screeching halt on Sunday when they fell to red hot #2 UNH, 4-1. Wildcat junior netminder Kevin Regan (22 saves) stymied a surging Catamount attack and extended UNH’s unbeaten streak to 10 games. Irwin scored the lone goal for UVM.-JOSH APPELBAUMWomen’s HockeyDuring the Thanksgiving break, the Vermont women’s hockey team lost two and tied one of their three games.Saturday, Nov. 18, the Cats were shut out by the Robert Morris Colonials by a final score of 2-0. Vermont outshot the Colonials 21-16, but went 0-4 on the power play, while Robert Morris got one of their two goals on the woman advantage.Both of the Colonials’ goals were scored within seven minutes in the second period against senior goalkeeper Shivaun Siegl, who recorded 14 saves for the Cats. On Friday, Nov. 24, the Cats tied the Bemidji State Beavers 3-3 in overtime after a goal by sophomore Sarah Smiddy with an assist coming from freshman Jackie Thode in the third period.Vermont scored twice in the first period on goals by junior Kristi Anderson and freshman Chelsea Furlani within six minutes of each other. Juniors Kate Lesniak, Frankie Williams and Karen Sentoff recorded assists on the two goals.Goalkeeper junior Jenilee Roy finished the contest with 17 saves as the Cats improved to 2-10-2 on the season.On Nov. 25 Vermont fell to the Beavers 3-0 in the final game of the double header against Bemidji State.The Cats held the score at 0-0 until the end of the second period when two goals, 33 seconds apart lifted the Beavers to a 2-0 lead going into the third period of play.Bemidji State outshot the Catamounts 26-20 and ended the game 3-0 with a third period goal in the final 10 minutes.Roy recorded 23 saves for Vermont, who fell to 2-11-2 on the season.Last Saturday in a matchup with the #3 ranked and conference foe New Hampshire, Roy made a career-high 49 saves but it was not enough as the Cats fell 5-0.Vermont now stands at 2-12-2 overall and 0-6-1 in Hockey East, where they are in eighth place.-JOANNA BENJAMINWomen’s Basketball The women’s basketball team went a sparkling 4-0 over the Thanksgiving. The Catamounts captured the URI Invitational by defeating #22 Boston College 56-48 in the championship game. Senior co-captain Brittney Cross led the Catamounts with 17 points and six assists and captured the tournament MVP award. Cross averaged 18 points, four and a half rebounds and seven assists in during the tournament.Freshman Courtnay Pilypaitis added 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, and joined Cross on the All-Tournament team. Freshman May Kotsopoulos added nine points and sophomore Amy Rosenkrantz contributed seven for the Catamounts. The win marks the first time Vermont has beaten BC and also the first time the Cats have knocked off a ranked opponent. This is the second victory for Vermont basketball over ranked BC teams after the men’s basketball team defeated the Eagles on Nov. 13. Vermont defeated host Rhode Island in the opening round of the tournament 75-52. Again lead by Cross’ 19 points while Pilypaitis chipped in 17 of her own. The Lady Cats won the TD Banknorth Classic at Patrick Gymnasium earlier in the week by defeating East Carolina in the championship game 57-43. Amy Rosenkrantz led the Catamounts with 14 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Sy Janousek contributed 11 points, going a perfect three for three from beyond the arc. Andrea Cihal grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Catamounts. May Kotsopoulos was named to the All-Tournament Team, adding 11 points in the championship game. Courtnay Pilypaitis captured the tournament MVP honors after scoring seven points, grabbing seven rebounds and handing out eight assists. The previous night she led the Cats past Holy Cross 67-53, scoring 19 points, five assists and snatching seven steals. Kotsopoulos added 11 points, and Cross chipped in 10. Pilypaitis was named America East Rookie of the Week for the week of Nov. 19. Cross was also named America East Player of the Week. After the holiday break the Cats traveled to Minnesota to take on the Gophers on Thursday night. The game was close throughout until Minnesota pulled away with three minutes remaining to win 74-59. Kotsopoulos led the team with 21 points. On Saturday, Vermont beat Lafayette 73-64. Cross led the team with 20 points while Kotsopoulos added 18. The Catamounts now stand at 5-2 overall.-NICK DECAROMen’s BasketballThe UVM men’s basketball team went 1-2 over the break with losses coming against Drexel and Michigan State, along with a win against Wagner.On Nov. 18, Drexel defeated the Catamounts at home 59-46. Freshman Joe Trapani led Ver-mont with 13 points and nine re-bounds.Tuesday Nov. 21, the team traveled to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans. Despite a 21 point performance from Trapani and five assists from freshman Nick Vier, MSU easily handled the Catamounts, dealing them a loss 66-46.UVM continued their road trip on Saturday Nov. 25, heading to Staten Island to take on Wag-ner. Stand out performances from sophomore Colin McIntosh (18 points) and senior Chris Holm (16 rebounds) allowed the Cats to win the high-scoring affair, 77-69.Due in part to his excellent play over the break, Joe Trapani was named the America East Rookie of the Week on Monday Nov. 19. Trapani was reward-ed the honor thanks to his play against Boston College the week before, when he scored 13 points in 77-63 victory over the Eagles.On Friday, the Cats suffered another loss at the hands of the Towson University Tigers 67-54. Trapani again led the Cats with a double-double, 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Mike Trimboli added 11 points and six assists.Vermont rebounded on Sunday with a victory over the University of Delaware 57-55. Trimboli lead the team with a ca-reer high 25 points and Trapani chipped in 12.The Cats were down by four with 1:17 remaining but a layup and three-pointer by Trapani gave Vermont the lead for good.Vermont currently stands at 4-4 on the season.-JASON FIDLER