After several weeks of a relentless conference schedule, the Vermont men’s hockey team took a break for a night to host the U.S. under-18 team. Though the Cats came away with a 6-4 victory, the team felt as though the performance could have been better. The team was disappointed that the defense allowed the U.S. to score four goals. “As a staff, we are disappointed in our performance,” Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon said. “We expected a little bit more from the defense.” Though this game was an exhibition game that did not affect the rankings, the team “didn’t want to take a step back,” sophomore forward Wahsontiio Stacey said. Junior assistant captain Corey Carlson scored a goal and had two assists in the game while senior captain Dean Strong, junior Colin Vock, junior Viktor Stalberg, sophomore Justin Milo and Stacey all scored goals. The U.S. scored first with a goal from Chris Brown, assisted by A.J. Treais and Tyler Amburgey. Vermont tied it up soon after with the goal from Strong, assisted by Carlson and sophomore Kevan Miller. Vermont went on to dominate the second period with the goals from Vock, Stalberg and Carlson. The U.S. scored once in the second with a goal from Kyle Palmieri to bring the score to 4-2. Though the U.S. scored twice in the third period, it wasn’t enough to keep the Catamounts from getting the victory. The third period marked the debut of freshman goalie John Vazzano. Vazzano had 12 saves and stopped the U.S. from making a comeback late in the game. “[Vazanno] did a great job in his first taste of college hockey,” Sneddon said. Vermont will head to St. Lawrence on Dec. 13 carrying a six-game winning streak to their final game of the calendar year.Two Catamounts get NHL call-ups By Zach Parker – Asst. Sports Editor If watching the streaking Vermont men’s hockey team win five straight games and move up to No. 12 national ranking isn’t enough, die hard Catamount fans can rejoice in the news that two more former UVM stars were called up to the NHL this week. Last Monday, Graham Mink (’01) and Jaime Sifers (’06) were called up to the NHL, bringing the number of former Catamounts in the league to seven. Mink, who tallied 46 points during his career at Vermont, will suit up for the Washington Capitals, while Sifers, a three time captain who tallied 70 points at Vermont, will play for the Toronto Maple Leafs.