Men’s hockey hosted their division rival, the UConn Huskies, for a two-game set this weekend, and the teams delivered the expectations of a hard-fought series.
The student section brought life to The Gut for game one on Friday, Nov. 3. The Catamounts matched the crowd’s energy, delivering physical hits and forcing turnovers early in the first period to set the tone of the game.
UVM got on the board first after the end of a penalty kill caused a scramble in front of UConn’s net, allowing sophomore defenseman Xavier Henry to score his first collegiate goal. Two more goals by sophomore defenseman Phillip Törnqvist and senior forward Will Zapernick made the score 3-0 at the end of the first period.
The second period saw no scoring by either team. UVM continued to lay hits on the Huskies all game, making any offense difficult to come by. Mixed with Gabe Carriere’s effortless outing in net, the Catamount defense continued their great outing.
Junior forward Isak Walther put the lead at 4-0 for UVM early in the third period. A late game goal by UConn’s senior defenseman Andrew Lucas ended Carriere’s shutout hopes, but wasn’t enough to make a difference as UVM won 4-1.
“Really proud of our guys’ effort tonight,” said Head Coach Steve Wiedler postgame. “They were detailed and played our brand of hockey. Up and down our lineup, our guys were contributing.”
The very next night saw game two of the divisional matchup. Physicality dominated again, as both sides continued to lay crushing hits on one another. UVM outshot the Huskies 9-1 in the first period, but the first 20 minutes ended in a tie.
The Catamounts got the scoring started in the second with a pair of goals from sophomore forward Jens Richards and grad student forward Ryan Miotto. Huskies sophomore forward Samu Salminen was able to put one past Carriere near the end of the second on a power play.
By the third period, however, the Catamounts started to slow. A goal by Huskies sophomore forward Tristan Fraser tied the game, and less than a minute later, sophomore forward Matthew Wood scored twice to put UConn up 4-2.
UVM couldn’t come back from the deficit, as another goal by UConn put the final score at 5-2.
Now 1-2-1 in conference play, UVM will face UMass Amherst next weekend looking to improve their conference record.
