FINAL SCORE: No. 10 Vermont 2, No. 16 Providence 1
PROVIDENCE – Malcolm McKinney scored his first career goal and
Mike Santaguida stopped 32 shots as No. 10 Vermont held off 16th-ranked Providence for a 2-1 Hockey East victory on Saturday night to split a weekend series at Schneider Arena. The Catamounts improve to 7-2-1 (5-2-1 HEA), while the Friars fall to 4-5-1 (3-3-0 HEA).
"As disappointed as we were in our effort Friday night, I was very proud and couldn't be happier with our effort tonight," said head coach
Kevin Sneddon. "It was a playoff style game right to the final buzzer. We had a complete game effort right from the net out, which is something we could not say last night. We lost as a team last night. Tonight we won as a team."
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HighlightsUVM struck first at the 11:46 mark of the first period after an offensive zone faceoff. McKinney found a loose puck at the right doorstep and sent a low shot on target that trickled across the goal line under the right pad of Jon Gillies.
Mitch Ferguson picked up the primary helper for his first career assist on McKinney's first collegiate goal.
The Catamounts doubled the lead late in the first as
Yvan Pattyn picked out
Brendan Bradley in the right faceoff circle. Bradley fired a pass across the zone to
Mario Puskarich, who wristed a shot blocker side past Gillies for a 2-0 advantage with 1:22 left in the frame.
Midway through the second,
Kyle Reynolds nearly made it a 3-0 game as he raced out of the penalty box on a 2-on-1. The senior deked backhand on Gillies and slid a shot along the goal line but it was blocked near the left post. Bradley then sent a backhander across the face of goal from the right doorstep but couldn't sneak the puck inside the pipe.
Providence cut the Catamount lead in half later in the frame on its second power play of the night. Jake Walman fired a slap shot on goal from the center point, and Trevor Mingoia stuck home the rebound from the top of the crease. Nick Saracino collected up the second assist on the play at 14:55.
Brandon Tanev came inches away from tying the game in the first 15 seconds of the third but rung the crossbar with a wrist shot from the low slot. The Friars pulled Gillies for an extra skater in the final minute and Vermont cleared a net-front scramble at the right doorstep. The Friars then won a faceoff to Ross Muermann with 2.6 seconds remaining, but Pattyn blocked his shot in the slot and time expired.
Santaguida posted 14 saves in the third period to preserve the two points for his second win of the season. The sophomore stopped 41 of the 42 shots he faced over the weekend. Puskarich's tally held up for his ninth career game-winning goal.
Vermont continues a four-game road trip next weekend with games at UConn on Friday (Nov. 21) at 5:30 p.m. and UMass Amherst on Saturday (Nov. 22) at 7 p.m. All the action can be heard on WVMT 620-AM and SportsJuice.com as pre-game radio coverage begins 30 minutes prior to faceoff each night.
