FINAL SCORE: No. 10 Vermont 11, UMass Amherst 1AMHERST, Mass. – Nine players scored a goal and 16 of Vermont's 18 skaters recorded at least one point as the 10th-ranked Catamounts dominated UMass Amherst with an 11-1 Hockey East victory on Saturday night at the Mullins Center.
The 11 goals marked the most scored by a Catamount team since Jan. 20, 1979 when UVM beat Providence 11-2. It also represented the most goals registered by Vermont against UMass in the all-time series, which dates back to 1964.
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Photo Gallery Brady Shaw and
Malcolm McKinney each scored a pair of goals in the win, and UVM finished the night 4-for-5 on the power play. Nine Catamounts posted multi-point games, while
Brody Hoffman stopped 28 shots for his sixth win of the season. The Catamounts improve to 8-3-1 (6-3-1 HEA) on the year, while the Minutemen fall to 3-7-0 (1-6-0 HEA).
"It was just one of those games," said head coach
Kevin Sneddon said. "The thing that is important is that we were up 3-0 in the first period but they had just as many scoring chances as we did. We certainly capitalized from that point on. It was nice to get offense from a lot of sources. We had a little puck luck and we're very happy to get two points."
Vermont's early three-goal statement came in a span of 4:35 in the opening frame. Shaw opened the scoring as he one-timed a centering pass from
Kevin Irwin through the pads of Steve Mastalerz from the right faceoff circle.
Jake Fallon picked up the second assist on the play at the 9:36 mark.
Alexx Privitera doubled the lead three minutes later on the Catamounts' first power play of the night, ripping a shot high glove side from the top of the right circle.
Anthony Petruzzelli then slipped a weak angle backhander short side on Mastalerz at 14:11 and UVM led 3-0 after 20 minutes.
UMass pulled Mastalerz for Henry Dill to start the second period, but the Cats made it a 4-0 contest early in the frame. Fallon found Irwin open in the slot and the freshman beat Dill with a low wrist shot for his second goal of the year at 5:45.
Three minutes later, Ben Gallacher pulled one back for UMass with a shorthanded tally as he finished a 3-on-1 pass from Zack LaRue. Vermont responded just 1:13 later when
Colin Markison threw a shot on goal from the left circle in transition. Dill kicked a save into the low slot but
Mario Puskarich pounced on the rebound for his fifth of the season.
Dan Senkbeil then set up McKinney from the UMass blue line at 14:18 to stretch Vermont's commanding lead. McKinney collected a pass between the circles on a 2-on-1 and roofed a backhand under the cross bar for a 6-1 advantage after two periods. The assist for Senkbeil was his first point in a UVM jersey.
Mike Paliotta and Shaw netted power play goals in the first 2:04 of the third period to push the lead to seven. Bradley potted his first of the season on a rebound at 6:16, and McKinney added his second tally of the night two and a half minutes later.
Mitch Ferguson scored his first career goal on a point shot midway through the third to cap off a five-goal third period.
Bradley and rookie
Rob Darrar registered three points on the night, while Fallon and Senkbeil each collected two helpers. Privitera's power play tally was his third of the season to lead the team, and Puskarich had a team-high four shots on goal.
The schools face off again in Burlington next Tuesday (Nov. 25) at Gutterson Fieldhouse at 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised on NESN in New England and TSN2 in Canada with Tom Caron and Billy Jaffe on the call. Pre-game radio coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on WVMT 620-AM and SportsJuice.com with
Alastair Ingram and
Joe Gervais calling the action.
"We played a full 60 minutes versus what we did against UConn the night before and we've got to be on our guard Tuesday," Sneddon said. "We know it will be a different type of game and they'll be pretty eager to improve on that result."
Vermont will wear special camouflage jerseys on Tuesday against UMass for Military Appreciation Night. The camouflage jerseys are currently being auctioned off at
auction.uvmathletics.com. The auction will close on Wednesday (Nov. 26) at 12 p.m.
Reserved tickets are still available and can be purchased online at
UVMathletics.com/Tickets, in person at the UVM Athletic Ticket Office in Patrick Gym, or over the phone by calling 802-656-4410. A special rate of $10 per ticket will be available for military members and their families.
Fans can also bid on a VIP experience for the UMass game. Each package includes: Four (4) rink-side seat tickets to the game; Four (4) passes to VIP hospitality in Bostwick Room; Behind the scenes view of the players as they walk from the locker room to the bench before the game; Attend post-game press conference; Recognition on the scoreboard; Four (4) bags that each include a Vermont T-shirt, license plate cover, pom pom, etc. Auctions end on the day before the game at 12 p.m.
