FINAL SCORE: No. 9 Vermont 4, Air Force 2BURLINGTON, Vt. – Brady Shaw's wraparound power play goal early in the third period lifted ninth-ranked Vermont past Air Force 4-2 in the Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup on Sunday night at sold out Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Catamounts pushed their winning streak to seven and posted the 750
th victory in program history.
UVM improved to 14-3-1 (7-3-1 HEA) for its best 18-game start in program history, edging the 14-4-0 record of the 1973-74 team. The Falcons dropped to 5-11-2 (4-5-1 HEA) with their fifth loss in the last seven games.
Mario Puskarich posted a goal and an assist in the win, while
Mike Paliotta picked up a pair of assists.
Brody Hoffman collected his 10
th victory of the year with 13 saves to retain the NCAA lead in winning percentage at .875.
"We asked our guys to try to get better as the game wore on," said head coach
Kevin Sneddon. "We were a little out of sorts in our first period. Our second period, especially the second half of the second period, we got back into our style, our game, our groove. I thought we played quite well in the third period. We limited them to not many Grade A opportunities."
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CatamounTV Highlights Despite an early 6-2 UVM shot advantage, Air Force opened the scoring eight minutes into the first period. Max Hartner redirected a pass from linemate Erik Baskin past Hoffman blocker side from the top of the crease for a 1-0 Falcons lead.
The Catamounts responded five minutes later as
Colin Markison tipped a pass to Paliotta outside the Air Force zone. Paliotta skated inside the blueline and dished a pass into the left circle for Puskarich, who quickly beat Chris Truehl blocker side with a low wrist shot for his team-high ninth of the year.
Scott Holm put the Falcons back on top at 3:29 of the second period as
Nick Luukko blocked his initial attempt. The puck fell down to Holm's stick in the slot and he fired a wrister over Hoffman's shoulder for a 2-1 cushion. Cole Gunner and Alex Halloran picked up the assists on the play.
Vermont tied the game for the second time later in the frame on a late-developing 3-on-2.
Jarrid Privitera played a pass to the right wing for
Kyle Reynolds, who dropped the puck for a trailing
Jake Fallon in the slot. The senior delayed, deked to his backhand, and finished with a low shot to knot the score at 13:51.
Shaw gave the Catamounts their first lead of the game three minutes into the third period. The sophomore picked up a rebound behind the net, curled to the near post, and tucked a shot inside the post for his seventh of the season. Puskarich and Paliotta collected the assists on the eventual game-winning goal.
Air Force pulled Truehl for an extra skater with just under two minutes left.
Anthony Petruzzelli set up
Jonathan Turk for a lengthy empty-netter with exactly 60 seconds on the clock to seal the win as Luukko grabbed the secondary assist.
UVM finished the night 1-for-3 on the power play and a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. The Catamounts out-shot the Falcons 33-15 and improved to 7-0-0 in the all-time series.
16
th-ranked Providence beat UMass Amherst 4-1 in the early game on Sunday afternoon. UMass will face Air Force at 4 p.m. on Monday (Dec. 30) in game three of the tournament.
Vermont closes the Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup at 7:05 p.m. with a non-conference game against Providence. All the action will be streamed live online for free in high definition via
CatamounTV.com. Radio coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on WVMT 620-AM and
SportsJuice.com with
Alastair Ingram and
Joe Gervais on the call.
General admission tickets are still available and can be purchased online at
UVMathletics.com/Tickets or in person at the Gutterson box office starting at 3 p.m. Please note that the UVM Athletic Ticket Office in Patrick Gym will be closed until Jan. 2 for the holiday break.
TEDDY BEAR TOSSFans will have an opportunity to donate new teddy bears tomorrow night against Providence during the 12th annual Teddy Bear Toss, presented by the Vermont Teddy Bear Company. Fans are asked to bring a bear to toss onto the ice during the second intermission. All bears will be donated to patients at the UVM Medical Center Children's Hospital, Starr Farm Nursing Home, and Burlington Health & Rehab Center by members of the men's and women's hockey teams.
