No. 18 Vermont at No. 14 UMass Lowell
Feb. 27, 2015, 7:15 p.m. | Feb. 28, 2015, 7 p.m.
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VERMONT MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOKThe 18th-ranked Vermont men's hockey team (18-11-3, 10-8-2 HEA) closes the regular season this weekend with a two-game Hockey East series against No. 14 UMass Lowell at Tsongas Center on Friday (Feb. 27) at 7:15 p.m. and Saturday (Feb. 28) at 7 p.m. Pre-game radio coverage begins 30 minutes prior to faceoff each night on WVMT 620-AM and
SportsJuice.com with
Alastair Ingram on the call, and pay-per-view video is available via
GoRiverHawks.TV.
SETTING THE SCENEVermont trails UMass Lowell in the league standings by just one point, which separates a total of five teams from third to sixth place. The River Hawks (16th) and Catamounts (17th) are also separated by one slot in the Pairwise rankings for the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Vermont has clinched home ice advantage in either the first round or quarterfinal round and can finish no lower than seventh in the league. The Cats are ranked 18th in this week's USCHO.com poll and receiving votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll.
HOCKEY EAST PLAYOFF PICTUREWith two games remaining in the regular season, Vermont is tied with Northeastern for sixth place in the Hockey East standings with 22 points. UVM is just one point behind a three-way tie for third, occupied by UMass Lowell, Notre Dame, and Providence with 23 points. Those five teams separated by a single point are fighting for one of three remaining first round byes in the Hockey East postseason. Boston University has clinched a bye and can win the regular season title on Friday night with a point or a Boston College loss or tie.
CATS TAKE THREE FROM MC |
Highlights: Friday | SaturdayWith a win and a tie on Senior Weekend, Vermont took three Hockey East points against Merrimack at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Catamounts held off the Warriors 2-1 on Friday before skating in the first-ever scoreless tie in program history on Saturday. On Friday,
Rob Darrar and
Colin Markison scored goals in the span of 2:32 as Markison collected his first career game-winning goal. UVM held Merrimack to single-digit shots in all six periods and fired 72 shots on target, including a season-high 49 on Senior Night.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS | WebsiteUMass Lowell played only one game last weekend, skating to a 2-2 tie at 10th-ranked Boston College. Lowell is just 2-6-2 in its last 10 games after starting the year 15-4-3. Rookie C.J. Smith leads the River Hawks in goals (13), assists (17), points (30), power play goals (5), and shots on goal (90). Junior transfer Kevin Boyle has started 25 games in net with a 14-7-5 record, 2.46 goals against average, and .915 save percentage. Norm Bazin is in his fourth year as the head coach at his alma mater and has led UMass Lowell to three consecutive NCAA Tournament bids.
SERIES HISTORYUMass Lowell has a slight edge of 20-16-6 in the series heading into the 43rd and 44th all-time matchups between the schools. The Catamounts went 2-3-0 against the River Hawks last season, including a tight three-game Hockey East quarterfinal series at Tsongas Center in March. All five meetings were decided by one goal, but UMass Lowell edged UVM 2-1 in Game 3 and went on to capture its second straight Hockey East title. With its 3-2 victory on Senior Night last season, Vermont snapped a six-game winless streak (0-5-1) against Lowell dating back to Jan. 13, 2012.
RAREFIED AIR FOR PALIOTTAWith 30 points in 32 games, captain
Mike Paliotta is looking to become the first defenseman to lead Vermont in scoring since Louis Cote in 1977-78. Paliotta, the program's active scoring leader with 77 career points, notched a new career-high in scoring with an assist on Feb. 13 at No. 10 Boston College. The senior is tied with Notre Dame's Robbie Russo for the most points by any Hockey East defenseman this season and is tied for fourth in the NCAA. Paliotta has fired the most shots on goal (127) by any league defenseman and leads UVM with a +14 rating from the blue line.
SANTA DELIVERS WEEKLY AWARDMike Santaguida was named the Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, sharing the award with goaltender Steve Mastalerz of UMass Amherst. Santaguida stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced last weekend for a .970 save percentage and picked up his third shutout of the season on Saturday. He ranks fifth nationally in goals against average (1.76) and save percentage (.935), and 15th in shutouts with just 28 goals allowed in 19 appearances. Santaguida has started a season-high four straight games between the pipes.
ROAD WARRIORSVermont is 9-5-1 on the road this season, including a 6-2-0 mark over the last eight games. The Catamounts are out-scoring opponents 52-30 away from home for a goals per game average of 3.47 and a goals against average of 2.00. UVM is 51-for-55 on the penalty kill away from home and had a streak of 26 straight kills snapped on Feb. 13 by No. 10 Boston College. Santaguida is 6-3-0 on the road with a 1.58 GAA and .944 SV%, while
Mario Puskarich and
Brady Shaw have each scored eight road goals.
WHO'S NEXTVermont could either host a best-of-three first round series on Mar. 6-8, or earn a bye with a top-4 finish and host a quarterfinal series on Mar. 13-15 at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Opponent, game times, and ticket information will be released on Sunday (Mar. 1) at UVMathletics.com.
