FINAL SCORE: No. 17 Vermont 5, New Hampshire 2 | CatamounTV Highlights | Photo Gallery
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Brady Shaw scored a pair of goals, including the eventual game-winner on the power play midway through the third period, to lead 17th-ranked Vermont past New Hampshire 5-2 in Hockey East action on Friday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
 
The Catamounts snapped a five-game winless streak with the victory and improved to 16-9-2 (8-6-1 HEA), while the Wildcats fell to 9-16-2 (4-10-1 HEA).
 
"It was a really good team effort. Hoff was great in the net, settled us down when we made some big mistakes in the first period," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "UNH is very dangerous offensively and he really allowed us to get into the game a little bit not fearing it was going to get put in the back of our net and we were going to be down a couple."
 
After a scoreless first period, Tyler Kelleher gave UNH the lead at 1:20 of the second as he finished a rebound at the right doorstep just six seconds into a Wildcat power play.
 
Anthony Petruzzelli responded for Vermont less than three minutes later, locating a feed in the slot and tucking a low wrister inside the left post for his fifth of the season. Jarrid Privitera and Mike Paliotta picked up the assists on the play at the 4:08 mark.
 
Shaw gave the Catamounts their first lead with 2:19 remaining in the second period as he beat Tirone from a weak angle low short side. Paliotta won a battle to Mario Puskarich in the right corner and tipped the puck to Shaw, who stepped above the goal line for his 10th tally of the season.
 
Midway through the third, the sophomore added an insurance goal for UVM as he blasted a high one-timer inside the right post off a centering pass from Jake Fallon.
 
Dan Senkbeil then collected his first career goal in a Vermont jersey three minutes later after the referee collided with a UNH defenseman. Senkbeil capitalized quickly and beat Tirone high glove side from the slot for a 4-1 cushion.
 
The Wildcats replaced Tirone with Adam Clark after the fourth goal, and Kelleher answered just 17 seconds later for New Hampshire with his second of the night. The sophomore wristed a shot from the right circle and beat Hoffman glove side to cut the lead back to two.
 
UNH pulled Clark with 3:13 remaining for an extra skater and sustained pressure on a lengthy 6-on-5 shift, but Paliotta blocked a pair of shots and UVM eventually cleared the zone. With under a minute to go, Brendan Bradley skated onto the puck in the Wildcat zone and sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 19:36.
 
Hoffman finished the night with 27 saves for his 11th win of the season, while Tirone and Clark combined for 29 stops. UVM held a 34-29 edge in shots on the night.
 
Vermont and UNH close their Hockey East series on Saturday (Feb. 7) at 7:05 p.m. at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Pre-game radio coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on WVMT 620-AM and SportsJuice.com with Alastair Ingram and Joe Gervais on the call, and free high definition video is available via CatamounTV.com.
 
Reserved tickets are still available at a cost of $25 for adults and $20 for children 17 and under. Tickets can be purchased online at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or at the Gutterson box office, which will open at 6 p.m. prior to the game.
 
After the game on Saturday night, the team will host a Post-Game Catamount Kids Conference presented by the DoubleTree. The National Guard, The Bagel Place, and Kevin Smith Sports will have tables in the main lobby.