FINAL SCORE: Concordia 3, Vermont 2
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Despite a 44-16 shot advantage, Vermont fell to Concordia 3-2 on Raphael Lafontaine's late winner in the third period on Saturday night in exhibition action at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
Ross Colton tied the game at two with 4:36 remaining in regulation, but Lafontaine answered just 22 seconds later to put the Stingers up for good. Philippe Cadorette posted 42 saves in net for Concordia in a winning effort.
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Concordia struck first 1:12 into the first period as Dominic Beauchemin turned a low wrist shot through the five-hole of
Mike Santaguida, who made five saves in a period of work.
Mario Puskarich tied the game near the midway point of the first, finishing a rebound on the doorstep from
Matt O'Donnell's right point shot. Co-captain
Brendan Bradley picked up the second assist on the play at 9:27.
Charles-Eric Legare restored the lead for Concordia with 2:43 left in the frame. Julien Ranville-Avon threw the puck to the top of the crease from below the goal line, and it deflected off Legare inside the left post.
Vermont had a pair of 5-on-3 power plays in the second period but couldn't convert. Cadorette made a sprawling save on
Rob Darrar during the first opportunity, denying the junior on a one-timer from the low right circle. Senior
Pat Feeley held Concordia off the board and registered five saves in the second period.
Colton finally pulled UVM even with under five minutes to play.
Brady Shaw chipped the puck down the right wing boards for Bradley, who skated into the right wing circle. Bradley fed a pass through the slot for Colton and the rookie quickly finished blocker side on Cadorette.
Less than 30 seconds later, Lafontaine redirected a centering pass from Ranville-Avon just inside the right post to beat
Stefanos Lekkas (three saves) from the top of the crease. The Catamounts pulled Lekkas with a minute to play but Cadorette shut the door.
Colton led all players with seven shots on goal in his collegiate debut. Vermont was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-9 on the power play.
The Catamounts open the regular season next weekend with a home-and-home series against former ECAC rival Clarkson. UVM travels to Cheel Arena on Friday (Oct. 7) for the season opener at 7 p.m., before returning to Gutterson to host the Golden Knights on Saturday (Oct. 8) at 7:05 p.m.
Both games will air live on WVMT 620-AM starting at 6:30 p.m. with
Alastair Ingram on the call. The home opener on Saturday will be streamed live for free in HD at CatamounTV.com. For tickets to the home opener, log on to
UVMathletics.com/Tickets.
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 men's hockey season
