MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The second annual Friendship Four is set for this weekend in Belfast, Northern Ireland at SSE Arena. The tournament begins on Friday (Nov. 25) when the 20th-ranked Catamounts face UMass in a Hockey East contest at 11 a.m. (ET). UVM then plays either Quinnipiac or St. Lawrence from the ECAC on Saturday (Nov. 26). Game time will be either 11 a.m. or 2:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday depending on the Friday result against the Minutemen. Pre-game radio coverage of the tournament begins 30 minutes prior to faceoff on WVMT 620-AM and Catamounts All-Access with Alastair Ingram on the call.

RELATED LINKS
Audio | Live Stats | Game Notes (.pdf)
Belfast Photos: Monday Practice | School Visit | Game of Thrones

TV COVERAGE
All four games of the tournament this weekend in Northern Ireland will be televised live on NESN as part of an ASN production. The Friday games will also be televised on TSN2 and TSN GO in Canada, while the Saturday games will appear online only on TSN GO. Fans in the United Kingdom and Europe can watch the tournament online via the BBC. 

RI RA WATCH PARTY
Ri Ra Irish Pub and Restaurant on Church Street in downtown Burlington will be hosting the Official Watch Party of the 2016 Friendship Four. Ri Ra will show the Vermont-UMass game at 11 a.m. on Black Friday, followed by the consolation and championship games on Saturday. Fans can also enter a raffle to win free tickets, a jersey, and signed poster.

SETTING THE SCENE
Vermont is riding a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1), which began on Nov. 12 with a 2-1 league road win over the Minutemen at the Mullins Center. The Catamounts are back in this week's USCHO.com poll at No. 20 and are receiving votes in the USA Hockey/USA Today poll. UVM is playing its first game on foreign soil since beating RPI 4-1 in Quebec City in 2008. UMass Lowell beat Brown in a shootout last year to win the inaugural Belpot Trophy at the Friendship Four. 

BELFAST CONNECTIONS
Senior co-captain Brendan Bradley's father was born in Belfast and moved to the Philadelphia area when he was a child. The same can be said for former UVM Athletic Director Dr. Bob Corran, who moved to Canada from Belfast when he was young. Corran, who has made the trip with the team, retired this past summer after 13 years leading the Vermont athletic department.

MARIO CHASES CENTURY MARK
Senior co-captain Mario Puskarich is just five points away from becoming the 43rd member of the program's 100-point club. Puskarich registered his 90th career point and 50th career assist three weekends ago (Nov. 4-5) in a series against UMass Lowell. He has a point in all but two games since his return to the UVM lineup on Oct. 30 and has averaged a point-per-game in his seven contests to tie for third on the team in scoring. Puskarich ranks fourth all-time in career game-winning goals with 12 and is two shy of tying Kyle McDonough '89 for third place. 

LEKKAS PILES UP HONORS
Stefanos Lekkas won his fourth Hockey East award in the first two months of his career on Monday as league's Co-Defensive Player of the Week. The rookie led Vermont to a 2-0-1 record, stopping 92 of the 98 shots he faced against Dartmouth and Maine for a .939 save percentage. Lekkas posted a career-high 36 saves on Friday night during a 6-2 win over Maine and then registered a highlight reel glove save on Saturday which appeared on the SportsCenter Top 10 Plays on ESPN. He is 6-1-2 in eight starts this year, ranking eighth in the country in goals against average (1.77) and 10th in save percentage (.933).

STINGY DEFENSE
Vermont ranks second in Hockey East and 10th in the NCAA after its first 12 games with a 2.25 team goals against average. The Cats have allowed seven goals during the four-game unbeaten streak and haven't conceded more than two goals in any contest. UVM has limited UMass to two goals or less in seven of the last nine meetings between the schools.

TRULY SPECIAL TEAMS
The Vermont penalty kill has completed 25 consecutive kills dating back to the third period at No. 6 UMass Lowell on Nov. 5. The kill ranks fourth in the league and 13th nationally at 87.1-percent. Meanwhile, the power play has scored at least one goal in all but two games this season with multiple goals on two occasions. Vermont had an eight-game power play scoring streak snapped at UMass Nov. 12 but responded with three power play goals last week

SCOUTING UMASS
The Minutemen are 1-5-1 over their last seven games and fell 6-2 on the road to New Hampshire last Friday night. Austin Plevy is tied for the team lead with seven points, while Dominic Trento has collected a team-high seven assists. Freshman Ryan Wischow has started six of 10 games in net with a 2-2-1 record, 2.51 goals against, and .909 save percentage. Former St. Lawrence head coach Greg Carvel has taken over the UMass program for former UVM assistant John Micheletto.

UMASS SERIES HISTORY
Friday will mark the 69th meeting between Vermont and UMass in the all-time series, which is led by UVM 42-19-7. The Catamounts are currently riding an nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1) against UMass dating back to Jan. 25, 2013. UVM beat UMass 2-1 in Amherst on Nov. 12 as Matt Alvaro scored the game-winner with 5:14 left in the third period. The Minutemen won the teams' last neutral site meeting 3-2 in overtime on Jan. 7, 2012 at Fenway Park in Boston. 

WHO'S NEXT
Vermont takes a week off after the Belfast trip and hosts seventh-ranked Boston University at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Dec. 9-10, with games set for 7:05 p.m. For tickets, log on to UVMathletics.com/Tickets or call 802-656-4410. 

Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 men's hockey season