FINAL SCORE: No. 12 Vermont 4, Providence 3
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Vermont held off a third period comeback effort from Providence and secured its fifth straight win with a 4-3 Hockey East victory at Schneider Arena on Friday night.
 
The Catamounts improved to 15-6-2 and 7-3-1 in league play, handing the Friars (9-8-4, 1-6-2 HEA) just their second loss in the last eight games.
 
Three different players registered multi-point games in the win as Matt Alvaro, Ross Colton, and Trey Phillips all picked up a goal and an assist. Stefanos Lekkas made 30 saves and tied the national lead for wins by a rookie goaltender with his 13th.
 
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The Catamounts absorbed some early Providence pressure and killed off a pair of power plays, including a brief two-man advantage.
 
Alvaro put Vermont on top at the 12:16 mark of the first as Mike Lee gained the offensive blue line and deked around a PC defenseman. Lee dropped a pass into the left circle for Alvaro, who beat Hayden Hawkey (10 saves) with a low wrist shot glove side.
 
UVM doubled its lead just 1:35 later when Craig Puffer hit Jarrid Privitera in the slot with a pass from the right corner. Privitera directed a one-timer inside the far corner for his sixth goal of the season and a 2-0 cushion. Liam Coughlin collected the second assist on the play at 13:51.
 
The Friars drew a goal back before the end of the frame at 15:34 as Vimal Sukumaran capitalized on a quick centering pass for his third tally of the season. Vermont carried a 2-1 lead into the first intermission despite being out-shot 11-6.
 
The Cats killed off another power play to begin the second period and restored the two-goal lead near the five-minute mark as Phillips wristed a low shot on Hawkey through a Mario Puskarich screen. Ross Colton located the rebound at the back door and buried a low shot from the left doorstep to make it 3-1 and increase his team-leading goal total to nine.
 
Phillips pushed the lead to three at 7:01 as he buried a one-timer blocker side off a one-handed tip pass from Brian Bowen. Brendan Bradley registered his ninth point in the last five contests with the secondary helper.
 
Lekkas made a key save later in the period on Friar captain Josh Monk, who skated onto a clearance as he stepped out of the penalty box. Monk fired a low wrister from the left circle, but Lekkas closed the wickets and denied Monk on the rebound with a glove stop. Sukumaran barely missed the target from the right circle in the closing seconds and the Cats carried a three-goal edge into the third.
 
Vermont kept Providence at bay for the first half of the third period, but two quick tallies made it a one-goal game. Spencer Young fed Bryan Lemos in front at the tail end of a 4-on-4 situation to cut UVM's lead to two. Just 1:34 later, Young wristed a shot into the upper right corner off a faceoff and the Cats' advantage was trimmed to one with seven minutes left.
 
Monk took a penalty with 2:44 remaining in regulation and the Friars couldn't pull Hawkey for an extra skater until the closing minute. Vermont kept the puck to the perimeter and clinched its third straight win by a 4-3 final.

"We knew they were going to come at us. We weathered a lot of storms. It was a gutsy effort," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "We did a good job the last three or four minutes because they had all the momentum. We were relentless and resilient."
 
Phillips was credited with his third game-winning goal of the season, all coming in the last four contests, while Vermont's penalty kill finished the night 5-for-5.
 
The teams return to Schneider Arena on Saturday (Jan. 14) for a 5 p.m. faceoff to close the series. The game will be televised on YurView (formerly Cox Sports) for Cox cable providers in Rhode Island. Pre-game radio coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. on WVMT 620-AM and Catamounts All-Access with Alastair Ingram on the call.
 
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 men's hockey season