Box Score FINAL SCORE: Vermont 3, Colorado College 0
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Stefanos Lekkas stopped 33 shots to record his third career shutout in a 3-0 season-opening victory over Colorado College on Friday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse in the teams' first meeting in over 20 years.
 
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Ross Colton netted his 13th career goal late in the first period, while rookie defensemen Owen Grant and Christian Evers both collected their first career tallies early in the second. UVM's special teams excelled, going 2-for-4 on the power play and 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.   
 
With time expiring in the opening period, Derek Lodermeier took off for the net and was hauled down to draw a penalty. The Catamounts set up on the power play to the left of Alex Leclerc (24 saves)  with Lodermeier winning the faceoff cleanly. Colton picked up the puck in the right circle and fired a wrist shot over Leclerc's glove to put Vermont on the board with just 2.1 seconds left in the first period.
 
The Catamounts didn't waste any time starting the second period as they quickly established control in the offensive zone. Grant kept a puck from leaving the Tigers' zone at the right point and quickly wristed a shot that ricocheted off the post and in for his first collegiate goal 51 seconds into the frame.
 
A few minutes later, fellow rookie Evers registered his first collegiate goal on the power play. Jarrid Privitera found Bryce Misley below the goal line as Evers skated down from the point into the slot. Misley picked out Evers and he one-timed a low shot under the pads of Leclerc through some traffic. Lekkas stopped all 16 shots he faced in the middle frame.

Colorado College pressured in the second half of the third period, but Lekkas stood tall to preserve the shutout. Jake Massie closed the night with a game-high seven blocked shots. 
 
The teams conclude the two-game series on Saturday (Oct. 7) at 7:05 p.m. For tickets, log on to UVMathletics.com/Tickets or call 802-656-4410. Pre-game radio coverage on WVMT 620-AM begins at 6:30 p.m., and free video, audio, and live stats are all available via CatamounTV.com.
 
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2017-18 men's hockey season