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Vermont begins the second half this weekend as it hosts the 21st annual TD Bank Catamount Cup at Gutterson Fieldhouse. UVM, UMass Lowell, St. Lawrence, and Harvard make up the field for the tournament, which began in 1990. The Catamounts host longtime rival St. Lawrence on Friday (Dec. 29) at 7:05 p.m., followed by a matchup with Harvard on Saturday (Dec. 30) at 7:05 p.m. UMass Lowell plays the early game each day at 4 p.m.

Tournament tickets are available by logging on to UVMathletics.com/Tickets. Pre-game radio coverage for all the UVM action on WVMT 620-AM and CatamounTV.com begins at 6:30 p.m. each night with Alastair Ingram on the call. Free video and live stats are available via CatamounTV.com for all four games of the TD Bank Catamount Cup.  

Trader Duke's is the official hotel partner of the 21st annual TD Bank Catamount Cup. 

RELATED LINKS
Video | Audio | Live Stats | Tickets | Game Notes (.pdf)

CUP HISTORY
UVM owns an 18-5-1 record (.770) in the Catamount Cup under head coach Kevin Sneddon. Vermont has won six Catamount Cups, five of which have come in the last eight events since the 2008-09 Frozen Four season. UVM has competed for the championship nine times in the last 11 events after a Day 1 victory. The event took a year off last season, but the last title was claimed by Vermont in 2015 with wins over Lake Superior State and Colgate.

SCOUTING THE SAINTS
St. Lawrence enters the Catamount Cup riding a six-game losing streak and an eight-game winless streak (0-7-1). The Saints have just one win this season (at Wisconsin) and were swept in a home-and-home by rival Clarkson before the break on Dec. 8-9.

Junior Jacob Pritchard leads the team with 13 points on seven goals and six assists, while senior Nolan Gluchowski has eight assists. Junior Arthur Brey has started 14 of 16 games in net with a 1-12-1 record, 4.07 goals against average and .882 save percentage.

Colgate graduate Mark Morris is in his second year as the head coach in Canton. Last year, the Saints finished at 17-13-7 (12-6-4 ECAC) and fell 3-2 in Game 3 of the ECAC Quarterfinals to Quinnipiac.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
Reigning ECAC champion Harvard is tied for fifth in the ECAC at 4-3-0 while sitting 4-5-1 overall through 10 games. The Crimson reached the Frozen Four last year for the first time since 1994 before falling 2-1 to Minnesota Duluth with just 27 seconds left in the third period. 

Ryan Donato, the son of head coach Ted Donato, leads the team in goals (8) and points (15) during his junior campaign. Sophomore defenseman Adam Fox has tallied a team-high nine assists, but will miss the Catamount Cup while competing for Team USA at the World Junior Championships in Buffalo. Senior Merrick Madsen has started eight games in net with a 2.49 GAA and .906 SV%. 

The elder Donato is in his 14th year as the head coach at Harvard and was Kevin Sneddon's teammate with the Crimson for three seasons. The two combined to capture the 1989 NCAA title with Donato as a sophomore and Sneddon a freshman. 

SERIES HISTORY
St. Lawrence is UVM's second-longest standing rival behind UNH as the former ECAC rivals meet for the 95th time in the all-time series on Friday. Vermont is 24-14-2 against the Saints at Gutterson and won last season's meeting 4-3 on a game-winning goal from Brian Bowen with 5:20 left in the third period. UVM had won six straight over SLU by the combined score of 22-6 before a loss at Appleton Arena in December of 2015. 

Harvard competed in the 2011 Catamount Cup, which was the last time the two schools met. The Crimson defeated Army 4-2 on Day 1 before falling to UVM 3-1 as Ohio State won the overall team title. Saturday will mark the 65th all-time meeting in the series but just the fourth since Vermont departed the ECAC for Hockey East in 2005. The Crimson are unbeaten (4-0-1) in their last five games against Hockey East squads. 

WHO'S NEXT
Vermont returns to Hockey East play after New Year's with a trip to UMass Lowell on Friday, Jan. 5 for a 7:15 p.m. faceoff at Tsongas Center. 

Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2017-18 men's hockey season