Box Score FINAL SCORE: No. 17 Notre Dame 4, No. 12 Vermont 1
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – 17th-ranked Notre Dame scored four unanswered and skated past No. 12 Vermont 4-1 on Saturday night to take three points from a Hockey East weekend series at the Compton Family Ice Arena.
 
UVM dropped to 16-9-3 (8-6-2 HEA) with six games remaining in the regular season, while the Fighting Irish improved to 15-9-4 (8-5-3 HEA) and took over third place in the standings.
 
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Vermont struck first for the ninth time in its last 11 games with a delayed penalty coming on Notre Dame at the 14:00 mark of the opening period. Liam Coughlin stole the puck from a Fighting Irish forward on the half-wall and turned it up to Matt O'Donnell at the right point. O'Donnell fired a one-timer through traffic and found of the back of the net inside the left post for his second of the season.
 
Midway through the second, the Catamounts recovered the puck in the neutral zone and transitioned into a 3-on-1 with the puck on the stick of Mario Puskarich. At the top of the circle, Puskarich shot low to create a rebound with Ross Colton cutting toward the net, but Cal Petersen (31 saves) swallowed up the rebound.
 
The Irish equalized with 5:10 left in the second period after a Trey Phillips attempt was denied by Petersen at the right doorstep. Notre Dame countered with Andrew Oglevie skating down the right wing on a 2-on-1 as the sophomore went top shelf into the upper right corner for his 16th of the year.

Notre Dame took its first lead of the night during a 4-on-4 situation in the closing seconds of the middle frame. Jake Evans sent Jordan Gross into the left side of the Vermont zone, and Gross wristed a low shot glove side to beat Stefanos Lekkas (24 saves) from the top of the circle.
 
The Irish grabbed an insurance tally with five minutes to go in regulation as Dawson Cook won the draw to the right of Lekkas and circled around the Catamount goal. Cook sent a pass to Dennis Gilbert on the blue line who wristed a shot on goal, and Mike O'Leary deflected the puck through Lekkas' five-hole from the left doorstep.
 
Cal Burke iced the game for UND at 18:05 with an empty netter and the Irish preserved the three-goal win.
 
Vermont returns to Gutterson Fieldhouse next weekend for a two-game series against league rival New Hampshire on Friday (Feb. 10) and Saturday (Feb. 11) at 7:05 p.m. Single game tickets are available at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or by calling 802-656-4410. All the action will be streamed for free in HD via CatamounTV.com with radio coverage on WVMT 620-AM and UVMathletics.com/Listen at 6:30 p.m. with Alastair Ingram on the call.
 
The second game of the series on Saturday is the annual Hockey East Skating Strides Against Cancer game presented by Otter Creek Awnings and Vermont Custom Closets at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Catamounts will wear special pink jerseys that will be auctioned off at uvmathletics.com/auctions.

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