FINAL SCORE: Vermont 15, Hartford 6
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Nick Washuta and the Catamounts held the Hartford Hawks scoreless through three quarters and rolled to a 15-6 America East conference win over Hartford Saturday at Virtue Field.
 
Vermont improves to 5-3 overall and 2-0 in AE play while Hartford drops to 1-8 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.
 
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COACH'S QUOTE
"We had a great pre-game practice yesterday and the guys mentally felt much more dialed in this week," head coach Chris Feifs said. "We want to be a home field dominant team; we want to take care of business on Virtue and it only raises the stakes when it's a conference game."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Washuta recorded 13 saves in three quarters, his fourth straight game with double digit saves. He has held opponents scoreless for 59:36 going back to UMBC's lone fourth quarter goal last week.
• After a back-and-forth start to the game, Liam Limoges opened the scoring with 6:24 to play with an unassisted tally as he cut across the front of the goal. Ben French scored his first of five goals 92 seconds later to double the Catamount lead. Another pair of UVM goals before the quarter ended pushed the lead to 4-0.
• A pair of goals from French and a trio of goals from Sal Iaria, David Closterman, and Thomas McConvey in the second quarter gave Vermont a 9-0 halftime lead.
• Vermont's dominance continued into the third quarter as the Cats added another three goals, headlined by a pair from captain Dawes Milchling, both assisted by senior Jack Knight.
• Hartford's Alex Borja ended Vermont's shutout bid with 14:26 to play in the fourth quarter before Limoges and French each added another goal. Hartford tallied five straight in the middle portion of the quarter before Per-Anders Olters became the first German-born player to score a goal in NCAA Division I lacrosse with 58 seconds to play.

GAME NOTES

• Knight set a career-high with four assists in the victory. French set a career-high with five goals.
• Vermont has won seven straight home games dating back to the start of the 2018 season. The Catamounts are 8-3 on Virtue Field in the Feifs era.
• Hartford senior Dylan Jinks was held without a goal for the first time in 2019. He entered Saturday's game ranked seventh in the nation in goals per game with 27 goals through his first seven contests.
• Today's win matched the second largest margin of victory in an America East game in program history. The Catamounts took a 15-1 win over Binghamton in 2002 and a 13-4 victory over Hartford in 2016.
• With the victory, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to Make-A-Wish Vermont; bringing this year's total to 48 wins and $4,800.  

UP NEXT
Vermont continues conference play with a trip to UMass Lowell (3-6, 0-1 AE) next Saturday (Mar. 30) under the lights in Lowell, Massachusetts. The game against the River Hawks is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. at Cushing Field.