PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brett Berard scored the game-winning goal for No. 20 Providence 3:19 into the third period as the Friars defeated Vermont 2-1 in the Hockey East Opening Round Wednesday night at Schneider Arena. With the win, the Friars are headed to UMass for a Hockey East Quarterfinal matchup on Saturday and the Catamounts 2021-22 campaign came to a close.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score
Photo Gallery
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"We couldn't be prouder of our effort tonight," said Head Coach Todd Woodcroft. "We were consistent to our game plan and we played hard to the last moments. We scored a power play goal and were perfect on the penalty kill. We defended well and while the second goal against was a complete fluke - we felt we were good off the puck all night. This team has shown resiliency and pride from the beginning of the season and endured arduous circumstances.
 
"Our injuries set a record for UVM men's hockey and the pieces we missed for the season were important to our team," continued Woodcroft. "However, our push back today and ability to stay in the fight bodes well for the future.  We will be back to work tomorrow getting ready for September. Thank you to all our fans for the continued support - we feel it and appreciate it."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Friars threw 16 shots at Vermont's Gabe Carriere in the first period and he stopped all of them in a scoreless opening 20 minutes.
• Cody Monds opened the scoring for the Friars 6:01 into the second period. The Friars goaltender Jaxson Stauber fired the puck up off the boards and it took a funny hop to evade two Catamounts. Monds was first to the puck in the neutral zone and he was able to beat Carriere with a shot that just made it across the line for his fifth goal of the season.
• Berard extended the Providence lead to two with a fluky goal early in the third period. In a puck battle along the boards Berard centered a feed that deflected off a Vermont defender and flew up and over Carriere's shoulder.
• With 3:55 left in the contest the Catamounts drew their first power play of the night. UVM pulled Carriere for the extra-attacker. With 1:58 to go Vermont converted as Joel Määttä scored his third goal of the season. Robbie Stucker fed a perfect shot-pass to Määttä in the slot and he redirected it past Stauber. Joe Leahy also earned an assist on the play.
• Vermont had multiple chances around the net in the final moments of the contest but couldn't find the equalizer.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Robbie Stucker blocked a game-high three shots in the contest.
• Graduate forward Philip Lagunov finishes the season as the Catamounts leading scorer with eight goals and eight assists for 16 points.
• UVM is now 8-6 all-time in the opening round of the Hockey East tournament. On the road, they are 3-4.

 
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2021-22 men's hockey season