AMHERST, Mass. – The Vermont men's hockey team scored three goals in the third period Friday night to come from behind and earn a 3-3 tie at UMass. It is the first time UVM has earned a league point against the Minutemen in five years. First year Massimo Lombardi led the Catamounts comeback with a goal and an assist. UMass won the extra point defeating UVM 2-1 in the league only shootout.

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Box Score
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"Tonight, I don't think we could have been prouder of our team for the resilience they showed," Head Coach Todd Woodcroft said. "Down 3-0 to a recent national champion team, on the road, we found a way to tie it up with three third period goals. Our youth continues to shine and rise to the occasion. Missing Jacques Bouquot, William Lemay, Robbie Stucker Andrei Buyalski and for most of the game Will Zapernick - the squad never gave up.  
Our PP is decimated. Our PK was missing three of our top players and yet we performed. It is no longer a secret about the team health and recent heavy illness, but the players did not accept any excuses today and showed up for 65 hard minutes. This is one of our proudest moments of the year that we persevered and played so well under these circumstances."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Michael Cameron opened the scoring for the Minutemen 2:39 into the first period with a shorthanded tally. Cameron won a race to the puck in the Vermont zone and fired a wrist shot past Oskar Autio for his eighth goal of the season.
• UMass doubled its advantage at the 9:55 mark of the opening frame on a broken play in front of Autio. Kenny Connors redirected a bouncing puck in front that went through multiple bodies and past Autio for his eighth goal of the campaign.
• Then midway through the second period Cal Kiefiuk made it a three-goal edge with his fourth goal of the season. From just in front of the UVM net Reed Lebster left a drop pass to Kiefiuk and he deked around Autio before stashing home UMass' third goal of the game.
• Finn Evans cued the Vermont comeback with his first goal as a Catamount 1:55 into the third period. Evans fired a shot from just outside the slot that UMass' Luke Pavicich couldn't control. With the puck dribbling behind Pavicich Simon Jellus was on the doorstep ready for a tap in. As a UMass defender attempted to clear Jellus' stick he inadvertently hit the puck in. Jellus and Thomas Sinclair assisted on the momentum shifter for the Catamounts.
• Just 1:42 later Lombardi scored his first career collegiate goal to cut the UMass lead to one. On the forecheck the Catamounts forced a turnover in the UMass zone. Philip Törnqvist tapped the puck towards the net and Dawson Good corralled the loose puck before leaving it in the slot for Lombardi. Lombardi initially lost control but he quickly tapped it home through Pavicich's pads.
• With 3:58 left in regulation the Catamounts' forecheck paid off again. This time Lombardi won a puck battle and negated a potential icing. As he curled back towards the neutral zone he garnered the attention of three UMass players. Lombardi softly fed a pass on his backhand to Jens Richards who was cutting into the slot. Richards beat Pavicich with a wrist shot just under his blocker to tie things up. Eric Gotz also earned an assist on Richards' third goal of the season.
• With 2:10 to play in regulation Pavicich absolutely robbed Good and Lombardi on a three-on-one rush to save the game for UMass.
• In the three-on-three extra session Autio made five saves to force a shootout.
• Joel Määttä scored on the first UVM attempt in the shootout but UMass first year Cole O'Hara secured the extra point for UMass as they claimed the shootout 2-1.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Catamounts have now earned six league points in their last three Hockey East road games.
• In his last four starts Oskar Autio has stopped 117 of the 126 shots he has faced, good for a .928 save percentage. UVM is now 2-1-1 in those starts.
• With today's 3-3 decision, Community Bank N.A. will donate $225 to Special Olympics Vermont. Community Bank, N.A. donates $75 per goal to Special Olympics Vermont for every goal the men's and women's team scores this season.

UP NEXT
Vermont wraps the weekend series with the Minutemen tomorrow night at 7 p.m. from the Mullins Center. Saturday's contest will air live on NESN with Tyler Murray and Jim Connelly on the call. The game will also be simulcast on ESPN+. It will also be available on a pay-per-view basis internationally at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/hockeyeast. Subscriptions to the service are available for $9.99 USD per month or $4.99 USD for individual games. 
 
The voice of the Catamounts, Adam LaFleur, will broadcast the action from the Handy Toyota Broadcast Booth on WVMT (FM 96.3 / AM 620). As always, the games will also be available on the Varsity Network App.

Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2022-23 men's hockey season