ORONO, Maine – With 6:05 to play Vermont's Isak Walther broke a 2-2 tie for the Catamounts as they rallied from behind in the third period to defeat Maine 4-2 Wednesday night in the Opening Round of the 2023 Men's Hockey East Tournament from Alfond Arena. Vermont's first postseason win since 2018 propels the Catamounts to the Hockey East Quarterfinals for the first time since 2017. Vermont will face the top-seed Boston University Saturday afternoon at Agganis Arena at 4:30 p.m. in a game broadcast on NESN.

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COACH'S QUOTE
"Tonight's victory was a huge step for this program," Head Coach Todd Woodcroft said. "These players have no quit in them. We played sixty hard minutes and made few mistakes. We stuck to our game plan and we were good when we had to be good. This was a complete team effort. No superstars tonight – a collective victory in all manners of the word. We will enjoy the moment this evening and get back to work tomorrow as we prepare for Boston University."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Black Bears opened the scoring on the first power play of the game with 6:01 left in the opening frame. Ralfs Bergmanis engaged with a Maine forward in the corner and the puck popped loose into the slot. Maine's leading scorer Lynden Breen was first to the puck and he slipped a backhand past UVM's Gabe Carriere for his 20th goal of the season.
• Vermont responded with a power play goal on its first opportunity of the game. Robbie Stucker passed along the point to Will Zapernick and he unleashed a wrist shot on Maine's Victor Ostman. Ostman made the initial save but with three Catamounts around the net Timofei Spitserov deposited the rebound in the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season at the 6:40 mark of the middle frame.
• With the teams tied at one to open the third period the Black Bears seized all the momentum with Breen's second goal of the game just 48 seconds into the third period. Carriere made an outstanding save on Maine's Grayson Arnott but the rebound caromed off a UVM defender and Breen was able to tuck it home.
• As they've done so often in the calendar year the Catamounts came right back. At the 7:20 mark of the third Massimo Lombardi and Andrei Buyalskly teamed up to tie the game. Both UVM forwards were on the forecheck in the Maine corner and forced a turnover down low. Lombardi carried the puck behind the net and fed a perfect pass to Buyalsky who labeled a shot over Ostman's shoulder for his fifth goal of the season.
• Vermont scored the game-winner on another power play opportunity late in the third. On a bit of a broken play Ostman made an initial save on Jacques Bouquot from a sharp angle. The loose puck stayed behind the net and Bouquot pushed it back towards the corner. While Ostman attempted to gather himself, Walther pushed the puck into the crease and as a Maine player tried to clear the puck it deflected off his stick and in to give UVM a 3-2 edge with 6:05 to play. Stucker also received an assist on the play.
• In the final 6:05 of game action the Catamounts played team defense in every sense of the phrase. Carter Long blocked a shot and Carriere only had to make one save before William Lemay fired home a shorthanded goal into the empty net to seal Vermont's fifth playoff win over Maine in program history.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vermont is undefeated this season when scoring two or more power play goals. UVM was 2-for-4 with the man advantage tonight.
• The Catamounts are now 5-1 all-time against the Black Bears in the playoffs. Vermont is now 9-5 all-time in the Hockey East Opening Round. With tonight's win they evened their record to 4-4 on the road in the first round.
• Robbie Stucker had his fifth multi-point game as a Catamount tonight with two assists.
• With tonight's 4-2 win, Community Bank N.A. will donate $300 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.
• With the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to King Street Center as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $80,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.  

UP NEXT
Vermont will face the top-seed Boston University in the Hockey East Quarterfinals Saturday, March 11 at 4:30 p.m. The action will be broadcast live on NESN and ESPN+ from Agganis Arena with Eric Gallanty and Bob Deraney on the call. 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 game will also be available on the Varsity Network App.
 
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2022-23 men's hockey season