FINAL SCORE: UAlbany 13, Vermont 11
ALBANY, N.Y. – Tristan Whitaker found the back of the net four times, and Charlie Pope registered a hat-trick as Vermont (3-6, 1-1 AE) narrowly fell to UAlbany (3-5, 2-0 AE) Saturday afternoon from Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium. 
 
RELATED LINKS 
Box Score 
 
COACH'S QUOTE 
"Hats off to Albany on a hard-fought win today. All of these conference games are dog fights and we must do a better job of executing across 4 quarters if we want to give ourselves a chance to win," said head coach Chris Feifs. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 

• The Great Danes opened the game on a three-goal run, before Whitaker lit the lamp first for Vermont with 9:57 left in the opening quarter to cut the UAlbany lead, 3-1. 
• Griffin Fenech added another goal for Vermont, scoring his 12th goal of the season with 4:45 left in the first quarter to bring the Catamounts within one, 3-2. 
• Whitaker sniped his jump shot with 2:34 remaining in the opening frame, placing the ball right under the crossbar, knotting the score at 3-3 and earning his second goal of the game. 
• Vermont opened scoring in the second quarter after a quick move from Whitaker completely shook his defender out of position, allowing him to bury his hat-trick goal to give the Catamounts their first lead of the game, 4-3, with 13:33 remaining in the quarter. 
• UAlbany scored while being a man up with 10:46 to go in the quarter, thanks to Silas Richmond's 22nd goal of the season. 
• With 8:18 left in the second frame, Luke Reiter came out from behind the net, rifling his shot bottom right on the UAlbany goalkeeper, regaining the lead for Vermont, 5-4. 
• The Catamounts gained a two-goal lead, 6-4, with 4:56 left in the quarter after Brock Haley fed Pope, who laced a shot from about 15 yards out, earning his 20th goal of the season. 
• Amos Whitcomb pulled the Great Danes within one while being a man up after firing an underhand shot on net, tucking it top right to make the score 6-5 in favor of Vermont with 3:40 left in the quarter. 
• The Great Danes scored one more goal before heading into halftime with a tied score, 6-6. 
• Vermont opened scoring a little over a minute into the third quarter after Pope found Max Frattaroli in front of the net, scoring through traffic to give the Catamounts a 7-6 advantage. 
• UAlbany responded with back-to-back goals, taking an 8-7 edge with 10:06 in the third frame remaining.
• Pope tied the score, 8-8, after tallying his second goal of the game with 8:23 to go in the third quarter. 
• An offensive surge by UAlbany resulted in four consecutive goals for the Great Danes, giving them a 12-8 lead with 0:34 left in the third frame. 
• Pope halted the UAlbany scoring run after notching his hat-trick goal with just 0:04 left on the clock to bring Vermont within three, 12-9, heading into the final quarter. 
• Frattaroli registered his second goal of the game 21 seconds into the fourth quarter while Vermont was a man up to cut the UAlbany lead, 12-10. 
• With 11:37 left on the clock, Vermont crept back within one after Pope fed Whitaker, who scored his fourth of the game, sniping his shot in the top left corner, bringing the score to 12-11. 
• Only one more goal was scored for the remainder of the game in favor of UAlbany, earning them the 13-11 victory over Vermont.  

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 

• Whitaker led the Catamounts with four goals against UAlbany, setting a new season high.
• Jack Combs led Vermont in ground balls, registering six on the day while also leading the team in caused turnovers, earning three against the Great Danes. 
• Pope notched three goals and two assists to earn five total points against UAlbany. Pope's five points were a team-high, along with his two assists. It's the first game this season Pope registered multiple assists, the fifth time this season earning three or more goals. 
• Whitaker and Pope both led the Catamounts with five shots on goal each. 
• Frattaroli scored two goals for the Catamounts, while Reiter and Fenech each added one goal. 
• George Egan earned 16 saves against UAlbany, the fourth time this season Egan's made 16 or more saves. 

 
UP NEXT 
Vermont is back in action next Saturday, March 30 as they host conference foe Merrimack from Virtue Field in their annual Youth Day presented by Healthy Living. The opening faceoff is slated for 2:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.