FINAL SCORE: Vermont 20, Merrimack 8
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Six different Catamounts registered a multi-goal game as Vermont (4-6, 2-1 AE) cruised past Merrimack (3-7, 1-2 AE) with a final score of 20-8, on Saturday from Virtue Field, the most goals the Catamounts have scored since their 21-3 victory over UMass Lowell on April 22, 2023, last season.  

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COACH'S QUOTE
"Every conference win is a huge win and to get a win on Virtue Field means so much to this team and this program and we always want to defend Virtue with a ton of pride, and I thought today they really stood up to a great team on a beautiful day, and it was just all around a good win," said Head Coach Chris Feifs. "Really happy for them, I mean, I felt during pregame when I walked into the locker room there was an electric atmosphere in there and it wasn't coming from the coach's, it was coming from the guys, they were jumping off the walls ready to get out there and play. And that makes my job a lot easier, you know, when you have great players and guys that want to win that bad, you get to sit back as a coach and see them have success and you know, we aren't finished."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After juking his defender out of position, Griffin Fenech finished the play by rifling his shot past Merrimack's goalie to open scoring for Vermont, earning them an early 1-0 lead with 13:27 remaining in the first quarter.
• Merrimack's Kasey Mongillo answered, knotting the game at 1-1 just twenty seconds later.
• Charlie Pope fed Tristan Whitaker for his ninth goal of the season at the 12:24 mark in the opening frame to maintain the Catamount lead, 2-1.
• Whitaker found Luke Reiter in front of the net with plenty of time to execute several pump fakes on Merrimack's goalie, resulting in a wide-open tuck to earn the Catamounts a 3-1 edge with 10:03 to go in the first quarter.
• Just over three minutes later at the 7:01 mark of the quarter, Reiter worked his way behind the net, wrapping around and freeing up space to pick the bottom corner of Merrimack's goal, scoring his second of the game, unassisted, giving Vermont the 4-1 advantage right before the first media timeout.
• Pope found the back of the net for Vermont with 1:58 remaining in the opening quarter, scoring his 28th goal of the season to earn Vermont the 5-1 lead.
• Jack Kolbe opened scoring in the second quarter for Merrimack, cutting the Vermont lead down to 5-2 with 13:28 to go in the second frame.
• Brock Haley fed Max Frattaroli who buried his 17th goal of the season to pounce back for the Catamounts, putting them ahead 6-2 with 12:33 remaining in the first half.
• Less than one minute later, Harrison Josloff scored while being a man-up to give Vermont a 7-2 advantage with 11:43 remaining in the quarter.
• Reiter forced a turnover in Merrimack's zone that resulted in Haley finding the back of the net with 10:39 remaining to give Vermont an 8-2 lead.
• 0:25 later, Haley struck again, scoring his second of the game to earn the Catamounts a commanding 9-2 lead with 10:14 left to play in the first half, forcing Merrimack to call a timeout and recoup.
• After working it around while being a man up, the Catamounts eventually found Reiter open in the slot who cashed in on his hat-trick goal, putting Vermont ahead 10-2 with 8:01 still to play in the second quarter.
• 0:36 later, Haley scored his hat-trick goal after sniping his shot, post-in, bringing Vermont ahead, 11-2, with 7:25 left in the second frame.
• Josloff answered for the Catamounts following Merrimack's third goal of the game, scoring his second of the match after corralling a pass from Haley to keep Vermont ahead, 12-3, with 3:44 remaining in the half.
• A swim dodge by Whitaker enabled him to bury his second goal of the game, handing Vermont the 13-4 advantage with 1:53 left in the second quarter.
• Finn O'Hara scored his first career goal a little over a minute later, extending the Catamounts lead to 14-4 before the buzzer rang, sending Vermont to halftime with a 10-goal cushion.
• Merrimack struck first, 0:50 into the third quarter, after KJ Delane snuck in his 12th goal of the season to make the score 14-5 in favor of Vermont.
• 0:24 later, Frattaroli scored his second goal of the game, gaining back the double-digit lead for Vermont, 15-5, with 13:46 left to play in the quarter.
• Frattaroli registered his hat-trick goal after corralling a pass from Pope, putting the Catamounts ahead 16-5 with 9:17 to go in the third frame.
• Fenech tallied his second goal of the game with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter, putting Vermont in front, 17-5.
• Reiter and Whitaker both tallied another goal each before the end of the third quarter, bringing the Catamounts to the final frame ahead, 19-5.
• Lee Butler collected his first career goal with 10:59 remaining of gametime after quickly burying the pass from Sam Bowen to put Vermont ahead 20-6 in the fourth quarter.
• The Warriors scored two goals before the end of regulation, as Vermont ran away with the 20-8 victory, earning them their second win on home turf.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• For the first time since 2022, nine different Catamounts tallied a point for Vermont amid their dominant victory over Merrimack.
• Haley tallied a new career high nine total points against the Warriors on three goals and a career high six assists. The nine points now takes Haley to 150 total career points.
• O'Hara and Butler each notched their first career goal to go along with a combined five total shots on net and three ground balls.
• Henry Dodge set a new career high in ground balls, earning 13 against Merrimack while also tying a career high from the faceoff circle, winning 22 of his 26 attempted faceoffs.
• Frattaroli and Whitaker each earned a game-high five shots on goal while both players notched their third hat-trick of the season.  
• Reiter earned a new career-high six total points after leading Vermont in the goals column, collecting four goals to go along with two assists.
• Josloff tied a career-high in goals, recording two against Merrimack. Fellow Catamount, Fenech, also scored two goals for Vermont, the fourth time he's scored two or more goals in the same game this season.
• Pope registered three total points on one goal and two assists.
• Ryker Demarest and Frattaroli earned team-highs in caused turnovers, earning two each.
• UVM recorded 57 total ground balls, the most ground balls in a single game for the Catamounts in at least the last 12 years.
• Vermont out shot Merrimack, 38-22.

 
UP NEXT
Following the win, Vermont is back in action next Saturday, April 6 at 12 p.m. as they stay home to host the Binghamton Bearcats during their annual Rally Against Cancer game presented by Mascoma Bank. The action will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Brian McLaughlin on the call.