FINAL SCORE: Vermont 15, UMBC 13
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Five different Catamounts registered three or more points as Vermont defeated UMBC 15-13 on Senior Day Presented by UVM Health Advantage on Saturday afternoon from Virtue Field, capping off the regular season winning three straight games, the longest streak of the season. With the victory, Vermont improved to 7-7 overall, 5-2 in America East action, earning a spot in the 2024 America East Tournament.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score | CatamounTV Highlights
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"We had a great week of practice," said Head Coach Chris Feifs. "We were playing for our seniors and fifth years here today so when we went down 2-0, we just had to fall back on the week of training we had, it felt like we worked through all the phases we needed to be prepared for."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the first 3:46 of the game, UMBC netted the first two goals, gaining an early 2-0 lead with 11:14 still to play in the opening frame.
• At the 6:16 mark of the first quarter, Charlie Pope answered for the Catamounts, ripping his 37th of the season, bottom left, after receiving a pass from Max Frattaroli, cutting the Retriever lead in half, 2-1.
• Vermont knotted the score at 2-2 with 5:28 to go in the first quarter after Tristan Whitaker scored unassisted, his 24th goal of the season.
• The Catamounts gained their first lead of the game with 2:59 of the quarter to go when Pope stepped up and sniped another bottom corner shot, scoring his second goal of the game, handing Vermont the 3-2 lead.
• 11 seconds later, Henry Dodge scored his first career goal for the Catamounts on a one-man fast break, extending the Vermont lead to 4-2 with 2:48 left to play in the opening frame.
• Frattaroli opened scoring for Vermont in the second quarter after being fed by Luke Reiter 0:32 into the frame, giving the Catamounts a 5-2 advantage with 14:28 to play in the quarter.
• Pope secured his hat-trick goal at the 12:46 mark of the second frame after Reiter found him in the slot for a close range shot, Reiter's second assist of the game, putting it top shelf on the UMBC goalie to give Vermont a 6-2 edge.
• Over the next four minutes, UMBC dialed up three unanswered goals to bring them within one, 6-5, with 8:56 to go in the second quarter.
• Whitaker scored his second goal of the game after displaying an impressive solo effort, dodging multiple Retriever defenders to open space before burying his shot while being taken to the ground, earning Vermont a 7-5 lead with 7:20 to go in the second frame.
• With 3:12 to go in the quarter, Pope scored his fourth goal of the game after pinning his turn around, right-handed shot, middle right on the goalie to put the Catamounts ahead, 8-5. No goals were scored for the rest of the half as Vermont entered halftime with a three-goal cushion.
• Following back-to-back goals from UMBC to begin scoring in the third quarter, Charlie Egan responded for Vermont, scoring his second goal of the season with 10:03 left in the quarter to maintain the Catamounts lead, 9-7.
• Harrison Josloff entered the score sheet after sniping his seventh goal of the season 0:36 later, extending the Catamount lead, 10-7, with 9:27 to play in the third frame.
• Reiter extended the lead to 11-7 after displaying pure athleticism, working his way to the front where he scored while diving into the slot, slipping his shot past the UMBC goalie with 8:16 left in the quarter.
• Just a little over one minute later, Reiter found the back of the net once again for his second tally of the game, bringing the Vermont advantage to 12-7 with 6:56 remaining in the third frame.
• UMBC notched two goals before the end of the third quarter as Vermont entered the final frame with a 12-9 edge.
• Brian Tregoning opened scoring in the fourth quarter for the Retrievers, making the score 12-10 in favor of the Catamounts with 13:44 of gametime remaining.
• Whitaker scored his hat-trick goal with 11:07 of gametime to go after corralling a cross field pass from Brock Haley and unleashing a laser top left on the goalie, securing a 13-11 lead.
• After working the ball around the field with 9:42 remaining on the clock, Whitaker found Frattaroli rolling high, who buried his second goal of the game, earning Vermont the 14-10 lead.
• A three-minute locked in penalty resulted in UMBC notching one goal, bringing the Catamount lead down to three goals, 14-11, with 8:41 to play.
• Tregoning found the back of the net again with 5:12 remaining on the clock, bringing the Retrievers within two, 14-12.
• Frattaroli netted his hat-trick goal with 4:20 of game time remaining for his 30th of the season, earning the Catamounts a 15-12 edge.
• The Retrievers tallied a late goal with 0:42 remaining on the clock, however it was too little too late, as Vermont secured the 15-13 win over UMBC in the regular season finale.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Pope earned a team high four goals on another team high, six shots on goal. It's the fifth time this season Pope has notched four or more goals in the same game.
• Jack Combs collected a team high three caused turnovers.
• Walter Zhao won 11 of his 17 faceoffs while tying a game-high six ground balls.
• Dodge secured his first career goal while also tying a game-high six ground balls. Dodge won 10 of his 15 faceoffs.
• Haley recorded three assists, tying a game high. It's the fifth time this season Haley has tallied three or more assists in a game. Haley now has the sixth most assists in program history (80).
• Reiter notched a team-high five points on two goals while tying a game high three assists. It's the third time this season Reiter has tallied five or more points in a game.
• Frattaroli and Whitaker each collected four points on three goals and one assist. Frattaroli now has four hat-tricks in the last five games.
• George Egan contributed his eigth game with 12+ saves as well as two ground balls and a caused turnover. 
• Egan and Josloff each contributed one goal in Vermont's victory over UMBC.

 
UP NEXT
The 2024 America East Tournament will be hosted by UAlbany for the first time since 2018 following their 18-10 victory over Binghamton Saturday night. The Regular Season Champion Great Danes will host Merrimack, making its first-ever America East Tournament appearance, at 7 p.m. in the second semifinal on Thursday, May 2 from Casey Stadium. The Catamounts earned the two-seed and will face UMBC again at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Both America East semifinals will air live on ESPN+. Tickets are available now at https://go.uvm.edu/semi24. 

The 2024 America East Championship is set for Saturday, May 4 at 3 p.m. from Casey Stadium. The championship will air live on ESPNU