BURLINGTON, Vt. – Max Strand,
Colin Kessler and
Cédrick Guindon each had three-point nights as Vermont topped Brock University 5-2 in their exhibition opener from Gutterson Fieldhouse Saturday night.
RELATED LINKS
CatamounTV Highlights
Postgame: Coach Wiedler
Social Reel: Kessler Opening Goal
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Catamounts opened the scoring just 47 seconds into the season. Strand chipped the puck out of the UVM zone and past the Brock defense and Massimo Lombardi gathered the puck and broke out in transition. He feathered a pass to Kessler breaking in alone on Brock's William Hambley and UVM's leading scorer from a season ago beat Hambley with a quick move to his backhand to make it 1-0.
- Guindon doubled the Vermont advantage with a power play goal 10:29 into the first frame. A cross-crease pass from Strand just missed Guindon, but he gathered the puck and circled into the slot before wiring a shot past Hambley. Caeden Herrington also earned an assist on the play.
- Brock answered back with a power play goal of its own 2:44 later. A Vermont defender blocked a Badgers shot and it came right to Tai York at the top of the slot, and his shot beat UVM's Jacob Oster through traffic.
- York struck again on the power play with 3:28 left in the opening frame to tie the game at two. Alexis Cournoyer found York alone on the far post for a tap-in with the extra skater.
- Kessler got the UVM lead right back on a five-on-three power play. Herrington setup Kessler at the top of the slot and he one-timed a slapshot top corner for his second goal of the night. Guindon earned the secondary assist for the Catamounts.
- After a scoreless second frame the Catamounts reestablished their two-goal lead just 18 seconds into the third. At full speed UVM pounced in transition. Kessler fed a cutting Strand and he roofed a shot past Brock's Ben Bonisteel to make it 4-2.
- With 3:08 to play in the third period Guindon closed the door on a Brock comeback with an empty net tally to make it 5-2.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
UP NEXT
The Catamounts will open the regular season on Friday, October 10 as they host St. Lawrence in their Home Opener presented by TD Bank at 7 p.m. The first 50 fans will receive co-branded UVM Athletics/TD Bank sweatshirts. Tickets are available now at go.uvm.edu/homeop.
As always, the game will air live on WVMT (96.3 FM/620 AM) with the voice of the Catamounts Owen Gund on the call. Rob Ryan will broadcast the action live on ESPN+.
For news and updates about the Vermont men's hockey program, follow @UVMmhockey on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.
