BURLINGTON, Vt. – Colin Kessler and Cédrick Guindon each had three points Saturday night leading Vermont in a 5-3 win over No. 18 Maine on the final night of the Hockey East regular season at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Catamounts will face the Boston University Terriers Wednesday night in the Hockey East Opening Round from Agganis Arena.

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COACH'S QUOTE
"Proud of our guys, they never give up, they never quit." said Head Coach Steve Wiedler. "I was so impressed with our resolve and culture this week in practice. I know I said that a ton in the media this week. It would have been so easy to just fold, to not meet the standard in practice - they didn't fold, they met the standard every day. That part of our program is so solidified, I've never seen our culture this good in my time here as an assistant or head coach. The guys in our room deserve the credit for that. Good team win. The strength of our group is the group. Glad we got the glue class a win in their last game at the Gut - they deserve that."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Catamounts opened the scoring 4:00 into the first period with a well-placed wrist shot in transition from Thomas Sinclair. Xavier Henry found Daniel Sambuco along the boards in the UVM zone and then Sambuco found the senior forward with a great cross-zone pass between two Maine defenders. Sinclair's shot hit Maine's Mathis Rousseau in the glove, and it bounced off him and in for his fourth goal of the season.
• The Catamounts doubled their advantage on the power play with 1:59 to play in the first period. Ethan Burroughs evaded a Maine defender at the blueline before firing a pass to Colin Kessler in the slot. Kessler one-touched a pass over to Cédrick Guindon at the side of the net and he one-timed home his third goal of the season to make it 2-0.
• The Black Bears got one back 59 seconds into the second during a period of four-on-four action. On a three-on-two rush Josh Nadeau called his own number and fired a wrist shot under the arm of Aiden Wright for his 17th goal of the season.
• With 4:42 to play in the second period the Catamounts struck again with the man advantage. Guindon found Kessler on the wing for a one-timer, a Maine defender blocked the initial attempt, but Kessler got the rebound and skated in on Rousseau before roofing a shot to make it 3-1. Jack Malinski earned the secondary assist on the tally.
• The Black Bears got it back to a one-goal game again in the final minute of the second period. Amidst a scramble in front of Wright Miguel Marques got a stick on a loose puck in front to make it 3-2 with 52 seconds left in the period.
• UVM reestablished its two-goal lead 6:03 into the third period with an aggressive forecheck that paid off. Dawson Good and Zach Filak forced a turnover behind the Maine net culminating in a blind Black Bears pass. Rousseau attempted to play it back into the corner but Good centered the puck to Max Strand and he beat Rousseau between the legs for his sixth goal of the season to make it 4-2.
• Owen Fowler scored for the Black Bears with the extra attacker on the ice to make it a one-goal game again 1:55 to play.
• Kessler iced the contest with his 10th goal of the season into the empty net.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• With tonight's Win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to the Ronald McDonald House through the Cat's Win, Community Win's initiative. Vermont Mutual has donated over $6 Million Dollars since launching their Charitable Giving Fund in 2014.
• With this evening's 5-3 decision, Community Bank N.A. will donate $250 to Special Olympics Vermont. Community Bank, N.A. donates $50 per goal to Special Olympics Vermont for every goal the men's and women's team scores this season.
• Vermont's eight Hockey East wins this season are the most by the Catamounts since the 2016-17 campaign.
• Kessler leads the Catamounts in scoring this season with 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points. The 16 assists and 26 points are both career highs.
• Over the last two contests Kessler has four goals and two assists for six points.
• Cédrick Guindon has also heated up at just the right time for UVM, he has two goals (both on the power play) and three assists over UVM's last three games.
• Aiden Wright's 12 wins are the most by a UVM freshman since Stefanos Lekkas '19 had 18 wins during the 2016-17 campaign.
• UVM's three power play goals tonight are the most in a single game this season. The Catamounts are 5 for 18 with the man advantage over its last three games, good for 27.8%. 

UP NEXT
Vermont will kick off the postseason on Wednesday, March 11 as they travel to face the six seed Boston University in the Hockey East Opening Round. Owen Gund will have the radio call on the Varsity Network and WVMT and the game will air live on ESPN+. Game time from Agganis Arena is set for 6:30 p.m.
 
The winners of Wednesday's three Opening Round contests will be back in action on the road Saturday, March 14 in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. If UVM advances they will head to the Regular Season Champion and top-seed Providence in the quarterfinals.

For news and updates about the Vermont men's hockey program, follow @UVMmhockey on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.