FINAL SCORE: Vermont 6, UMass 7
AMHERST, Mass. – Vermont (2-3) fell to No. 19 UMass (7-1) on Saturday afternoon at Garber Field. The Minutemen outscored the Catamounts 3-1 in the fourth quarter.
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Box Score
COACH'S QUOTE
"Not the result we wanted today, but very proud of our effort and specialist versus a buttoned-up UMass team," said head coach Chris Feifs. "We did not execute in crunch time, but we will learn and improve for conference play."
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Vermont opened the scoring at the 7:26 mark of the first quarter when Sean Stevens went coast to coast and whipped a shot past the UMass goalie to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead.
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The Minutemen would respond at the 6:12 mark of the first when Tyler Clayton scored off the assist from Robbie Granara to tie the game up at 1-1 going into the second quarter.
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UMass took its first lead of the game at the 11:18 mark of the second quarter when Charles Kurtz scored a man-up goal off an assist from Jack Turowsky.
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Granara would score back-to-back goals, his first coming at the 10:09 mark of the second quarter, and his second coming with 2:16 left in the first half.
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The Catamounts responded with a 2-0 run from the 1:28 mark of the second quarter through the end of the quarter, with goals from Cullen Decker and Max Goldstein.
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Vermont outscored UMass 2-0 in the third quarter, with Tristan Whitaker scoring a perfectly placed overhand goal in the top right corner, followed by Max Frattaroli's man-up goal to send the Catamounts into the final quarter of play up 5-4.
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UMass scored three straight goals to open the fourth quarter, with scores from Granara, Kurtz, and Turowsky.
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Decker netted his second goal of the game with 1:06 remaining to cut the UMass lead to one, but the Minutemen held on for a 7-6 victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
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Decker led the Catamounts with two goals and added a ground ball. Frattaroli, Goldstein, Whitaker, and Stevens each scored a goal.
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Walter Zhao collected a team-high 10 ground balls and went 15-for-17 on faceoffs.
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Jack Combs and Zack Toll were second on the team with three ground balls apiece, while Kean Pare recorded Vermont's lone assist.
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Granara scored a hat trick for the Minutemen.
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UMass had the 20-16 edge in shots on goal. Vermont had a 27-16 advantage in ground balls. The Minutemen went 2-for-3 on extra-man opportunities, while the Catamounts finished 1-for-3.
UP NEXT
Vermont hosts UMBC on Saturday, March 14, to open conference play. Faceoff is set for noon at Virtue Field, and the game will air live on ESPN+.