Articles

UMass Lowell Hangs On for 3-1 Defeat of Vermont in Men's Hockey

Details: Created on Saturday, 04 February 2012 05:41; Written by George Commo

Catamounts drop to 5-20-1 ... 2-16-1 in Hockey East

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

LOWELL, Mass. – Ninth-ranked UMass Lowell scored twice in the span of five minutes in the second period and never trailed the rest of the night as the River Hawks hung on to beat Vermont 3-1 in Hockey East action on Friday night at Tsongas Center. The Catamounts drop to 5-20-1 (2-16-1 HEA) with the loss, while Lowell improves to 17-7-0 (12-6-0 HEA).

"I was really pleased with our effort coming out of the gate tonight," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "I thought we played an excellent first period and Lowell won the second and we lost our game a little bit there, but our kids just keep battling despite the adversity. It's a game of momentum, you're never going to be perfect from start to finish but we certainly want to finish more scoring chances than we did tonight. I was pleased with our effort, our intensity, our physical play, all those things were a real positive tonight."

The Catamounts took the lead at the 6:37 mark of the first as Brett Leonard battled to keep the puck in the zone. Leonard played it off the boards to Brooks Herrington, who slid the puck back to the point for Drew MacKenzie. The senior dished a pass across the blue line for Nick Bruneteau, and the defenseman took a quick one-timer which deflected off a body down low and beat Doug Carr. Herrington picked up his first career point with the second assist.

Roughly halfway through the hockey game, the River Hawks had the answer. Terrence Wallin skated around the net toward the right door step and fired a feed in front. The puck took a deflection from Matt Ferriera at the top of the crease and Joseph Pendenza was able to whack it past Vazzano at the back post. The goal came at 9:51 of the second and tied the score at one.

Five minutes later, the River Hawks took their first lead of the night in transition. Derek Arnold collected a loose puck at his own blue line and stickhandled through center ice. Arnold dropped the puck off at the UVM line to Scott Wilson, who closed in toward the circle and laid it back to Riley Wetmore. The junior executed a give-and-go with Wilson and finished off a one-timer stick side on Vazzano to put Lowell up 2-1.

Less than two minutes into the third period, Mike Montagna checked Wilson into the boards at the Vermont line and a pane of glass shattered on the ice and in the stands. There was about a ten-minute delay to repair the boards, and UMass Lowell netted an insurance goal a few minutes after the restart. Wilson came in on a 2-on-1 with Arnold and dished the puck into the low slot. Arnold poked it back to Wilson and he flipped it short side for a 3-1 advantage.

The Catamounts nearly cut the lead in half with eight and a half minutes remaining as Nick Bruneteau wristed a loose puck on goal, but it rang off the left post and stayed out. Vermont pulled Vazzano with just over two minutes left in regulation and went on a 6-on-4 power play after Chad Ruhwedel took a minor penalty at 17:53. UVM had sustained pressure but the River Hawks blocked several shots in front of goal and time expired.

Vazzano made a career-high 38 saves in a losing effort, including 15 in each of the first two periods. Carr stopped 25 shots in the Lowell net to pick up his 16th win of the season. Both teams finished the night 0-2 on the power play as the squads combined to take just seven penalties.

Vermont and UMass Lowell face off again tomorrow night at Tsongas Center at 7 p.m. to wrap up the regular season series. The game will be televised live on NESN as Tom Caron and Craig Janney have the call.

NOTES: Vermont had its three-game unbeaten streak against UMass Lowell snapped on Friday night … The Catamounts failed to score a power play goal for just the second time in their last 12 games … Eight of the last nine Vermont goals have been scored by underclassmen … Connor Brickley skated in his first game for the Catamounts since Dec. 7, 2011 in a game against Merrimack … Vermont and Lowell are two the three least penalized teams in Hockey East this season.