Articles

Men's Hockey: Vermont Falls Short at New Hampshire 3-1

Details: Created on Sunday, 19 February 2012 03:32; Written by George Commo

Rob Madore makes 38 saves in losing cause

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

DURHAM, N.H. – Greg Burke's power play goal late in the second period stood up as the eventual game-winner as New Hampshire held off Vermont 3-1 in Hockey East action at the Whittemore Center on Saturday night. Rob Madore made 38 saves in a losing effort as UVM split the weekend with UNH and finished the season series 1-1-1. The Catamounts drop to 6-23-1 (3-19-1 HEA), while the Wildcats improve to 13-15-3 (10-12-2 HEA).

“I think we played a pretty good game and I thought both goaltenders played excellent tonight,” said head coach Kevin Sneddon. “We tried to make a few adjustments on our strategy going into the third period, but we just didn't make enough plays tonight and UNH did. Again, for the most part I thought we battled as if we were fighting for a playoff spot or home ice, it was a gutsy effort. There are a lot of positive things for us to focus on and definitely some teaching points as well.”

Late in the first period, the Catamounts struck first in transition. Kyle Reynolds gained the UNH zone along the right boards and sent a pass back to the left point for a charging Kyle Mountain. The rookie slapped a quick shot toward goal that was deflected wide by Nick Bruneteau off the end boards, but his brother Brett was waiting at the right post to poke in the rebound for a 1-0 Vermont lead at the 17:00 mark.

The Wildcats answered at the 5:44 mark of the second frame as Vermont turned the puck over in its own zone. Mike Borisenok created a steal and skated down the left side of the zone before feeding Kevin McCarey at the top of the crease. Madore had no chance as McCarey settled the puck and whipped it into the open net to knot the score at one.

Roughly 10 minutes later, New Hampshire took its first lead after a Tobias Nilsson-Roos tripping minor. Madore made the initial save on a point shot and the rebound squirted out to John Henrion in the low slot. Henrion directed a wrister toward the bottom left corner and Madore made an acrobatic right pad stop, but Burke pounced on the second opportunity and buried the loose puck.

New Hampshire added an insurance goal less than eight minutes into the third period as Stevie Moses curled into the high slot and dropped the puck off for Damon Kipp. The senior sent it down to the goal line for Kevin Goumas, who centered a feed toward Connor Hardowa at the top of the left circle. The defenseman collected and fired a wrist shot into the top right corner for a two-goal advantage.

Vermont earned a power play with five minutes left to play and called its timeout, but UNH held the Catamounts off on the man advantage. UVM pulled Madore with 1:19 remaining in regulation but was unable to create a scoring change on DeSmith. Madore's save total of 38 was two shy of his season high, while DeSmith stopped 28 shots at the other end to pick up the victory.

The Catamounts return to Burlington next weekend for their final two home games of the season as No. 2 Boston University comes to Gutterson Fieldhouse. UVM and BU skate on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in a game televised nationally on NBC Sports Network, followed by a 7:05 p.m. faceoff on Saturday for Senior Night. Saturday's game will be available online for free via CatamounTV.

NOTES: Saturday marked the 100th all-time meeting between Vermont and New Hampshire, the Catamounts' longest standing rival in men's hockey … Madore moved into sole possession of sixth place on the all-time wins list at UVM on Friday night with his 41st career victory … 14 of the last 19 Vermont goals have been scored by underclassmen … Vermont entered the weekend 0-4-2 in its last six meetings with New Hampshire … The two schools have now played 14 times in the last three seasons.