Men’s Hockey: Union Tops Vermont 7-3

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BURLINGTON – Brady Shaw netted a pair of goals, but No. 12 Union used three goals in the final seven minutes off the second period to pull away from the 10th-ranked Catamounts for a 7-3 non-conference win on Saturday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

UVM dropped to 10-5-2 (5-3-1 HEA) on the year, while Union extended its winning streak to five straight and improved to 13-3-2 (8-1-1 ECAC).

The Dutchmen struck twice in the opening five minutes of the contest to take a quick 2-0 lead. Michael Pontarelli finished a rebound on the backhand just 63 seconds into the first to open the scoring, and Union doubled the lead at 4:37 when Luc Brown slid the puck under the pads ofStefanos Lekkas (21 saves) from the top of the crease.

Vermont stormed back to tie the score late in the frame, starting with Shaw’s first of the night with 3:32 left. Shaw batted down a pass from Ross Colton in the slot and quickly snapped a shot blocker side to beat Alex Sakellaropoulos (31 saves) for his third of the year. Trey Phillips collected the second assist on the play.

The Catamounts then tied the game with 1:09 remaining in the period. Freshman Derek Lodermeierfed a 2-on-1 pass across the Union zone to Jarrid Privitera in the low right slot, and Privitera knocked home a low one-timer for his fourth goal of the year. Chris Muscoby also recorded an assist on the game-tying goal.

UVM came out strong in the second period and carried the play, but couldn’t take its first lead. Union then turned the game in its favor with two goals in the span of 12 seconds. Ryan Burton finished a loose puck at the right post for his first career goal at 13:25, and Mike Vecchione finished into the upper right corner at 13:37 for his nation-best 18th of the season.

The Dutchmen extended their lead to 5-2 with under a minute left in the second period as Cole Maier finished his own rebound high glove side on Lekkas from the low slot. Lekkas was replaced by senior Mike Santaguida heading into the third period.

Spencer Foo capped off a 2-on-1 with Brett Supinski midway through the final frame to push Union’s advantage to four. Shaw tallied his second of the game on the power play at 14:15, tipping a shot-pass from Brendan Bradley into the upper right corner.

Foo added his second tally in the closing minutes with an empty Vermont net to cap the scoring.

The teams return to Gutterson on Sunday (Dec. 18) at 4 p.m. to close the first half of the season. Tickets are available by logging on to UVMathletics.com/Tickets or at the Gutterson Box Office starting at 3 p.m. Live HD video is available for free via CatamounTV.com,