Following a split White Out the Whitt weekend against Maine, the UNH men’s hockey team (11-10-8, 7-7-5) won on Friday 1-0 over Vermont (12-14-2, 5-11-2) and lost 4-1 on Saturday at UVM’s Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vt.
UNH sophomore goalie Mike Robinson earned his fourth shutout of the season in Friday’s contest. Robinson recorded 29 saves against UVM. UVM’s goalie recorded 26 saves, only giving up the game ending goal to UNH’s sophomore forward Patrick Grasso. That goal was Grasso’s seventh on the season. Grasso currently has 15 points this season.
UVM’s junior goalie Stefanos Lekkas had a stellar weekend despite the Friday loss. The Catamounts goalie halted 57 of the 59 shots he saw this weekend. His 26 save performance Friday and 31 save shutout on Saturday earned him Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of the Week alongside UCONN’s first year goalie Tomas Vomacka. Vomacka recorded his first Hockey East win with a shutout against Merrimack.
The Saturday game did not play out the way the ‘Cats would have hoped.
Vermont got out to an early lead with a first period goal from senior forward Liam Coughlin. This was his 6th goal of the season. UVM outshot the Wildcats 15-13 in the first period.
Come the second period, UNH looked to gain momentum by drawing a five-on-three power play that did not end up in a UNH score. Soon afterwards UVM scored again with a goal from first-year forward Johnny DeRoche. DeRoche tapped the puck in off a rebound for his 5th goal this season.
UVM’s sophomore forward Bryce Misley converted another second period goal to extend the Catamount’s lead to 3-0. This was Misley’s second goal this season.
8:13 into the third period, Wildcats senior forward Marcus Vela cut the deficit to 3-1 with a tip-in off an assist from senior defenseman Richard Boyd. This was Vela’s fifth goal of the season and Boyd’s sixth assist this season.
The joy was short lived for UNH, as UVM junior defenseman Matt O’Donnell scored his fourth goal of the season to give the Catamounts a 4-1 lead. Nobody scored for the remainder of the game, resulting in a 4-1 win for UVM.
UNH is now tied with Beanpot champions Northeastern for 5th place in the Hockey East. Both teams have 19 points going into next weekend’s double header at the Whittemore Centre in Durham, NH. Both Friday’s and Saturday’s games are set for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop.
