Burlington, Vt. - Senior Dan Travis scored twice and junior goalie Bud Fisher made 18 saves to lead Quinnipiac to a 4-1 victory in the championship game of the Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup in front of a crowd of 3,880 at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Sunday night. The Bobcats improved to 10-5-2 (3-3-2 ECAC) with their fifth straight victory while the Catamounts fell to 4-7-4 (3-3-2 HEA).
Sophomore Brayden Irwin (Toronto, Ontario) scored for the Catamounts and freshman Kevan Miller (Los Angeles, Calif.) recorded the first assist of his career.
Junior David Marshall notched a power-play goal and sophomore Eric Lampe added a shorthanded tally for the Bobcats.
"I think Quinnipiac played a great game," Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon said. "They were far more disciplined in their systems and tended to frustrate our guys."
"When you're playing against a team that is really good in the neutral zone at slowing you down, we need to do a better job of being open, getting open and moving the puck. We couldn't generate anything coming through the neutral zone."
Quinnipiac took a 1-0 lead at 7:25 of the first period on a power-play goal by Marshall. Sophomore Greg Holt fired a shot from the point and Marshall deflected the puck past Vermont senior goalie Joe Fallon (Bemidji, Minn.).
Travis recorded the first of his two goals at 9:32 of the first to give the Bobcats a 2-0 advantage. Sophomore Jean-Marc Beaudoin setup the score with a pass from the right corner to an open Travis at the top of the slot.
Irwin cut the Vermont deficit to 2-1 with his fifth goal of the season with just 16 seconds left in the opening period. Irwin stuffed in a rebound at the left post after a shot by junior assistant captain Peter Lenes (Shelburne, Vt.). Miller also assisted for the Catamounts.
Quinnipiac regained a two-goal cushion on the second goal of the game for Travis at 17:29 of the second period. Beaudoin setup the goal again, this time he took advantage of a Vermont turnover and fed the transfer from New Hampshire in the slot for his fifth goal of the season.
Lampe added a shorthanded goal from the top of the slot at 8:51 of the third to make it 4-1 Quinnipiac.
Fisher finished with 19 saves and he turned away 37 of 39 shots on the weekend to earn the MVP of the Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup.
Fallon recorded 17 saves for the Catamounts.
UVM went 0-for-5 on the power play and Quinnipiac went 1-for-8.
Vermont returns to Hockey East action next Saturday (Jan. 5) at Boston University in a 7:00pm start from Agganis Arena. The game will be televised on CN8 - The Comcast Network.