BURLINGTON, Vt. - Sam Herr netted two goals in a 62 second span late in the third period as second-ranked Notre Dame came back to beat Vermont 3-2 on Saturday in Hockey East action at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Catamounts fall to 2-2-1 (1-1-0 HEA) as they closed their 50th anniversary weekend, while the Fighting Irish improves to 6-2-0 (1-1-0 HEA).
After an early flurry in front of the Notre Dame net, UVM maintained possession and Nick Bruneteau cycled the puck to Robert Polesello in the right faceoff circle. The sophomore fired off a wrist shot through traffic to beat Steven Summerhays inside the far post blocker side. Rob Hamilton picked up the second assist on the opening goal at the 2:41 mark.
With just 43 seconds left in the opening frame, the Catamounts doubled the lead. H.T. Lenz skated into the zone and dished a pass to his right to Colin Marksion. The junior split two defenders, deked right, and roofed the puck into the upper right corner over Summerhays' glove.
Notre Dame drew back to within one less than three minutes into the second period on a long rush from Stephen Johns. The senior took a feed from Bryan Rust and deked through the neutral zone. Johns took the puck down the slot and slipped a backhander past Mike Santaguida to make it a 2-1 game.
It stayed a one goal Vermont advantage until the latter stages of the game. Herr netted his first goal at 13:18 as he beat Santaguida under the blocker with a wrist shot from the left circle. Herr then added his second for the eventual game-winner as he fired another shot from the left faceoff off the right post at 14:20.
The Catamounts pulled Santaguida late for the extra skater but couldn't find the equalizing goal. Santaguida finished the night with 24 saves, while Summerways collected 26 in the winning effort. UVM finished the weekend with a perfect 12-12 showing on the penalty kill.
Vermont travels to Maine next weekend to face the Black Bears in a Hockey East series on Friday (Nov. 8) and Saturday (Nov. 9) at 7 p.m. at Alfond Arena. The Catamounts were unbeaten (2-0-1) in three meetings against Maine last season. Radio coverage begins 30 minutes prior to faceoff each night on WVMT 620-AM and SportsJuice.com with Alastair Ingram on the call.