COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Stefanos Lekkas made 36 saves, the seventh game of the season with 30 or more stops, but the Catamounts dropped a non-conference game to the Tigers Friday night at Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs.
Vermont drops to 4-8-1 overall (1-6-1 HEA) with the loss. Colorado College improves to 7-6-2 (2-5-1 NCHC) with the victory.
COACH'S QUOTE
"Stef kept us in the game until late, credit CC for winning literally every category tonight," Head Coach Kevin Sneddon said. "We will do our best to prep our team to play better Saturday."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Lekkas was fantastic from the start, stopping five Tiger shots in the first 89 seconds to keep the game scoreless.
- Matt Alvaro opened the scoring at 11:34 of the first with a snapshot from the top of the right faceoff circle over CC goalie Alex Leclerc's blocker. Alex Esposito and Corey Moriarty assisted on the captain's second goal of the season.
- Vermont began the second period with sustained offensive zone pressure, however, CC's Troy Conzo tied the game 3:45 into the period on a 2-on-1 rush. Following the Tiger goal, Lekkas made seven saves in the next three minutes to keep the game square at 1-1.
- Westin Michaud broke the deadlock at 15:38 of the middle period and as he walked down the slot alone and ripped a shot past Lekkas to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
- The Tigers doubled their lead 1:40 into the final period as Trey Bradley banged home his own rebound after Lekkas made the initial save.
- Conor O'Neil gave the Catamounts life for a moment with 1:26 remaining in the third. With an empty net at the other end of the ice, O'Neil received a pass from Liam Coughlin and roofed a shot over Leclerc (22 saves). Esposito picked up the secondary assist for his second of the game.
- Trevor Gooch scored an empty net goal with 36 seconds in regulation to make it 4-2 Tigers. Grant Cruikshank got behind the Catamount defense and scored with 13 seconds remaining to make it 5-2
UP NEXT
The Catamounts and Tigers take the ice at Broadmoor World Arena tomorrow night in the second game of the series. The game is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. local time (8:30 p.m. Eastern).
