Sophomore forward Joey Cipollone had a goal and two assists for the Catamounts
Vermont Upends Guelph, 6-1, In Exhibition Action
Sophomore forward Joey Cipollone and junior forward Alex Esposito each had a goal and two assists for the Catamounts

BURLINGTON, Vt. - Special teams play was the difference as six different Vermont Catamounts tallied three power play goals, two shorthanded goals, and one even strength goal in a 6-1 exhibition win over Guelph in front of 3,656 fans at Gutterson Fieldhouse Saturday night.


COACH'S QUOTE

"A lot of the skill work we've been working on is starting to show a little bit, especially as the game wore on," head coach Kevin Sneddon said. "We were a little bit sloppy with the puck at times, but I cannot find a ton of glaring errors from tonight ... they played us physically, I thought it was great, I loved it; we've only hit ourselves for the last month and a half so it was nice to have our guys experience that because they are going to see that against certain teams in Hockey East and certainly in our next trip at Clarkson and St. Lawrence."


HOW IT HAPPENED

- After Guelph jumped to an early lead with a goal from captain Mikkel Aagaard, sophomore Joey Cipollone and freshman Jacques Bouquot tallied back-to-back power play goals to put Vermont ahead 2-1.

- Alex Esposito scored Vermont's third consecutive power play goal at 6:14 of the second period to make it 3-1 Vermont. Cory Thomas broke the special teams' scoring with an even strength goal four minutes later to make it 4-1 UVM.

- Late in the second period, Bryce Misley blocked a shot on the penalty kill and carried the puck through the neutral zone on a breakaway. The junior deked right then cut left on Cregan, but kept his stick to his right and snuck the puck past Guelph goalie Brendan Cregan (37 saves).

- Junior Tyler Harmon relieved Lekkas and recorded nine saves in the first 16:45 of the period. Junior Matt Beck made two saves in the final 3:15 of play.

- Senior Matt Alvaro added Vermont's final goal of the night, another shorthanded tally, at 18:11 of the third frame.


GAME NOTES

- Five Catamounts finished the game with multiple points, including Cipollone and Esposito with three points apiece.

- Vermont matched its 2018-19 season-high with three power play goals. Vermont did not tally six goals in a game last season.

- With the victory, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to Make-A-Wish Vermont, bringing this year's total to 67 wins at $6,700.


UP NEXT

Vermont opens the 2019-20 regular season on Friday (Oct. 18) at 10th-ranked Clarkson. The game is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at Cheel Arena in Potsdam, New York.

Game Summary

Saturday, October 5, 2019

1
6
Game statistics
33 Shots 43
0 / 7 Power Plays 3 / 7
7 / 25 PIM 8 / 16
GOAL SCORERS
Guelph Vermont
Mikkel Aagaard
1st/5:49
Joey Cipollone
1st/11:07 PP
Jacques Bouquot
1st/16:28 PP GW
Alex Esposito
2nd/6:14 PP
Cory Thomas
2nd/10:19
Bryce Misley
2nd/17:06 SH
Matt Alvaro
3rd/18:11 SH
GOALTENDERS
Guelph Vermont
Brendan Cregan (L)
60:00, 37 Saves, 6 GA
Stefanos Lekkas (W)
40:00, 21 Saves, 1 GA

Tyler Harmon
16:45, 9 Saves, 0 GA

Matt Beck
3:15, 2 Saves, 0 GA