BURLINGTON, Vt. - Six different skaters scored for Vermont and Gabe Carriere made 12 saves to pick up his first shutout of the season as the Catamounts defeated Holy Cross 6-0 Saturday night on Little Caesars Night and Alumni Night. With the win, the Catamounts improved to 1-4-0 this season while the Crusaders fell to 1-5-0.
COACH'S QUOTE
"The coaching staff is very proud of the way the team played a complete sixty minutes today," Head Coach Todd Woodcroft said. "From the goaltending out, our game felt positive tonight. This was a good step for us - our specialty teams, our face offs, getting contributions from all players - this was an earned win. We took the last nine practices to prepare to play our version of "the right way" - the challenge will be to continue to compete like we did today. This was a positive step for the Catamounts and we are pleased with the result."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Catamounts were shorthanded seven seconds into the contest but successfully killed off the Holy Cross advantage without giving up a shot. In transition after the kill Will Zapernick opened the scoring ripping a wrist shot past Holy Cross' Jason Grande.
- Joel Määttä doubled the Catamounts advantage at the 8:39 mark of the opening frame. Jacques Bouqout fired a shot towards the net in traffic that hit a Holy Cross defenders skate and sat in the slot in front of Grande. Määttä took advantage of the opportunity, skated in and slotted home his first goal of the season. Isak Walther also earned an assist on the goal.
- Jens Richards struck 3:29 into the second period to make it 3-0. On a two-on-two rush, Finn Evans fed a cross-ice pass to Richards and Richards beat Grande just under his arm for his first career collegiate goal.
- Porter Schachle put the game out of reach 1:27 into the third period. Carter Long found Schachle with a well-placed clearing attempt. The puck bounced into the Holy Cross zone and Schachle was first to the puck between two defenders. With his first touch, he ripped it under the bar for his second goal of the season.
- With 5:57 left in the action Timofei Spitserov scored his first goal of the season on the power play for the Catamounts. Spitserov was alone in the slot and gave his stick as a target for Robbie Stucker at the point. Stucker played a perfect shot-pass to Spitserov and he redirected it past Grande. Luca Münzenberger earned the secondary assist on the tally.
- Carter Long closed out the scoring for Vermont with 1:52 left in regulation. A rebound came out to Long at the point and he fired a shot through traffic that found the back of the net. Määttä and Bouquot earned their second points of the night with assists on the goal.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Gabe Carriere earned his fourth career shutout Saturday night.
- Tonight, was the Catamounts first six-goal game since defeating UMass Lowell 6-3 on January 20, 2018.
- With tonight's 6-0 win, Community Bank N.A. will donate $450 to Special Olympics Vermont. Community Bank, N.A. donates $75 per goal to Special Olympics Vermont for every goal the men's and women's team scores this season.
- With tonight's win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to COTS, the Committee on Temporary Shelter, as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since the campaigns inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $72,000 to local non-profits.
UP NEXT
The Catamounts are back in action next weekend as they travel to face Colgate in non-conference action in Hamilton, N.Y. The teams will square off at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 28 and 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 29. The games will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The radio voice of the Catamounts Adam LaFleur will have the call on WVMT as well.
