AMHERST, Mass. - Jens Richards picked up his first career hat trick and Jérémie Bucheler added two more goals as the Catamounts scored six unanswered goals Saturday night to defeat #14 UMass 6-2 in Hockey East action from the Mullins Center. With the win, the Catamounts improved to 3-4-1 overall and 2-3-1 in league play.
COACH'S QUOTE
"All the credit goes to the young men that pulled on the green and gold sweater tonight," Head Coach Steve Wiedler said. "The resiliency they've shown warrants a ton of recognition from our staff. Work ethic, positive body language, putting the program above the individual are non-negotiables' in our program and they brought that tonight against a very good UMass team. Proud of this group."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Catamounts had the first great chance of the night. Richards applied pressure at the UMass blue line and forced a turnover that led to a clear breakaway for the sophomore forward. Richards looked to go five-hole but was turned aside by UMass' Michael Hrabal 4:35 into the first frame.
- The Minutemen opened the scoring with 5:21 to play in the opening frame. Owen Murray one-timed a cross-ice feed wide of the UVM net but the puck caromed off the end boards right to Aydar Suniev who tapped it home into a half-empty net with Vermont's Gabe Carriere having no chance.
- UMass doubled its advantage with 1:20 left in the first period on the power play. UVM was able to kill off 38 seconds of a five-on-three but UMass capitalized shortly after. Dans Locmelis put home the rebound off a Murray point shot for his second goal of the season.
- Vermont got one back on its own power play with 14 seconds left in the first period. Bucheler fired from the point and Will Zapernick deflected the puck in front of Hrabal. Hrabal made the initial save but UVM's Joel Määttä was parked at the top of the crease and poked it home for his first goal of the season.
- Bucheler tied things up for Vermont 3:48 into the second frame. On a three-on-three rush the Catamounts spaced their attack perfectly. Timofei Spitserov fed Nick Ahern with a cross-ice feed and then Ahern feathered a feed to Bucheler to send him alone on Hrabal. Bucheler tucked it five-hole for his first goal as a Catamount.
- Just 1:32 later the Catamounts took the lead with Richards finding the back of the net, again in transition. Philip Törnqvist fed the puck to Richards and he used a UMass defender as a screen and ripped a wrist shot past Hrabal for his second of the season. Bucheler earned the secondary assist on the tally.
- Bucheler struck again for Vermont to make it a two-goal lead with 9:12 to play in the middle frame. Määttä cut to the middle in the UMass zone and dropped a pass to Bucheler. With a set of traffic in front he beat Hrabal under his arm for his second goal of the night. Törnqvist earned the secondary assist on the tally.
- Richards picked up his second of the night shorthanded at the 6:32 mark of the third period. Richards pressured a UMass forward in the neutral zone and the forward attempted a drop pass that Richards took advantage of. Richards took the puck and split the UMass defense to skate in alone on Cole Brady. Richards fired it just under the bar for UVM's first shorthanded tally of the season.
- Richards completed the hat trick with an empty-netter with 1:50 left in regulation to seal the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Jens Richards posted the first hat trick by a Catamount since 2018. On January 20, 2018 Liam Coughlin notched three at the Gut as UVM defeated UMass Lowell 6-3.
- Tonight, was Jérémie Bucheler's 117th collegiate game, before tonight he had never posted a multi-point or multi-goal game. Tonight in 11:02 of game action he had two goals and two assists. He added a fifth point in the third period.
- Bucheler's five points this evening matched the program record for points in a game by a defenseman. Prior to tonight's contest it had happened three times. The last Catamount to do so was Ted Yeates '72 on Feb. 12, 1972 against UConn in a 16-2 UVM win.
- The Catamounts snapped UMass' 13-game unbeaten streak against Vermont with tonight's win. Vermont's last win in the series before tonight was on March 2, 2018 in the Hockey East Opening Round. The Catamounts defeated UMass 4-3 12 seconds into overtime of game two of the series with Cory Thomas' first career collegiate goal.
- First year forward Nick Ahern made his collegiate debut Saturday night and picked up his first collegiate point with an assist.
- With tonight's 6-2 decision, 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 the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to King Street Center as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $80,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.
UP NEXT
The Catamounts will return to Western Massachusetts next weekend as they travel to Springfield to face AIC on Saturday night. Head Coach Steve Wiedler will face the team he helped coach from 2015-2020 at 7 p.m. from the MassMutual Center. The game will be broadcast on FloHockey. As always, the game will also be broadcast live on WVMT with the voice of the Catamounts Adam Lafleur in the Handy Toyota Broadcast Booth.
