BURLINGTON, Vt. - Union scored three second period goals to come from behind Friday night and defeat Vermont 5-4 in non-conference action from Gutterson Fieldhouse. With the win, the Garnet Chargers improved to 8-7-0 while Vermont fell to 4-7-1 overall. Friday night was the Catamounts annual Teddy Bear Toss presented by TD Bank.
COACH'S QUOTE
"Our maturity as a program needs to go up," Head Coach Steve Wiedler said. "In our barn, up two, our group will learn these lessons to take a step as a program. That's on me. Tomorrow the lineup will reflect the buy in and work ethic that this program deserves. That's also on me."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Luca Münzenberger opened the scoring for the Catamounts 50 seconds into the contest. Jens Richards cut into the Union zone and circled behind the net, his centering feed went through the slot to Münzenberger. He wired a wrist shot just under the bar for his first career goal. Ryan Miotto also earned an assist on the tally.
- At the 8:06 mark of the first the Catamounts doubled their lead with another goal from their blueline. Ralfs Bergmanis notched his first career goal with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle. Eli Barnett and Will Zapernick assisted on the even strength tally.
- The Garnet Chargers got one back at the 12:25 mark of the opening frame. UVM's Gabe Carriere made two initial saves but a third rebound was batted home by Carter Korpi. Korpi's sixth goal of the year was assisted by Jacob Jeannette and John Prokop.
- 2:30 later the Catamounts pushed it back to a two-goal cushion with yet another goal from their defenseman. This time Philip Törnqvist found the back of the net with a wicked wrist shot just inside the post. Barnett and Thomas Sinclair assisted on Törnqvist's second goal of the season. Union pulled their starter Kyle Chauvette following UVM's third goal.
- Union tied the contest with two goals 1:23 apart in the second period. Ethan Benz scored an even strength tally and Josh Nixon struck on the power play for the Garnet Chargers to make it 3-3 with 13:17 to play in the middle frame.
- Ben Tupkers fourth goal of the season gave Union its first lead of the contest with a minute left in the second period. Again, Carriere made an initial save on Jacob Jeannette but Tupkers was right in front to jam it home for his fourth goal of the year.
- The Garnet Chargers added an insurance marker 6:53 into the third period. Ville Immonen took a feed from Tyler Watkins as he cut into the slot. He quickly fired a shot under the bar and past Carriere for his fourth goal of the season.
- With 7:13 to play Jérémie Bucheler cut the Union lead in half. Richards fed a cross-ice pass to Nick Ahern at the top of the circle. Ahern gathered the puck and laid off to Bucheler as he cut to the net before unleashing a one-timer past Union's Joe Sharib.
- The Garnet Chargers blocked every shot in front of Sharib in the final moments of the contest to seal his first career win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Jens Richards was named the games' Third Star with two assists.
- First Year defenseman Eli Barnett earned his first career points with two assists tonight.
- Tonight, was the first time this season Vermont's defenseman have scored three goals in a game. It was the first time since Nov. 25, 2022 the Cats have had three goals from their blueline. In that instance Eric Gotz, Robbie Stucker and Carter Long scored in what was a 4-3 OT win over RPI.
- With tonight's 5-4 decision, Community Bank N.A. will donate $300 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.
UP NEXT
The two former ECAC rivals will face off again at 7 p.m. Saturday for First Responders Night, all first responders receive a free ticket with a valid form of employment ID. Saturday's contest will air live on ESPN+ with Rob Ryan on the call. As always, Adam Lafleur will call the action on WVMT from the Handy Toyota Broadcast Booth.
