BURLINGTON, Vt. - Vermont scored three goals in the opening 7:13 Saturday night and never looked back in a 4-1 win over St. Thomas which marked the Catamounts fifth straight on Youth Night presented by Healthy Living. With the win, the Catamounts improved to 9-7-1 overall and the Tommies fell to 9-10-1.
COACH'S QUOTE
"Great effort from our guys tonight," Head Coach Steve Wiedler said. "We won the special teams battle today and often that is a key to victory at this level. There were stretches where St. Thomas put the pressure on, but Gabe weathered the storm for us. He was a difference maker tonight as he has been all year."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Vermont opened the scoring just 26 seconds into the contest Saturday night. A Tommies forward was looking to exit the zone but along the boards Dawson Good tapped the puck away and then Ralfs Bergmanis attempted to dump it back in the corner. The puck caromed off a Tommies defender and fell in the slot. Mateo Dixon was in the perfect spot and took advantage. He faked a shot and beat a St. Thomas defender before going backhand to forehand and sliding it home for his second goal of the year.
- At the 5:12 mark of the first period Timofei Spitserov doubled the Catamounts advantage. From below the goalline Bergmanis fed Spitserov in the slot for a one-timer that beat the Tommies Jake Sibell just under the bar. Spitserov's fourth goal of the year was also assisted by Jérémie Bucheler.
- On a four-on-three power play UVM extended its advantage to three goals. Bergmanis picked up his third primary assist of the night setting up Will Zapernick for his third goal of the year. Simon Jellus fed Bergmanis for a one-timer but instead he slap-passed across the ice to Zapernick who had a wide-open net to make it 3-0 at the 7:13 mark of the frame.
- Late in the first period the Tommies had 91 seconds of five-on-three play to cut into the Vermont lead. The Catamounts held St. Thomas to just two shots on goal, both saved by Gabe Carriere to keep their momentum. On the power play Xavier Henry picked up two blocked shots.
- 2:50 into the second period UVM's offensive onslaught continued as Thomas Sinclair put in his second goal of the year. Good knocked the puck off of a Tommies forward and Sinclair carried the puck from the neutral zone to the top of the circle before firing a shot off the post and in.
- The Tommies got one back 5:14 into the third period. Luc Laylin scored his fourth goal of the season on a broken play in front of Carriere. Matthew Gleason earned the assist on the goal.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Vermont has scored 14 goals in its last three games for the first time since Dec. 30-Jan. 3 of the 2016-17 campaign. The Catamounts current five-game win streak is also its first since the 2016-17 campaign.
- The Catamounts scored nine goals this weekend, from nine different goal scorers.
- In his last 10 games graduate defenseman Jérémie Bucheler has six goals and seven assists for 13 points. The 13 points have set a new career-high for Bucheler in a single season.
- Ralfs Bergmanis notched his first career multi-point game Saturday with three assists.
- With tonight's 4-1 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.
- 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 close out their non-conference schedule next Saturday, January 6 as they travel down I-89 to face Dartmouth at 6 p.m. Saturday's contest will air on ESPN+ as a part of the ECAC package. As always, Adam Lafleur will call the action on WVMT from the Handy Toyota Broadcast Booth. Following the contest with the Big Green the Catamounts will dive back into Hockey East play with 16 games in 56 days.
