Men’s Hockey: Big Third Period Sends UNH Past Vermont

Posted on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

DURHAM, NH. — New Hampshire broke a 2-2 deadlock in the third period and came out with a 6-3 win over Vermont in the 118th meeting between the schools Friday night at the Whittemore Center.

COACH’S QUOTE
I thought it was a really good college hockey game until the third period,” said head coach Kevin Sneddon. “We had a little bit of a push to come back there at 5-3 and some looks when we had the goalie pulled, but credit to UNH, they capitalized on the mistakes we made in the third period and certainly deserved to win.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
UNH sophomore Joseph Cipollone put the Wildcats ahead at 3:11 of the first period after a net-front scramble. The play continued for 2:48 before a video review ruled the play a good goal. Lucas Herrmann assisted on the tally.
Max Kaufman tied the game at 10:26 of the first period, picking up a pass from Derek Lodermeier in the low slot and rifling a shot under UNH goalie Mike Robinson.
Wildcat junior Benton Maass broke the deadlock at 12:43 of the first, picking up a rebound at the right faceoff dot before roofing a shot over Stefanos Lekkas’ blocker.
William Lemay tied the game at 2-2 at 19:07 of the second period. Alex Esposito won a battle below the goal line and found Matt Alvaro in the slot. Alvaro hit Lemay on the backdoor with a smooth backhand pass for the tap-in.
Angus Crookshank gave the Wildcats a 3-2 lead at 5:40 of the third period, fighting through the Catamount defense and forcing the puck through Lekkas.
Patrick Grasso made it 4-2 at 7:15 of the frame on the power play. He received a pass at the top of the right circle and wired a shot to the low left corner. Vermont looked to challenge the play for goaltender interference but could not due to the technical difficulties at the Whittemore Center.
Maass tallied his second of the night at 13:14 of the third as a Vermont penalty expired, firing a quick shot through traffic from the slot.
Andrew Lucas scored a beautiful backhand goal at 14:59 of the third to cut into the Wildcat lead. Lucas carried the puck down the left wing and roofed a short-side shot over Robinson’s shoulder. Lemay and Alvaro assisted on the goal.
Filip Engaras added an empty net goal with 16 seconds remaining to push the final to 6-3.

GAME NOTES
New Hampshire was 1-for-5 on the power play while Vermont finished the night 0-for-3.
Vermont was 36-for-61 at the faceoff dot. Bryce Misley led UVM with a 9-for-13 effort and Matt Alvaro followed with an 8-for-13 performance.
The technical difficulties at the Whittemore Center prevented the game from airing on NESNplus.

UP NEXT
Vermont closes the season series with New Hampshire tomorrow night at the Whittemore Center. The game is slated to begin at 7:05 p.m. and will broadcast on NESNPlus.