Icecats 4, Vermont 1
Welcome to the Whittemore Center, where the University of New Hampshire hockey team took a 4-1 victory against the University of Vermont in a what was billed as a battle of the top two teams in Hockey East, as well as a meeting of the league's top offense (UNH) and its best defense (UVM).
Kevin Kapstad got the game's first goal, firing rom the left point just after taking a pass from Jerry Pollastrone near the top of the zone. His bullet beat Joe Fallon by the left skate, and incited the crowd to start a "One shot, one goal" chant just 1:28 into the game.
The lead, though, wouldn't last. After killing a 5-on-3 opportunity for UNH, Vermont made the most of its own chance under similar circumstances when Brayden Irwin stuffed a second-chance rebound past Kevin Regan with 11:14 left in the opening stanza.
The second period seemed to be going the way the Catamounts would like, with UNH not generating much in the way of major chances, but the Wildcats struck for the go-ahead goal with just 33.5 seconds left in the stanza. Using the speed he gained steaming through the neutral zone, Mike Radja crashed the zone with the puck, then cut across the net in front of Fallon and fired stick side to give UNH the lead.
Captain Josh Ciocco padded the edge with 8:27 to go, when he carried in to the offensive zone at full speed and fired a fluttering puck through Fallon to increase the cushion to two.
Radja sealed the deal with an empty-netter in the final minute.
More notes to follow later this evening.
GAME NOTES
- Hockey East's two hottest goalies are at opposite ends of the ice today, with Kevin Regan -- who was H.E. goalie of the month -- in net for New Hampshire, and Joe Fallon -- the runner-up for that award -- between the pipes for Vermont.
- UNH enters with a four-point lead in the league standings.
- UNH's 5-on-3 advantage in the first period lasted a fruitless 1:26; UVM's was to last 1:06, but the Catamounts capitalized with five seconds remaining on the initial infraction.
- Vermont outshot UNH, 8-7, in the first period, thanks largely to the nine shots it blocked.
