The No. 10 University of Vermont Catamounts completed a weekend home-and-home sweep of St. Lawrence with a 2-0 win at Appleton Arena on Saturday. The Saints fell to 8-8-1 with the loss, their fourth straight, but St. Lawrence coach Greg Carvel is not worried about the Saints recent slide.
“I don’t mind the way our team is playing right now,” said Carvel. “We’re playing hard, we’re playing right, and the puck just isn’t going in for us.”
The first period saw seven penalties, including a set of coincidental minors, but no scoring between the two teams that have two of the better offenses in college hockey.
Kevin Irwin had the lone tally of the second period for Vermont. A St. Lawrence turnover at the blue line resulted in Brady Shaw springing Irwin on a partial breakaway. Irwin was able to put the puck past St. Lawrence goalie Kyle Hayton high on the glove side at 14:07 of the middle period.
A late St. Lawrence penalty gave UVM a power play to open the third period, and the Catamounts capitalized on a goal from Irwin. Brady Shaw found himself with the puck above the left faceoff circle, where he fired a one-timer that Irwin tipped past Hayton on the glove side just 1:02 into the final period.
For Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon, the power-play goal was a catalyst for his team. “That was big. You know, we were up 1-0 but I didn’t think we were playing great. The power-play goal was huge.”
The third period saw flurries of scoring chances for both the Saints and the Catamounts, but no scoring. A late power play and empty net was not enough for the Saints to beat UVM goaltender Mike Santaguida, who finished the game with 35 saves for his second shutout of the season. Hayton finished with 27 saves in the loss.
While UVM improved to 13-3-1 on the season, Sneddon thinks his team has the potential to be even better.
“It’s been fun. I don’t think we’ve played our best hockey yet, which is exciting for us,” said Sneddon on his team’s first half.
St. Lawrence captain Gunnar Hughes spoke about St. Lawrence’s recent offensive struggles. The Saints have scored four goals in their last four games, all losses.
“This happens; it’s part of hockey that sometimes the shots don’t go in, but if we keep working hard, they’ll start coming for us,” said Hughes. “I think it was a good first half for us. We gained respect around college hockey.”
