New Hampshire’s high-powered offense was hitting on all cylinders Saturday night in a 10-0 win over Vermont in action at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
Josh Prudden had a goal and two assists and Lanny Gare had a hat trick in the second period for the fourth-ranked Wildcats (1-0-0) while Mike Ayers made 28 saves to pick up the shutout in net.
“That’s a pretty good team,” Vermont coach Mike Gilligan said. “I don’t think they’re nearly as good as we made them tonight. We came out of the locker room beaten. Our guys didn’t feel like they were good enough to beat this team.”
New Hampshire scored three goals in the first period and five more in the second, cruising to the victory over the Catamounts and their freshman goaltender, Travis Russell. Russell, from nearby Essex Junction, Vermont, was getting his first career start, and it wasn’t long before UNH got to him.
New Hampshire jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead with Patrick Foley scoring from the slot just 1:44 into the game. Jim Abbott and Preston Callander assisted on the goal, Foley’s 11th of his career. Foley took a nice pass from Abbott, who was stationed behind the Vermont net, and wrested a shot to the stick side of Russell.
The Wildcats took a 2-0 lead at 14:10 of the first period on Josh Prudden’s goal after a Vermont giveaway past Russell. New Hampshire then added to its lead with Justin Aikins’ power-play goal at 15:17 after a tic-tac-toe passing play with Kevin Truelson and Tyson Teplitsky.
New Hampshire made it 4-0 at the 2:40 mark of the second period when Gare ripped a wrist shot from the slot that beat Russell cleanly. The goal, Gare’s 27th in his career, was unassisted.
UNH poured it on late in the second, with goals by Foley, his second of the night, and Gare, also his second. Sean Collins scored his first of the season on the power play at 17:23 to make it 8-0 Wildcats.
New Hampshire scored two quick goals in the third period, from Nathan Martz and Jim Abbott, to make for the final margin.
Russell had 15 saves and allowed six goals for the Catamounts (0-1-1) before classmate Matt Hanson relieved him late in the second period. Hanson had four saves for Vermont.
