Matt Fornataro recorded a goal and an assist while Brian Foster made 31 saves to propel the No. 6 UNH Wildcats to 4-2 win over No. 4 Colorado College, earning a sweep on the weekend in front of 6,501 fans at the Whittemore Center.
Following a scoreless first period, both teams netted a power-play goal in the middle stanza. UNH struck first at 2:50 on a goal by Fornataro, who has scored a goal in all three games this season.
On the sequence, Brad Flaishans initial shot from the left point sailed wide of the near post. The puck caromed off the boards to the side of the net, where James vanRiemsdyk used a skate to redirect the puck past Bachman to the top of the crease, where an unmarked Fornataro tapped it into the open net.
CC tied the score on a 5-on-3 power-play at 13:10. Andreas Vlassopoulos moved the puck from deep in the right circle up top to Chad Rau, who made a crossing pass to Jack Hillen. His shot from the high slot was redirected in front by Bill Sweatt.
One of UNH’s best scoring opportunities in the opening stanza came on the first shift of the game, when vanRiemsdyk skated along the left boards and floated a centering pass that Fornataro redirected in mid-air on Bachman.
With the Wildcats shorthanded midway through the period, Bobby Butler charged into the slot and fired a shot wide of the left post. At the other end of the ice, Foster stymied the Tigers when he stopped Brian Connelly from the slot and Scott McCulloch off the rebound with a right leg pad save. CC maintained possession and Rau’s wrist shot from the slot was snared by Foster’s glove.
In the closing minutes of the first period, a UNH flurry of shots ended with Bachman stopping LeBlanc on a close-range shot in front.
With the score tied 1-1 entering the third period, the Wildcats netted their second power-play tally of the night, this time with a two-skater advantage, when at 4:33, when Brad Flaishans fired a shot through traffic from the slot. Craig Switzer and Fornataro were credited with assists.
CC tied the game at 2 at 9:52 with their second power-play goal of the game. Vlassopoulos initiated the sequence with a pass off the right hashmarks to Hillen in the high slot. Hillen’s shot was stopped by Foster, but McCulloch scored from the top of the crease.
Paul Thompson scored his first career goal 16 seconds later when he one-timed Danny Dries’ pass from the right post to the slot. It was Dries’ first career point.
CC pulled goaltender Richard Bachman with 30 seconds remaining and immediately tested Foster, who recorded his first career win vs. a nationally-ranked team.
Peter LeBlanc added an empty net tally with seven seconds to play.
