Senior co-captain Brian Roloff scored two power-play goals in the final minutes of the game and sophomore goalie Rob Madore made 21 saves to earn the shutout as Vermont dominated St. Lawrence 3-0 Saturday Night at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
Junior Josh Burrows also scored for the Catamounts, scoring the only other goal of the game.
“I thought it was our first complete game of the season where we were very good in the net, we were very good in our own zone, we moved the puck well, we skated great,” Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon said. “I thought we used our speed very effectively; our transition game was very good. I thought we kept them back on their heels quite a bit and they’re a great skating team as well, so it was a great challenge for us; offensive zone pressure and cycling was great and special teams.”
“I thought we played really well; the thing is that the mistakes we did make were costly,” St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh said. “I was happy with the effort, the energy, all four lines played really hard. It was a good, fast game; it was one of the better games we’ve played in all honesty.”
The game started slowly for both teams as the opening period was scoreless until the final minute when the Catamounts took a 1-0 lead at 19:02. Burrows put the puck past senior goalie Kain Tisi, scoring his second goal of the season, assisted by senior Colin Vock and freshman David Pacan.
“It was just a great change of lanes there down low,” Burrows said. “Pacan found me on the weak side and I just got it through.”
Vermont held onto their one-goal advantage through the second period, as neither team was able to score again until the third.
Vermont had a power-play opportunity late in the second when Saints’ senior Jeremiah Cunningham went to the box for interference at 18:08. Despite the chance to repeat the last minute scoring of the first period, the Catamounts were unable to score, keeping the game at 1-0.
In the final twenty minutes, Roloff came alive for the Catamounts, scoring the first of his two power-play goals at 15:00 from just outside the right circle and increased UVM’s lead to 2-0.
Roloff scored his second power-play goal, and the final goal of the game, just minutes later when St. Lawrence pulled Tisi from the net for an extra attacker while Vermont was on a four-on-three. Roloff found the back of the empty net at 19:46, completing the 3-0 victory for Vermont.
Tisi had 29 saves in the game.
“He, (Madore) made some quietly effective saves tonight, especially with his rebound placement which allowed our defensemen to transition the puck quickly on the breakout,” Sneddon said. “I thought he played excellent tonight.”
Pleased with his team’s effort, Marsh said that the Saints could also take a lot from the loss.
“With a loss, it tends to highlight the things that need to be highlighted; sometimes winning masks those things,” Marsh said. “Philosophically you want to win obviously, but you can take a lot out of a loss if you play well.”
“I thought Joe’s team played hard; obviously a one-goal game going late there so it was a good hockey game,” added Sneddon.
This game marked the 84th meeting of the two teams, who each won one game out of the two that they played against each other last season.
