ORONO, Maine — Brady Shaw’s power-play goal in the second period proved to be the game-winner in Vermont’s 4-1 victory over Maine at Alfond Arena Saturday night, sweeping the weekend series.
The goal came after Maine’s Cedric Lacroix was given a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for a hit to the head. Black Bears’ goaltender Sean Romeo made the initial save on a Rob Hamilton shot, but Shaw knocked home the rebound for the 2-1 UVM lead.
Mario Puskarich opened up the scoring for the Catamounts 6:48 into the first period.
The Black Bears answered a minute later courtesy of a Steven Swavely goal.
Maine was down 2-1 with seconds left in the second period when Eric Schurhamer connected with Dan Renouf on a pass out front. Renouf’s one-timer beat Catamounts’ goalie Mike Santaguida and would have tied the game, but after review, it was ruled that the clock expired before the puck cleared the goal line.
“I’m so proud of our guys,” said Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon. “This is such a tough place to come into and get a win, let alone a sweep.”
Despite starting the third period shorthanded, Vermont dominated the pace of play. Moments after killing off a Maine power play, UVM’s Jarrid Privitera blasted a one-timer past Romeo. His third goal in three games had the Catamounts up 3-1.
Anthony Petruzzelli swept in an empty-net goal for the 4-1 final, sending the Black Bears to their seventh straight loss.
Maine coach Red Gendron was not pleased with his team’s power-play performance – the Black Bears were 0-for-9 on the weekend with the man-advantage.
“The power play is part of our game that we didn’t execute right, and that’s got to change,” Gendron said.
Santaguida finished with 27 saves in the win, while Romeo stopped 40 shots at the other end.
