The 11th-ranked Catamounts skated to a 3-3 tie against No. 9 Providence at Schneider Arena in front of a sellout crowd of 3,030 at Schneider Arena. Vermont picked up a win and a tie on the weekend against the Friars to earn three road points and improve to 17-8-3 overall and 9-7-3 in Hockey East action. Providence is now 14-10-2 on the season and 11-6-2 in the conference.
“I looked around the locker room and I could see guys upset we didn’t take all four points this weekend,” Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon said. “That’s a sign of a great team. We’re pleased, but not satisfied.
“Our penalty killers were great all weekend. Those guys deserve a lot of credit, blocking shots. We used a lot of guys (killing penalties) so it was a team effort.”
Vermont, the least-penalized team in the country, was whistled for a season high 14 penalties for 36 minutes but managed to hold Providence to 1-for-9 on the power play. However, the one power-play goal came with 59 seconds left in the game as sophomore Jon Rheault scored his 12th goal of the year for the Friars to tie the game at 3-3.
Vermont scored the first goal of the game at 8:58 of the first period when sophomore Torrey Mitchell notched his 10th goal of the year. Senior captain Jamie Sifers and freshman Peter Lenes each set up the score that came on the power play.
Providence would answer with two straight goals in the opening period as freshman Nick Mazzolini and freshman Kyle Laughlin each scored to give the Friars a 2-1 lead after the first 20 minutes.
Vermont senior assistant captain Brady Leisenring tied the game at 2-2 with his 11th goal of the year just one minute into the second period. Junior Ryan Gunderson picked up an assist on the play. The goal was Leisenring’s fourth of the season on the power play and the 46th overall in his career.
The Catamounts took a 3-2 lead with less than five minutes left in the game on a goal from junior Chris Myers. Mitchell and senior Jeff Corey both assisted on the score.
Then, with just 51 seconds to go, Rheault’s goal tied the game 3-3 and forced overtime. Providence managed three shots in overtime while Vermont did not record a shot on net, and neither team managed to break the tie.
UVM sophomore goalie Joe Fallon saved 25 shots and PC freshman Stephen Ritter made 19 saves for the Friars.
