VERMONT TOPPLED BY NEW BRUNSWICK IN EXHIBITION, 3-2

Senior defenseman Kyle Medvec picked up two assists for the Catamounts

BURLINGTON, Vt. - New Brunswick scored three third period goals and held off a late Vermont rally to defeat the Catamounts 3-2 at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon.

Freshman Connor Brickley (Everett, Mass.) scored a power-play goal and junior Matt Marshall (Hingham, Mass.) scored at even strength. Both goals came in the final 30 seconds. Junior Rob Madore (Pittsburgh, Pa.) stopped all 18 shots he faced in 40 minutes of play.

"They made us better tonight and there's certainly enough to look at and go over on film before Denver," Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon said. "We told our guys, leave it all out there, don't worry about making mistakes, we have to make mistakes to learn. I think we accomplished that."

Nick MacNeil, Joshua Hepditch and Chris Culligan each scored for the Varsity Reds, who went 27-1 in the regular season last year and improved to 7-0 this season. Hunter Tremblay had a pair of assists and Derek Yeomans stopped 19 of 21 shots.

The game was scoreless through two periods with New Brunswick outshooting Vermont 18-12. The Catamounts held the Varsity Reds to 0-for-5 on the power play in the first 40 minutes.

MacNeil broke the scoreless tie at 5:28 of the third period with a deflection that went past UVM freshman goalie Alex Vazzano (Trumbull, Conn.). Luke Gallant started the play with a blast from the point.

The Varsity Reds opened up a two-goal advantage on a goal by Hepditch at 14:02 before making it 3-0 on a short-handed empty-net goal by Culligan with 70 seconds left.

Brickley put the Catamounts on the board with a slap shot from the right circle that beat Yeomans on the short side with 26 seconds remaining. Freshman Nick Bruneteau (Omaha, Neb.) and senior assistant captain Kyle Medvec (Burnsville, Minn.) both assisted.

Marshall cut the deficit to 3-2 with five seconds to go. Medvec fired a shot from the point that Marshall redirected at the right post for the goal. Freshman Matt White (McMurray, Pa.) also assisted.

"I think we did a lot of things well and I think we did a lot of things not so well," senior captain Kevan Miller (Los Angeles, Calif.) said. "I think we had a good first period, kind of teetered off after that but coach told us to go out there and have some fun, make some mistakes, but make them hard. I think that's what we did. We've got a lot to learn before next week."

Vermont returns to action next weekend with a two-game set against No. 11 Denver on Friday and Saturday at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Both games start at 7:05 p.m.

NOTES: Check back to www.UVMathletics.com for game highlights and postgame comments from Kevin Sneddon and Kevan Miller ... Alex Vazzano made six saves in 11:55 of work while John Vazzano had three stops in 7:43 ... All eight Vermont newcomers made their debuts.