BURLINGTON, Vt. - Jacob Drewiske's goal with just 3:57 remaining in regulation proved to be the game-winner as St. Lawrence came back to beat Vermont 2-1 on Saturday night in non-conference action at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Catamounts fell to 3-12-1 (1-9-1 HEA) with the loss, while the Saints won their second straight and improved to 7-10-0 (4-5-0 ECAC). It marked the final game for UVM before the holiday break.
"I thought it was kind of an ugly hockey game. It looked like two teams were coming out of exams and trying to find their way and it really came down to that last shot with under four minutes to go. That was a heartbreaker for us," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "I don't think either team played extremely well but I give a lot of credit to the student-athletes on both sides. It's a tough circumstance to be off most of the week and I thought that came out in the game."
The Catamounts thought they had taken the lead roughly 30 seconds into the second period as Colin Markison stick-handled down the left wing side on his backhand. Markison sent a cross-crease pass to Sebastian Stalberg for a one-timer which was saved by Robby Moss, but the puck deflected off Moss into the goal as he fell to the ground. After a lengthy review, it was ruled that the whistle blew before the puck crossed the goal line and it stayed scoreless.
Early in the third period, Chris Martin (high sticking) and Justin Baker (tripping) were each called for minor penalties in the span of 13 seconds to give Vermont a 5-on-3 power play for 1:47. The Catamounts moved the puck around patiently as Drew MacKenzie found Stalberg at the bottom of the left faceoff circle. Stalberg made the final pass across the slot to Nick Bruneteau, who roofed a snap shot past Moss for the game's first goal. It was Bruneteau's first goal of the season and the second of his career.
St. Lawrence tied the game less than five minutes later as Jeremy Wick collected the puck in the left wing corner. The sophomore centered a pass into the high slot for Jordan Dewey, who fired a high slap shot into the right side of the net. Rob Madore was knocked down on the play and couldn't reach back up to get a piece of the shot. Wick and Mark Armstrong tallied the assists on the game-tying goal for the Saints.
SLU took its first lead of the night with less than four minutes remaining in the game as Drewiske powered his way down the left wing. The senior poked the puck past a UVM defenseman and skated toward the outside hash mark of the left circle. He tucked a slap shot into the upper left corner to beat Madore high blocker side to give St. Lawrence a 2-1 advantage. The Saints held on late with Madore pulled for an extra skater to preserve the win.
The Catamounts break for the holidays before playing the Russian Red Stars in an exhibition game on Dec. 27 at 7:05 p.m. Live video is available for free on CatamounTV at UVMathletics.com, and Alastair Ingram has the call on WVMT 620-AM and online at SportsJuice.com beginning at 6:30 p.m. Vermont then hosts the annual Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup as it faces 16th-ranked Lake Superior State on Dec. 29 and No. 10 Ferris State on Dec. 30. Both contests begin at 7:05 p.m. and will be televised on WCAXtra.
NOTES: Check back to UVMathletics.com for CatamounTV highlights and post-game comments ... With his third save of the game, Rob Madore passed Joe Fallon '08 (2,907 saves) for second place on the all-time career saves list at UVM and now trails only Tim Thomas '97 (3,950 saves) ... Connor Brickley missed the game due to his participation in the USA Hockey World Junior Championship camp in Alberta, which began on Saturday ... Blake Doerring skated as a forward for the first time this season ... St. Lawrence is Vermont's second-longest standing rival in men's hockey, behind only New Hampshire ... The Catamounts and Saints met for the 86th time in the all-time series on Saturday ... St. Lawrence outshot Vermont 28-25, marking just the second time in the last nine games that UVM has had less shots than its opponent.