University of New Hampshire Athletics
University of New Hampshire
15-10-4, 14-5-3HE
Vermont
13-11-5, 7-10-5HE
LEBLANC'S OVERTIME GAME-WINNER LIFTS #13 MEN'S HOCKEY PAST #17 VERMONT, 5-4
2/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
DURHAM, N.H. – Peter LeBlanc (Hamilton,
Ontario) scored at 1:25 of overtime to lift the 13th-ranked
University of New Hampshire men's hockey team to Friday
night's 5-4 victory against the 17th-ranked University of
Vermont in Hockey East action at the Whittemore Center.
UNH, which clinched a playoff berth win a win and can clinch
home-ice in the quarterfinals with a tie or win on Saturday,
improved to 15-10-4 overall, 14-5-3 in Hockey East and 8-0-2 in
league games at the Whittemore Center this season. UVM is now
13-11-5, 7-10-5. UNH captures its third overtime win of the season,
most since the 1999-2000 season.
LeBlanc, who finished with a goal and an assist, was one of five
Wildcats who recorded two points. Bobby Butler
(Marlboro, Mass.) also tallied a goal and an assist while
Stevie Moses (Leominster, Mass.), Mike
Sislo (Superior, Wis.) and Paul Thompson
(Derry, N.H.) had two assists apiece.
UNH goaltender Brian Foster (Pembroke, N.H.)
recorded 39 saves, including 11 in the scoreless third period and
one in overtime. UVM counterpart Rob Madore was credited with 21
saves, one of which came in the extra session.
With the score tied 4-4 at the end of regulation, the Wildcats
created a dangerous scoring chance in the opening minute when
Thompson backhanded a shot at the right doorstep, but
Madore's lunging effort kept the game deadlocked.
UNH then generated a rush in which LeBlanc's initial shot
from the slot was blocked. The puck caromed back to the slot and a
shot from Blake Kessel (Verona, Wis.) was also
blocked in front by a defenseman. LeBlanc corralled the puck at the
left doorstep and lifted a shot into the net to end the game.
Moses, who carried the puck into the zone and dropped the puck to
LeBlanc, was also credited with an assist.
Both teams netted a pair of first-period goals. UNH took a 1-0
lead just 26 seconds into the game when Butler intercepted a pass
at the right point to keep the puck in the offensive zone and he
found Paul Thompson (Derry, N.H.) on the left
wing. Thompson's centering pass deflected off Butler's
skate to Phil DeSimone (East Amherst, N.Y.) at the
right doorstep and he fired a shot into the net.
UVM leveled the score, 1-1, with a power-play goal at 3:01. Kyle
Medvec initiated the scoring sequence with a pass from the left
point to Dan Lawson at the opposite point. Lawson moved the puck to
Brayden Irwin in the high slot and his shot sailed inside the right
post.
New Hampshire responded with a power-play goal at 4:37 to regain
the lead, 2-1. Moses, positioned at the left doorstep, corralled a
pass from Sislo and slipped the puck to the slot, where
Matt Campanale (Chester Springs, Pa.) blasted a
low shot into the cage.
The Catamounts pulled even once again at 6:46. From the right
corner, Tobias Nilsson-Roos moved the puck to Brian Roloff at the
right half-boards. Roloff quickly sent a pass across the slot to an
unmarked Patrick Cullity and he shoveled the puck into the open
left side.
Both teams also scored two goals in the second period to move the
score to 4-4. UNH took its third lead of the game at 2:24 when
Nick Krates (Palos Park, Ill.) wristed a shot from
the left circle into the upper-left corner of the net. Sislo, with
the pass from the high slot to Krates, and LeBlanc set up the
tally.
UVM forced the third tie of the game, 3-3, at 9:02. Foster stopped
Drew Mackenzie's initial shot as well as Medvec's
attempt off the rebound, but Jonathan Higgins corralled that
rebound in the slot and lifted a shot inside the right post.
New Hampshire went ahead yet again on Butler's goal –
a 4-on-4 tally -- at 12:05. Damon Kipp (Salmon
Arm, British Columbia) carried the puck on the right wing and
centered the puck to Thompson. Madore knocked down that shot but
Butler controlled the rebound at the top of the crease before
depositing the puck in the net.
The Catamounts drew even, 4-4, at 16:45. Irwin carried the puck
down the slot and swung a pass to Sebastian Stalberg at the left
doorstep. Stalberg then sent a pass across the slot and Colin Vock
redirected the puck into the open right side of the net.
New Hampshire and Vermont conclude the two-game weekend series
Feb. 20 (7 p.m.) at the Whittemore Center.
