University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Vermont
UConn Takes on Vermont Friday Night at XL Center
2/28/2019 12:43:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
TV Coverage: CW20 | Joe D'Ambrosio, Mark Bailey
Radio Coverage: UConn Sports Network from Learfield IMG College - 97.9 ESPN Hartford | WILI 1400 AM and 95.3 FM | Bob Joyce (pxp) Adam Giardino (color)
Audio - TuneIn.com
Video - Huskies All-Access
Live Stats - UConnHuskies.com
Ice Chips
- UConn is back at home at the XL Center on Friday night to take on the Vermont Catamounts. The final two home games of the season will be available across the state on Connecticut cable station CW20.
- The Huskies and Catamounts split their first two meetings this season up in Burlington back at the beginning in November. UConn posted a 1-0 shutout on night one but saw UVM tie the game late in the third and win in with less than a second left in overtime, 2-1, on night two. Since joining Hockey East in 2014-15, the Huskies are 5-8-0 against the Catamounts.
- The Huskies are coming off a 5-2 loss at the hands of the No. 8 ranked Providence Friars at home on Tuesday night. UConn went into the third period tied up with Providence, 2-2, but the Friars put three on the board over the final 20 minutes and got a hat trick from junior Josh Wilkins to pull away with the win. UConn got goals from freshmen Jonny Evans and Kale Howarth.
- Tuesday night's loss snapped UConn's three-game winning streak at home in the XL Center, where the Huskies are 5-6-2 this season. UConn has one home game left, next Friday night, March 8, when they host nationally ranked UMass on "Senior Night".
- UConn heads into this weekend tied with Vermont for ninth in the Hockey East standings, both with 12 points. Both the Huskies and Catamounts along with Merrimack have been eliminated from contention for the Hockey East playoffs this season.
- Freshman goaltender Tomas Vomacka's last five starts have produced a 3-2-0 record with a 1.60 goals against average and a .946 save percentage during that stretch. On the season, Vomacka has a 2.38 goals against average and a .917 save percentage in 13 games.
- Freshman Jachym Kondelik is among the league's top-rookie point producers with 25 points on four goals and 21 assists. He is third in Hockey East in freshmen scoring.
- In the UConn freshman record book, Kondelik's 25 points currently rank eighth during the Division I era (1998-present) and 15th overall. His 21 assists is tied for second on the rookie DI list and tied for fourth all-time.
- Freshmen Ruslan Iskhakov and Jonny Evans have seen a jump in their offense late in the season. Iskhakov went 10 games without a point but has three goals and six assists in his last seven games. Evans put up a career-best four points on two goals and two assists in the win over Merrimack and since returning to the lineup (missed 12 games/inj.) he has eight points (3g/5a) in his last seven outings.
This Season vs. Vermont
November 2, 2018
Junior goaltender Adam Huska turned away all 39 Vermont shots as the Huskies came away with a 1-0 win over the Catamounts in their first meeting this season. After a scoreless first period where UConn put 15 shots on Vermont goaltender Stefanos Lekkas, the Huskies finally broke through in the second as Karl El-Mir hit a one-timer on the power play for the game's only score. Huska got better as the game went on, stopping 10 in the first, 15 in the second and 17 in the final period. The UConn penalty kill chipped in as well, killing off a full two minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage for UVM in the third. Lekkas finished the night with 30 stops in taking the loss.
November 3, 2018
The Huskies fell to the Catamounts in overtime, 2-1, to close out the Hockey East weekend series. The Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the first period as junior Alexander Payusov scored off a feed from senior Karl El-Mir and freshman Jachym Kondelik. UConn led 1-0 for 59:48 before Vermont's Liam Coughlin ended their bid for a second-straight shutout win by tying the game. The tying goal came just 22 seconds after the apparent tying goal was overturned on review for UVM having too many men on the ice. The Huskies had a few good looks in the opening minute of overtime but UVM's Lekkas stood tall and with just 0.5 seconds left, Vermont sophomore Ace Cowans scored the game-winning goal to deal the loss to the Huskies. UConn freshman Tomas Vomacka made 28 saves in taking the loss while Lekkas finished with 36 saves in the win. Both teams failed to score on the power play.
Scouting the Catamounts
Vermont is come in having lost four-straight after weekend sweeps at the hands of Northeastern and Boston University the last two weekends. The Catamounts are 12-18-2 overall and 5-15-2 in the league leaving them tied with UConn for ninth place with 12 points. Sophomore Max Kaufman leads the team in points with 19 on eight goals and 11 assists. Freshman Joey Cipollone leads the team in goal scoring with nine while junior Derek Lodermeier leads the squad in assists with 12 helpers this season. UVM junior netminder Stefanos Lekkas comes first in the league with a .932 save percentage while his 2.20 goals against average leaves him fourth among all Hockey East goaltenders. The Catamounts are second in the league on the penalty kill with an .867 PK percentage.
