Vermont Holds on for 2-1 Win at Providence

PROVIDENCE, RI -- The final few seconds of the game felt more like a basketball game with penalties, timeouts and reviews, but Vermont held on for a 2-1 win over Providence to earn a split of the weekend series.

The final few seconds of the game took seemingly forever due to penalties, net off the mooring and reviews. The Catamounts battled through it all and withstood the Friars charge by blocking shots and doing whatever it took for the win.

"The end says it all. Guys blocking shots and doing what it takes to get the win," said UVM head coach Kevin Sneddon. "That was a good team effort from the net out."

It was an important win for a Vermont team that got shutout, 3-0, last night in the series opener. Saturday's result, albeit early in the season, shows that UVM can compete with anyone even on the road.

"It's still young in the season, but for us to learn that there's going to games that are really tight checking and physical battles, that was a playoff game," commented Sneddon. "Our response, our resiliency, our character tonight was at its highest."

Malcolm McKinney stakes the visitors to a 1-0 lead 11:46 into the first period as he won a battle for a loose puck in front of the Providence cage. He swept the puck in off Providence goaltender Jon Gillies' pad after fighting off a PC defender.

The Catamounts extended their lead to 2-0 with 1:22 to play in the opening from after capitalizing on a failed clearing attempt. Jake Fallon picked off an errant pass and fed the puck down to Brendan Bradley at the right circle. From there Bradley quickly whistled a puck across the slot to Mario Puskarich who buried it into the back of the net.

Trevor Mingoia's power play goal at the 14:55 mark cut the Vermont lead in half. The Friars only needed nine seconds to capitalize on the man advantage as Nick Saracino set up Jake Walman at the point for a one-timer. Mingoia got his stick on the blast to tip it past Vermont goaltender Mike Santaguida.

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Jeff Cox covers college, junior and high school hockey, NCAA recruiting and NHL Draft prospects. Follow him on Twitter @JeffCoxSports.