Men’s Hockey to host Vermont for weekend series with Catamounts

After a hard-fought 1-1 weekend series with No. 7 University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Boston University men’s hockey team will return home to face the University of Vermont in conference play Friday and Saturday at Agganis Arena. 

Last weekend against the Minutemen, BU (3-4-4, 2-3-3 Hockey East) earned their first win in three weeks, 4-3, in the series opener on home ice. When the series shifted to Amherst the next night, UMass answered with a 4-1 win to split the series.

During a game where fatigue set in as the Terriers entered the third period, three goals were scored against BU in both their Friday and Saturday games. 

“We got a little tired,” said BU head coach Albie O’Connell. “We ran out of gas.”

BU’s opponent, the Catamounts (1-7, 0-5 Hockey East), are entering on a six game skid, with their most recent loss coming against Boston College in a 3-0 defeat to conclude a weekend sweep by the Eagles.

Headlining Vermont’s lineup is the man between the pipes, senior Stefanos Lekkas. Lekkas has backstopped the Catamounts since his freshman year and is averaging 28.1 saves per game this season. Supporting Lekkas is sophomore defenseman Carter Long, who has recorded a team-high 13 blocked shots for the Catamounts this season. 

The Catamount offense has scored ten goals this season, 12 fewer than Merrimack College, who has the second-fewest goals in Hockey East. Sophomore forward Joey Cipollone, junior forward Alex Esposito and junior defenseman Christian Evers have led the attack with a combined seven goals, using the help of freshman defenseman Andrew Lucas, who leads the team in points.

According to O’Connell, BU graduate student goaltender Sam Tucker was the difference during the two games Boston played this past weekend, with his career-high 49 saves during Friday’s game. 

“He was terrific,” O’Connell said. “Sometimes your goalie needs to be the best player to win.”