Third period goals from freshman Dean Strong and sophomore Torrey Mitchell broke a scoreless tie as Vermont shut out Alaska-Anchorage 2-0 to take the Nye Frontier Classic title at Sullivan Arena Saturday night.
Sophomore goalie Joe Fallon made 19 saves to record his sixth career shutout and the 19th ranked Catamounts improved to 2-0-0 on the season.
“We just thought tonight was such a gutsy performance,” assistant coach Damian DiGiulian said. “We were stymied a lot early and we had a lot of chances and we just didn’t score. We could have gotten frustrated but we really stuck with the plan. Then a couple of huge goals in the third period pulled us through and we are very proud of these guys right now.”
Vermont and Alaska-Anchorage combined for 10 goals in a pair of wins in day one of the Nye Frontier Classic but the game was scoreless going to the third period. Vermont controlled the action through the first two periods out shooting the Seawolves 23-14.
Strong would break the scoreless tie with a goal 85 seconds into the third period on assists from Peter Lenes and Chris Myers to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead. The assist for Lenes was the first of his career.
The Catamounts would take a 2-0 lead when Mitchell scored the first power-play goal of the season for the Catamounts at 4:27 of the third period on assists from Kenny Macaulay and Brady Leisenring. Leisenring had two goals and an assist for three points on the weekend on the way to being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Nye Frontier Classic.
Fallon’s sixth career shutout puts him third all-time at Vermont behind only Tim Thomas (10) and Dave Reece (8). It was the first shutout for Fallon and Vermont since Feb. 18, 2005 when Vermont defeated Yale 5-0.
Vermont is now 4-0-2 in the last five games against WCHA opponents dating back to Nov. 1, 2003 when they tied Michigan Tech 2-2.
