Box Score

Postgame comments (Jim Madigan - YouTube.com)

BURLINGTON, Vt. - Despite a valiant third period effort and a pair of goals from rookie Kevin Roy, Northeastern (4-6-1, 2-6-1 HEA) could not climb out of an early hole against Vermont in a 3-2 loss at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

Roy netted a pair of goals with less than five minutes to go in regulation, but the Catamounts managed to cling onto their lead despite being outshot by NU in the third period, 18-4.

Chris McCarthy matched Roy's goal total and tallied the first two of the contest to set the early precedent. In all, the Huskies outshot Vermont, 35-25, but struggled to find the answer on the power play. NU was held scoreless on its five chances while UVM went 1-for-5 on the power play and also scored in a 4-on-4 situation.

Senior goaltender Bryan Mountain steered away 22-of-25 Vermont attempts while Brody Hoffman turned in a terrific night, stopping 33-of-35 NU blasts.

Northeastern offered up the first chance of the game when juniors Braden Pimm and Cody Ferriero created a 2-on-1 situation, but Hoffman stepped up and made a big stop early on.

The home team struck first, capitalizing on Roy's penalty at 9:16 of the first stanza. Roy was whistled for tripping at 8:32 and the Catamounts pounced on an ill-fated Huskies' clearing attempt. McCarthy swooped through the neutral zone and pilfered the clear, banging the puck past Mountain on the near post for the early 1-0 lead.

The Huskies killed off another Roy infraction at 10:07 and finally got a chance of their own at 16:48. Jacob Fallon was whistled for a trip at 16:48, but the officials nabbed Ferriero for unsportsmanlike conduct and a 10-minute game misconduct to negate NU's chance. Northeastern's penalty kill stepped up for third time of the opening frame and killed off the remainder of Ferriero's call.

Senior captain Vinny Saponari was called for tripping to start the second stanza (1:37). The Huskies penalty-killing unit limited Vermont's chances in that window and finally gained consecutive calls minutes later.

Ben Albertson and Michael Paliotta were whistled for high-sticking and interference, respectively, at 9:49 and 12:53. Pimm created the biggest chance in tight on Hoffman, but the lanky netminder slid over to deny Pimm the power play goal. As Paliotta' penalty waned on, sophomore Joseph Manno was cited for high-sticking in the crease at 14:05. The Catamounts wasted no time capitalizing on a faceoff in front of Mountain on the next play.

The puck was brought down to Northeastern's end and McCarthy teed up a one-timer from Fallon five seconds later at 14:10 to put UVM up, 2-0.

Northeastern picked up another extra-man opportunity late in the second stanza at 17:44, but it was Vermont that nearly scored within that time. Kyle Reynolds whiffed on an open net to close out the second period and keep it a two-goal affair.

Northeastern turned Vermont's missed opportunity on the open net into a pile of rubber on Hoffman. The Huskies outshot Vermont, 18-4, in the final frame.

Ferriero ripped a shot from the slot around the 9:00-minute mark, but the puck was greeted by Hoffman's big mitt. Vermont than turned it up ice and Pete Massar clanked it off the pipe seconds later, but no goals occurred within those two exchanges.

Roy capped NU's scoring draught at 15:20 on a hard-working play from his linemates Pimm and Ferriero. Ferriero generated the play in the neutral zone and connected with Pimm up ice. Pimm tossed a backhand shot on Hoffman and the puck was lying in the goalmouth, but Roy swooped in and swatted it in to make it 3-1.

On the ensuing exchange, Roy nearly scored again, but Brett Brunateau wrangled the puck free at the blue line and was off to the races. Brunateau skated in on Mountain and beat him with the forehand at 16:46 to go back up two, 3-1, with the breakaway marker.

Head coach Jim Madigan elected to pull Mountain with about two minutes to go in regulation. Northeastern called timeout at 53.3 and Vermont followed immediately after. Following the break, the Catamounts missed two wide-open chances with the open net and breathed life into NU's chances.

Roy did everything he could to force overtime and buried his second goal of the frame with 13.4 seconds to play. As Pimm was falling to the ice, he bounced the puck off the boards to Saponari in stride. Saponari connected with Roy on the right dot and he smoked a wrist shot past Hoffman on the right dot to make it a one-goal game, 3-2, with the extra attacker. Unfortunately, Vermont controlled the final draw and closed out the contest before Northeastern could perform any more third-period damage.

Northeastern will play its third non-conference game of the season the Friday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 23, when the Huskies welcome St. Lawrence to Matthews Arena at 7 p.m.

Game Notes
• Kevin Roy tallied his first two-goal game as a Husky and fourth multi-point effort of the season. The Lac-Beauport, Quebec, native leads the team in scoring with 11 points (5-6-11).

• Kevin Roy tallied Northeastern's first extra attacker goal of the season and first since Mike McLaughlin turned the trick at New Hampshire on Feb. 10, 2012.

• Cody Ferriero matched his longest-career point streak at four games and has accounted for as many points (1-3-4) within that stretch. It marks the Essex, Mass., native's longest point streak since scoring four points from Nov. 18 to Dec. 2, 2011.

• Vinny Saponari extended his point streak to a career-best six games and has scored seven points (3-4-7) along the way. Saponari assisted on Kevin Roy's extra attacker goal with 13.4 seconds to play.

• Braden Pimm registered his first multi-point game of the season with a pair of helpers, marking his ninth-career mutli-point game.