New Hampshire opened the season Saturday with a 7-1 victory over the Vermont at the Whittemore Center behind two goals and one assist from junior Colin Hemingway during a three-goal outburst in the second period.
With the win, UNH coach Dick Umile earned his 250th career victory in 11 seasons. Umile now owns a 250-132-34 record at UNH.
The Wildcats peppered the Vermont (0-1) netminders all night, outshooting their opponents 46-12 along the way. UNH (1-0) led 3-0 after two and outscored the Catamounts 4-1 in the third.
Joining Hemingway on the scoresheet for the ‘Cats were senior Darren Haydar and junior Josh Prudden with one goal and one assists apiece and sophomore Patrick Foley, freshman Sean Collins and senior David Busch with a goal each. Tim Plant scored Vermont’s lone goal in the third.
Haydar’s two points move him into 26th all-time in scoring at UNH with 145 points. Haydar surpasses Umile who stood 26th prior to Saturday’s game with 144 points.
Matt Carney made 11 saves for the Wildcats, while Catamount netminders Shawn Conschafter and Tim Peters finished with 29 and 10 saves, respectively.
The Wildcats broke a scoreless tie 12:14 into the second period when Hemingway scored his first of two goals. Prudden got the assist, passing from the top of the left face-off circle to the far post, where Hemingway stuffed the puck in with a backhand shot.
Hemingway scored his second at 16:34 on a 5-on-3 power play. Thirty-eight seconds later, UNH added another powerplay goal as Prudden netted one of his own on assists from Junior Lanny Gare and Hemingway.
Vermont pulled to within 3-1 early in the third on a goal by Plant. But Haydar scored 26 seconds later and the momentum again shifted again to the Wildcats. Foley, Collins and Busch each added single tallies following Haydar’s goal.
UNH returns to action on Oct. 18 when it travels to Merrimack College. Vermont will host Boston University next Saturday.
