The University of Vermont men’s hockey team was shut down offensively on its home ice. The Catamounts were blanked in two separate shutouts against the University of Massachusetts Minutemen in their latest weekend series. That includes a 1-0 shutout loss on Saturday.”You don’t score a goal in a weekend, you quite literally cannot win,” said Vermont men’s hockey head coach Steve Wiedler. “Yeah, that’s the story of it.”Michael Hrabal blanked the Catamounts in both games as the Minutemen’s starting goalie. On Saturday, he earned 22 saves, picking up half of those saves in the third period alone. Wiedler says his play and the work of U-Mass’ defense were critical in slowing down Vermont’s offense. “Their goaltender is extremely good, he is one of the best in the nation. Big kid … very athletic, he’s a (NHL) draft pick for a reason,” Wiedler said. “Defensively, they’re a good team. They carve, block shots, they do the little things. They got a big defensive core. It’s hard to get to the net on them.” Lucas Olvestad broke a 0-0 scoreless tie in the third period of play after receiving a pass from Justin Kerr right in front of the net, which he was able to bury for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal. Vermont entered this weekend with a three-point advantage over UMass in the men’s Hockey East Standings. The Catamounts are now feeling some disappointment with their two losses led them to trail the Minutemen by three points in the standings. “We want to win these games. That’s what we’re here to do,” Wiedler said. “We’re here to win, and we’re here to climb the standings. You can play a good game and come out on the wrong side of it. That’s life. I didn’t think there were any what-ifs on the weekend, but we definitely would want some of those scoring chances back.” Vermont will look to bounce back on Friday, Jan. 30, for the start of another home doubleheader, this time against a non-conference foe in Stonehill College. Puck drop for this contest is at 7 p.m.

BURLINGTON, Vt. —

The University of Vermont men’s hockey team was shut down offensively on its home ice.

The Catamounts were blanked in two separate shutouts against the University of Massachusetts Minutemen in their latest weekend series. That includes a 1-0 shutout loss on Saturday.

“You don’t score a goal in a weekend, you quite literally cannot win,” said Vermont men’s hockey head coach Steve Wiedler. “Yeah, that’s the story of it.”

Michael Hrabal blanked the Catamounts in both games as the Minutemen’s starting goalie. On Saturday, he earned 22 saves, picking up half of those saves in the third period alone. Wiedler says his play and the work of U-Mass’ defense were critical in slowing down Vermont’s offense.

“Their goaltender is extremely good, he is one of the best in the nation. Big kid … very athletic, he’s a (NHL) draft pick for a reason,” Wiedler said. “Defensively, they’re a good team. They carve, block shots, they do the little things. They got a big defensive core. It’s hard to get to the net on them.”

Lucas Olvestad broke a 0-0 scoreless tie in the third period of play after receiving a pass from Justin Kerr right in front of the net, which he was able to bury for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal.

Vermont entered this weekend with a three-point advantage over UMass in the men’s Hockey East Standings. The Catamounts are now feeling some disappointment with their two losses led them to trail the Minutemen by three points in the standings.

“We want to win these games. That’s what we’re here to do,” Wiedler said. “We’re here to win, and we’re here to climb the standings. You can play a good game and come out on the wrong side of it. That’s life. I didn’t think there were any what-ifs on the weekend, but we definitely would want some of those scoring chances back.”

Vermont will look to bounce back on Friday, Jan. 30, for the start of another home doubleheader, this time against a non-conference foe in Stonehill College. Puck drop for this contest is at 7 p.m.