VERMONT SHUTS OUT MEN'S HOCKEY, 3-0
Nationally-ranked Catamounts post back-to-back shutouts for first time ever

The University of Vermont got 16 saves from junior goaltender Jamie Russell
and shut out Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 3-0, in an ECAC Hockey
League men's hockey game at the Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y.  The
shutout, coupled with a 4-0 win over Union College
on Friday night, marks the first time in the history of the Catamounts'
Division I history they have posted back-to-back shutouts.  UVM has been
playing at the Division I level since 1974-75.

With the victory, the 12th-ranked Catamounts improve to 13-6-3 overall and
7-1-2 in the ECACHL.  They remain in first place in the league with 14
points.  The Engineers fall to 9-12-2 overall and 2-7-1 in the league.

Vermont senior center Chris Smart put the visitors ahead when he skated up
the left side of the ice with the puck, cut to the middle and scored on a
snap shot from the middle of the two face-off circles at 4:20 of the first
period.  Junior defenseman Jaime Sifers garnered the only assist on the goal.

Junior left wing Matt Syroczynski scored two goals in the second period to
increase UVM's lead to 3-0.  He got his first of the night on a wrist shot
high to the stick side of RPI netminder Andrew Martin just as the
Catamounts were coming off a power play 53 seconds into the
stanza.  Linemates Mike Arcieri and Chris Myers assisted on the
goal.  Syroczynski got his second of the night, and third of the season, on
a rebound of an Arcieri shot at the 17:11 mark.  Myers also had a hand in
the goal.

Russell, who watched teammate Joe Fallon make 15 saves in blanking the
Dutchmen, stopped seven shots in the first period, three in the second and
six in the third to improve to 3-2-0.  Martin finished with 25 saves in
defeat.  He is now 4-8-1 on the season.

Rensselaer returns home for a pair of ECACHL contests next weekend.  The
Engineers will host Colgate and Cornell, both of which are
nationally-ranked, on Friday and Saturday nights at 7pm.  Vermont plays
again on Saturday against ECACHL travel partner Dartmouth in Burlington