Vermont enters the tournament after completing one of the biggest upsets in Hockey East playoff history, when they became just the fourth No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed, defeating the UNH Wildcats in the quarterfinals. They earned their NCAA berth after going 6-1 against non-conference teams this season and beating five of the 16 teams who qualified for the tournament.
Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon couldn't be happier to have his team enter the tournament mix. The road to the tournament certainly isn't an easy one, but his team is looking forward to the challenge.
"Giving our seniors an opportunity to put that jersey over their head again, I think it's a special time up here," Sneddon said. "It's all based on numbers and strength of schedule and who you played, who you beat, who your opponents played and who they beat, and it’s a formula that we all know going into each season."
Although Vermont prevailed in the UNH series, its main focus will be producing more offense against a powerful Badgers team. The Catamounts were held to just two goals in the final two games with the Wildcats, and they know they'll need to put more goals up on the board.
"No question we got a challenge in front of us, because Wisconsin can certainly score goals, and they can defend really well," Sneddon said. "So, we're going to have to find a way to keep our solid defense going and be even better than we were against BC. At the same time, we need to generate more offense."
The Catamounts are hoping their scoring line of Colin Vock—Brayden Irwin–Sebastian Stalberg can continue leading the team, as they have combined for 32 goals, 48 assists, and 80 points this season. Sneddon also attributes the leadership of senior Jay Anctil for his team being at the top of its game.
"Jay's a special young man," said Sneddon. "Obviously he's had some tough injuries through the course of his career here at the University of Vermont. He's been playing excellent for us. I thought he was really, really good, played really solid in the UNH series. Obviously, he had two huge goals for us in that weekend."
The Catmounts will not only need their key contributors, but also a collective team effort to compete with one of the toughest teams in the country. They are 3-5 all-time in the NCAA men's hockey tournament and 1-2 all time against Wisconsin. The last meeting between the two schools came in 1996 in the Badger Showdown, with the Catamounts picking up a 5-2 win.
The key for the Catamounts will be in their ability get on the board first with Wisconsin. They are 14-6-4 when scoring the opening goal this season and 65-20-17 in their last 102 games when striking first.
The victor will advance to face the winner of the St. Cloud State-Northern Michigan matchup in the West Regional championship game on Saturday.
