Hagens Leads Vermont to Hockey East Lead
The Catamounts, bottom of the league last year, now sit first with a 4-1-1 start after a transfer from Boston College took over the offense.
By Grace Almasi ·
Vermont fans watching the Hockey East standings this month will see a different order at the top. The Catamounts finished last season in last place and were picked to do so again by the coaches. They now hold the first position with a 4-1-1 record in league play.
The team secured its lead with five of six possible points against Boston College this weekend. Vermont won the Thursday opener 4-2. On Friday, the Catamounts rallied from two separate two-goal deficits to force a 4-4 tie and won the extra point in the shootout.
Michael Hagens is the engine behind this surge. The defenseman transferred from Boston College to Vermont and currently leads the team with three goals and five assists. In the two games against the Eagles, he recorded a goal and four assists. He was the only skater on either team to score in the Friday shootout. Hagens played two seasons at Boston College before entering the transfer portal, a move that coincided with his younger brother James leaving for the Boston Bruins.
Vermont coach Steve Wiedler said the team’s success stems from a month of consistent practice. “One thing that obviously nobody sees is how these guys work during the week,” Wiedler said. “They’ve really figured out their practice weeks.” Wiedler noted that the players themselves identified Hagens as the right fit after he visited campus. “Our guys were the ones that were like, ‘Yeah, we should go after this guy,’” he said.
Sophomore goalie Jacob Oster, who missed last season with an injury, has also found form. He improved to a 5-2-1 record and holds a .930 save percentage with a 1.96 goals-against average.
Elsewhere in the league, Merrimack extended its unbeaten streak to eight games with a 6-2 win over Holy Cross. Nick Pierre scored twice to reach ten goals, a Hockey East lead tied with players from Michigan and Minnesota-Duluth. Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold earned his 700th victory, aided by a hat trick from Bruins prospect Chris Pelosi. Boston University split two games at Michigan State, winning the first 6-2 and losing the second 5-0.
Vermont plays its next home game Tuesday night. The Catamounts face a schedule that includes a trip to Harvard, which lost 4-3 to Yale in overtime on Saturday. Dartmouth and Providence also split their weekend series, with Dartmouth overcoming a delayed start caused by an electrical fire at its arena.
