ORONO, Maine - Coming into Friday night's contest, Maine was one of the WHEA's most feared offensive teams ranking fifth in the conference in scoring and third in the conference in power play scoring. That all came to a screeching halt Saturday night as the Catamounts of Vermont suffocated the Maine shooters all night long en route to a 1-0 victory for the 'Cats.
The tandem of Chelsea Rapin and Emily Walsh came together midway through the third period for the only point generation on the night. On one of Vermont's eight power play opportunities, Walsh had managed to slither her way through Maine's out-numbered defense and into the left slot where she then fired a shot off of Maine goaltender, Brittant Ott's (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) blocker. The puck quickly kicked off of Ott's pads and over to the right slot, where Chelsea Rapin was rewarded for being in the right spot at the right time with her fourth goal of the season and her first game winner of the season.
Maine struggled to gain a footing all game long as they wracked up 9 penalties in all, while Vermont totaled 6 penalties. The constant stoppage of play and shifting lines to protect on power plays seem to rattle the usual fast paced Black Bear transition offense. They were unable to get out on the break and consequently only managed 18 shots on the night; Which unfortunately for Maine, resulted in no real positive threats as they ran up against stellar freshman goalie, Roxanne Douville, who moved her record to 4-9-6 on the season. Douville recorded her second shutout of the season, while lowering her goals against average to 1.84 (ranked 10th in the country and 3rd in the conference) and her save percentage to .933 percent (ranks 9th in the country and 3rd in the conference).
For Maine, Ott managed to have herself quite a night in the loss. As just a sophomore, she is giving Maine fans hope that the future is bright. She managed to stop 24 of Vermont's 25 shots as she raised her save percentage up two spots to a very respectable .919 percent.
Maine drops to 4-11-2 in WHEA play while Vermont jumps to 3-10-4 but still remains in last place, right behind Maine in the conference.
Maine will look to get back in the winning and even the scoring column when they travel to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to battle a tough 5th ranked Boston College Eagles squad in a pair of 7:00 pm starts, starting Friday, February 11 and concluding Saturday, February 12.