TROY, N.Y. - The Vermont women's hockey team skated to a 1-1 draw against the Rensselaer Engineers Saturday afternoon.
Senior captain Celeste Doucet (Memramcook, New Brunswick) opened the scoring at the 3:24 mark of the first period. On the power-play freshman Megan Dalbec (Champlin, Minn.) passed the puck through the slot from the far circle to Doucet. Doucet caught Rensselaer goaltender Shannon Ramelot leaning to her right and scored on a quick wrist shot over her left shoulder.
Sophomore transfer Kelci Lanthier (Mt. Airy, Md.) made her collegiate debut Saturday and was strong for the Catamounts in the first period. She stopped all 14 shots she faced.
The Engineers equalized late in the second period on a scramble in front of the Vermont net, Jordan Smelker corralled a loose puck in front and tied the game at the 3:04 mark.
Vermont had several opportunities in the third period. The Catamounts had a goal disallowed near the 11:00 mark of the final stanza as two players crashed the RPI net. The play was initially called a goal, but after the referees discussed it, the goal was waived off due to a hand pass.
After a scoreless frame the Catamounts and Engineers went to overtime for the second straight night.
With 1:09 remaining in overtime the Engineers went on the power-play with an prime opportunity to win their first game of the season. Vermont defenders were able to preserve the tie in the dying seconds with a crucial shot block.
The Engineers out shot Vermont 41-19. Vermont improves to 0-0-2 overall.
Vermont hosts Boston College on Friday (Oct. 15) at 7 p.m. to open Hockey East action at Gutterson Fieldhouse The game will be streamed live online via CatamounTV on a pay-per-view basis of $4.99/game. Tickets to the game can be purchased online at UVMathletics.com, via the phone at 802-656-4410 or in person the day of the game at the gate.