BURLINGTON, Vt. - Jul Sifers had two goals and one assist while Roxanne Douville had 26 saves to carry Vermont over New Hampshire 4-2 Friday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Hockey East action.
Vermont opened the scoring 6:40 into the first period. Hannah Westbrook fed a pass to Sifers as she entered the UNH zone. Sifers took a long shot that was kicked aside by UNH goaltender Kayley Herman (21 saves). Erin Wente collected the rebound and beat Herman with a quick shot.
The Catamounts extended their lead three minutes later. Wente fed a breakout pass to Lindsey Cashman who tipped the puck to herself past a Wildcat defender and entered the UNH zone on a two-on-one with Sifers. Cashman flipped the puck up to Sifers who went in alone on Herman. She beat Herman with a wrist shot top corner.
Sifers got on the board again late in the second period. Cashman collected a rebound and took the puck behind the net before centering a pass to Sifers who was open in the slot. She beat Herman with a quick shot to give Vermont a 3-0 lead at the 16:57 mark.
New Hampshire came out strong in the third period. Nicole Gifford got the Wildcats on the board at the 5:47 mark off a mad scramble in front of the net. Gifford's goal ended Douville's shutout streak at 164 minutes and 13 seconds.
After consecutive shutouts against Maine and Providence Douville's shutout streak set a new program record midway through the second period.
With less than four minutes left in the third period the Wildcats pulled their goalie for an extra-attacker. New Hampshire was able to cut the Vermont lead to one with the man advantage. Courtney Birchard took a point-shot that deflected off two separate Vermont defenders and beat Douville at the 16:30 mark.
New Hampshire pulled its goalie again with 2:16 remaining searching for an equalizer. Vermont was able to hold off the Wildcats late rally when Kailey Nash buried an empty-net goal to give the Catamounts a two-goal lead and close the scoring.
The win moves Vermont to 7-14-9 overall and 4-10-4 in Hockey East play. The loss drops New Hampshire to 13-15-1 and 6-12-0 in league play.
With the win Vermont holds a program high three-game Hockey East winning streak.
Vermont hosts New Hampshire on Saturday (Feb. 12) at 4 p.m. 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.
NOTES: The Catamounts are 6-2-7 when scoring first ... Vermont is now tied with New Hampshire in sixth place in Hockey East with 12 points.