BURLINGTON, Vt. - Krystal Baumann, Valerie Stoul and Breanne Sundquist scored as Vermont skated to a 3-3 tie against Clarkson in its season opener Friday afternoon at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
Baumann opened the scoring for Vermont 1:07 in with her first collegiate goal in her first shift. Kellie Dineen attempted a wraparound and Baumann was able to put the rebound away from the front of the net.
The Catamounts extended their lead minutes later when Gina Repaci and Valerie Stoul entered the Clarkson zone on a two on one. Repaci faked a shot and fed Stoul with a behind the back pass. With Clarkson goaltender Erica Howe down on the play Stoul found the back of the net with a quick wrist shot at the 5:33 mark.
Vermont stretched its lead to 3-0 on an end-to-end rush from Sundquist. Danielle Rancourt passed to Sundquist behind the Vermont net, and she skated the puck through the neutral zone, into the slot, and fired a wrist shot that beat Howe glove side.
Clarkson got back in the game early in the second period. On the power play Jamie-Lee Rattray passed to a cutting Juana Baribeau, her initial shot was stopped by Vermont goaltender Roxanne Douville but Carly Mercer was able to corral the rebound and get the Golden Knights on the board.
After outshooting Vermont for most of the second period Clarkson converted again to pull within one. A Daniella Matteucci point shot found the back of the net through heavy traffic at 18:13. Vanessa Gagnon and Danielle Skirrow earned assists on the play.
The Golden Knights completed the comeback 5:47 into the third period. With the Knights on a 3-on-1 Rattray fed a cross-crease pass to Christine Lambert who found the back of the net.
Despite numerous chances neither team was able to score the go-ahead goal in the third period.
Douville (37 saves) and Howe (24 saves) stood tall in overtime and preserved the tie for their respective teams.
Vermont returns to action Saturday (4 p.m.) against the defending Canadian champion McGill Martlets.
There will be a pregame Fan Fest outside of Gutterson Fieldhouse starting at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. Enjoy pizza courtesy of Leonardo's, Mad House Munchies Chips, DoubleTree cookies, Lake Champlain Chocolates, and Coca Cola drinks.
NOTES: Vermont is now 3-1-2 in season openers under Head Coach Tim Bothwell ... The Catamounts' last victory to start a season came in 2009 when they defeated Union 2-0 at Gutterson Fieldhouse ... Vermont improves to 1-13-3 all-time against Clarkson ... Roxanne Douville was named the game's first star ... Gina Repaci, Greer Vogl, and Krystal Baumann all registered their first career points ... Check back to UVMAthletics.com for highlights.