BURLINGTON, Vt. - Melissa Black halted a Carlee Turner penalty shot at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime as the Vermont Catamounts (2-4-3, 2-4-1 WHEA) skated to a 2-2 tie with the New Hampshire Wildcats (1-7-2, 1-6-1 WHEA) Saturday afternoon in the annual Rally Against Cancer game, presented by Vermont Custom Closets.
COACH'S QUOTE
"I'm proud of the way we battled this weekend," said head coach Jim Plumer. "To take five out of six points from any opponent is a great result for the season series. UNH played with a lot of intensity today and I was pleased that we were able to raise our game and match it. Credit to Melissa Black for hanging in there and Ève-Audrey Picard for a two-point game. We are excited to keep the momentum going next week."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- All four goals were scored in the first period, with New Hampshire opening the scoring on a goal by Lindsey Dumond. Ève-Audrey Picard answered quickly for the Catamounts with her third goal of the season 2:05 later. Taylor Flaherty and Alyssa Holmes assisted on the UVM goal.
- Holmes took the lead for Vermont with 3:43 left in the opening frame on a feed from Picard. The junior forward gathered the puck in the corner and found Holmes cutting to the front of the net where she quickly released a shot under the blocker of Ava Boutilier (27 saves). Val Caldwell was awarded the secondary assist.
- Tori Howran netted the game-tying goal a minute later as the puck bounced around the front of the Vermont goal and squirted out to the UNH forward in the high slot. Howran stepped up and chopped at the bouncing puck, sending it over a sprawled out Black (29 saves).
- Chances were exchanged in the final two periods, despite being scoreless. The Catamounts outshot New Hampshire 19-18 over that span. Vermont's best scoring opportunity came when Alyssa Gorecki neared the UNH goal on a partial breakaway, but was robbed by the glove of Boutilier.
- Black's biggest save of the game came as time expired in the third period. The Wildcats' Turner was tripped up on a breakaway and the buzzer sounded, but a penalty shot was awarded. Turner neared the Vermont goal and motioned right, but Black read the play the whole way and stifled the attempt to preserve the tie.
NOTES
- Vermont closes out the season series with UNH owning a 2-0-1 mark against the Wildcats
- With the tie, the Catamounts have a 3-1-1 mark in the last five contests against UNH
WHAT'S NEXT
The Catamounts travel down I-89 Tuesday (Nov. 6) to face former ECAC rival Dartmouth at Thompson Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
