NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - Five Catamounts had two points Friday night leading the 14th ranked Vermont women's hockey team in a 5-1 Hockey East win at Lawler Rink. With the win, Vermont is now 9-5-1 on the campaign and 7-3-1 in league play.
COACH'S QUOTE
"It was a good team win tonight," Head Coach Jim Plumer said. "I'm really pleased with how we closed out the game, especially after they cut the lead to 3-1. We are working on understanding key situations and we managed that last seven minutes or so extremely well. I really like the way we are playing right now and we are looking forward to another battle tomorrow night."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Theresa Schafzahl opened the scoring for the Catamounts 6:28 into the first period. Corinne McCool executed a perfect drop pass to Schafzahl and from just inside the slot she wired her 12th goal of the season past Merrimack's Emma Gorski. Ellice Murphy earned the secondary assist on the goal.
- The Catamounts extended their lead to 2-0 on a power play midway through the second frame. Natálie Mlýnková one-timed a feed from Sini Karjalainen, Gorski made the initial save but the rebound sat in the slot. McCool was first to it and snapped it home for her fifth goal of the season.
- Evelyne Blais-Savoie made it a three-goal lead for Vermont with 7:10 to play in the middle frame. Lara Beecher took the puck in the Vermont zone and went coast-to-coast for the Catamounts. She put the puck through the legs of a Merrimack defender and almost beat Gorski with a quick low shot. Blais-Savoie got the rebound and slotted it home for her seventh goal of the year.
- With 9:06 left in regulation the Warriors climbed back into the game on a two-on-one rush. Sam Lessick tapped home a cross-ice feed from Alexa Pongo to make it 3-1.
- Graduate defenseman Ellice Murphy put the game away with a great shot in transition for her fifth goal of the season. Hailey Burns chipped the puck up off the boards and on seemingly harmless rush up ice Murphy sniped off the bar and in with 3:07 to play.
- Vermont added a shorthanded marker with four seconds left in regulation to cap the win. Karjalainen dumped the puck into the Merrimack zone and Blais-Savoie won the race to the puck behind the Warriors net. She centered a feed to Schafzahl and she tapped home her second of the night.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Dating back to February 9, 2020 Catamounts are 24-0-0 when scoring four or more goals.
- Tonight, was Theresa Schafzahl's third two-goal night of the season. She has only been held off the scoresheet twice in Vermont's 15 games this year.
- With tonight's 5-1 win, Community Bank N.A. will donate $375 to Special Olympics Vermont. Community Bank, N.A. donates $75 per goal to Special Olympics Vermont for every goal the men's and women's team scores this season.
- With tonight's win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to COTS, the Committee on Temporary Shelter, as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since the campaigns inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $72,000 to local non-profits.
GAME-WORN JERSEY AUCTION
Last Friday's special edition Military Appreciation jerseys are still up for auction. The online auction will close on Friday at 2 p.m. Please visit uvmathletics.com/auctions to place your bids. Proceeds from the jersey auction will benefit the Josh Pallotta Fund.
UP NEXT
The Catamounts and Warriors are back at it tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Like all conference games it will air on ESPN+. The games will also be available on a pay-per-view basis internationally at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/hockeyeast. Subscriptions to the service are available for $9.99 USD per month or $4.99 USD for individual games. In Canada Saturday's contest will also be available on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
