Final Score: #7 Northeastern 5, Vermont 1
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Paige Savage scored two second period goals as No. 7 Northeastern used a three-goal middle frame to defeat Vermont 5-1 in Hockey East action from Gutterson Fieldhouse Friday night.
 
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The Huskies opened the scoring with 7:03 left in the first period on their first power play opportunity of the game. After winning a puck battle along the boards Denisa Krizova fired the puck towards the Vermont net and Kendall Coyne deflected it from beside the net past the Catamounts Molly Depew for her NCAA-best 22^nd goal of the season.
 
Northeastern extended its lead to two at the 2:03 mark of the second period. After winning a neutral zone faceoff the Huskies Hayley Masters fired a puck from the blue line that fluttered past Depew for her third goal of the season. Halle Silva picked up her third point of the season with an assist on Masters even strength tally.
 
The Huskies struck again three minutes later to take a commanding three-goal advantage. In transition Coyne entered the Vermont zone with speed before dropping a pass back to Savage who skated into the slot and fired a low shot past Depew for her fifth goal of the season. After the goal Vermont switched goaltenders with Madison Litchfield replacing Depew (12 saves) with 14:38 left in the second period.
 
With 10:08 left in the middle frame Savage struck again to give the Huskies a four-goal advantage. In a scramble situation Savage fired a puck towards the net and Litchfield made an initial shoulder save but the rebound caromed off the crossbar before hitting Litchfield in the back and trickling in.
 
Maddie Hartman picked up the final Huskies goal of the night 2:18 into the third period. Off an offensive zone faceoff Masters passed over to Hartman and she fired a low shot that deflected off a Vermont defenders' skate and in to make it 5-0.
 
Alyssa Gorecki got the Catamounts on the board with an unassisted goal at the 5:31 mark of the third period. She took advantage of a Northeastern turnover and was able to skate in alone on the Huskies Sarah Foss (23 saves). Gorecki made a move to her backhand and roofed a shot for her third goal of the season.

"I'm not being disingenuous or naive when I say that we played well tonight, despite the loss," said head coach Jim Plumer. "We are simply snake bitten in terms of finishing at both ends of the ice. I am proud of the way this team battles in the face of adversity."
 
The Catamounts return to action tomorrow afternoon as they close out their season-series with Northeastern at 4 p.m. If you can't join us at Gutterson Fieldhouse you can watch a live HD stream with Rob Ryan on the call at CatamounTV.com.
 
Tomorrow afternoon is Youth Day and Camper Reunion Day, all youth hockey players 12 and under can email whurd@uvm.edu to receive free admission to the game. We will also have Toys for Tots bins set up throughout the lobby of Gutterson so bring a gift to support the families in need during the holiday season. Following the game there will be a postgame kids conference presented by the DoubleTree. Kids in attendance will have the opportunity to ask players from the team a question and will receive a cookie from the DoubleTree in return.