| Follow @UVMwlaxSat., April 25 vs. New Hampshire, 1 p.m. | Live Video (free)
VERMONT WOMEN'S LACROSSE NOTEBOOKThe Vermont women's lacrosse team hosts New Hampshire this Saturday (April 25) on Senior Day at 1 p.m. in a crucial America East matchup. The Catamounts need a victory to secure a spot in the conference playoffs for the third consecutive season. The contest will be streamed live for free at CatamounTV.com.
TICKETSTickets for the game are available at
UVMathletics.com/tickets or in person one hour prior to the game at the Gutterson Fieldhouse ticket office. Admission is free for all UVM students with a school ID.
SENIOR DAYPrior to the start of Saturday's contest, Vermont will honor
Meg Hopkins,
Marcie Marino,
Taylor Pedersen,
Gretchen Remien,
Jessica Roach and
Megan Wilson with a ceremony as part of Senior Day. This year's seniors are the winningest class in program history, collecting 38 victories during their four years with the Catamounts.
FAN APPRECIATION DAYThe UVM Athletic Department will be hosting Fan Appreciation Day at this Saturday's game from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. just outside of Virtue Field. Fans can enjoy free food and beverages, including Leonardo's Pizza, Ramunto's Pizza, Cabot Creamery Cheese samples and hot dogs and pasta salad from Sodexo. In addition to free food, fans can enjoy music, lawn games, face painting, a free raffle and more.
ABOUT VERMONTThe Catamounts, sitting at 10-6 overall and 3-2 in America East play, need to defeat New Hampshire in the regular season finale on Saturday to earn a spot in the America East playoffs. Vermont has won two of its last three conference matchups, collecting victories over Binghamton (18-7) and UMass Lowell (23-9). Through 16 games, UVM is averaging 11.63 goals per contest and has reached double-digit scores in 11 of those contests. The Catamounts' top three point scorers,
Jessica Roach,
Vanessa VanderZalm and
Alex Bernier, have paced the attack with a combined 101 goals and 35 assists to this point in the season. Senior goalie
Meg Hopkins, who has a career-high 10 wins, owns a 10.29 goals against average.
Team LeadersPoints:
Jessica Roach (70),
Vanessa VanderZalm (44),
Alex Bernier (22)
Goals: Roach (54), VanderZalm (35),
Alison Bolt (16)
Assists: Roach (16), Bernier (10), VanderZalm (9)
Ground balls: VanderZalm (41),
Meg Hopkins (35),
Taylor Pedersen (25)
Caused turnovers: VanderZalm (35),
Meghan Cobb (12), Pedersen (12)
Draw controls: VanderZalm (48), Bolt (26), Roach (17)
Save pct.: Hopkins (.414)
ROACH NEARING MILESTONESThis past Sunday,
Jessica Roach reached the 200-point plateau in her career, becoming just the third Catamount to ever reach that mark. The senior ranks in the top-3 in program history in career points, goals and assists after another strong season in 2015. Roach needs just one assist to move into sole possession of second place on UVM's career assists list, and is also one point and seven goals shy of taking over sole possession of the single-season records in both categories.
APPROACHING THE RECORDSeniors
Jessica Roach and
Taylor Pedersen rank second and fourth, respectively, on Vermont's all-time games played list. With an appearance in Saturday's game, Roach would tie former teammate
Sydney Mas for first place on the list with 69 games play in her career.
HOPKINS' CAREER YEARSenior goalie
Meg Hopkins has started all 16 games in goal for the Catamounts this season and has collected a career-high 10 victories to this point. The Penn Yan, New York native has also matched her career-best save percentage with a .414 mark, and has recorded five games with a save percentage over .500 on the season.
AMERICA EAST FANS' CHOICE PLAYER OF THE YEAROn Thursday,
Jessica Roach was announced as Vermont's nominee for the annual America East Fans' Choice Player of the Year. Voting is open until Tuesday (April 28) at noon, and fans can cast their vote one time per day.
Click here to vote for Roach.
SCOUTING NEW HAMPSHIREThe Wildcats enter Saturday's matchup at 6-9 overall and 2-3 in conference play. Their two wins in America East have come against UMass Lowell (22-6) and Binghamton (12-9), while they've dropped contests versus Stony Brook (13-4), Albany (16-5) and UMBC (15-6). UNH is averaging 9.13 goals per game and allowing 9.80 to opponents. Laura McHoul (25 g, 30 ast) and Kayleigh Hinkle (32 g, 15 ast) are the top offensive threats for the Wildcats, having combined for 42 percent of the team's goals. Kate Clancy has started every game in goal and posted an 11.44 goals against average.
Team LeadersPoints: Laura McHoul (55), Kayleigh Hinkle (47), Rachael Nock (27)
Goals: Hinkle (32), McHoul (25), Laura Puccia (22)
Assists: McHoul (30), Hinkle (15), Nock (15)
Ground balls: Hope Kissick (24), Brooke McGillis (21), Hinkle (18)
Caused turnovers: Kissick (17), Carly Wooters (8), McGillis (6)
Draw controls: Hinkle (48), McHoul (21), Wooters (15)
Save pct.: Kate Clancy (.391)
INSIDE THE SERIESThe Catamounts and Wildcats will face each other for the 37
th time in series history on Saturday. Vermont has won each of the last four meetings, including a 15-12 victory last season in Durham behind four goals from
Marcie Marino.
NEXT UPThe America East Semifinals begin on Friday (May 1) at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook. The two winners of the semifinal matchups will play in the championship game on Sunday (May 3), with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
