UVM WOMEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
Coming off of a weekend series at Robert Morris last weekend, the Vermont women's hockey team treks to Canton, New York for a Friday night meeting at No. 7/6 St. Lawrence. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Appleton Arena, followed by a rematch on Saturday at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington. Opening faceoff in the weekend finale is slated for 4 p.m.
Fans unable to attend either matchup can follow along with free live video courtesy of St. Lawrence Athletics (Friday) and CatamounTV.com (Saturday). In addition, live stats will be available for both games via SIDEARM Stats.
RELATED LINKS
Live Stats: Friday | Saturday
Live Video: Friday | Saturday
Tickets (Saturday)
UVM TO HOST POSTER DAY SATURDAY
Vermont on Saturday will host its annual Poster Day presented by The UPS Store of South Burlington. All fans are encouraged to meet the Catamounts following the game to collect a team poster and receive autographs. The autograph session will take place in the UVM Hockey Hall of Honor at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
CATAMOUNTS RECAP
UVM bounced back from a 3-2 setback last Friday at Robert Morris, posting a 2-2 draw with the Colonials in a back-and-forth affair. Less than two minutes after RMU jumped out to an early first period lead,
Kourtney Menches knotted the score at one-apiece after taking a centering feed from
Mackenzie MacNeil on the doorstep.
Taylor Willard then evened things at two late in the third period on a power play tally. UVM was a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in the weekend finale, which included 33 saves by sophomore
Melissa Black.
SCOUTING ST. LAWRENCE
The Saints (3-0-1) are coming off of an open weekend, having most recently skated to a 3-3 tie at Clarkson on Oct. 8. SLU was on the verge of a 3-2 win, but a goal by Corie Jacobson with an extra attacker evened the score at three-apiece for the balance of the contest.
Junior Kennedy Marchment's 10 points (1 g, 9 a) stand atop the squad, while senior Brooke Webster (5 g, 3 a) and junior Hannah Miller (4 g, 4 a) follow close behind with eight points apiece. Sophomore Grace Harrison has held things down between the pipes en route to a 2.21 goals against average. Marchment also leads the country with 2.5 points per game.
St. Lawrence is led by 1992 alum Chris Wells, who has been behind the Saints bench since the 2008-09 campaign. As part of a 24-win season that year, SLU punched a ticket to the 2009 NCAA Tournament. The 2012 AHCA National Coach of the Year also served stints as assistant and associate head coach of the university's men's hockey program.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Historically the Saints have had the number of their former ECAC rival since the series inception in 2001. However, the Catamounts nearly completed a comeback from two goals down in Canton last season. Vermont opened the night's scoring on
Taylor Willard's first period goal from the point and added another on
Dayna Colang's third period tally, but a three-goal middle stanza was too much for the Catamounts to overcome in the 3-2 setback.
Madison Litchfield finished the night with 26 saves.
PLAYING YOUR CARDS RIGHT
Freshman
Ève-Audrey Picard has made a splash in her brief time with UVM, posting a team-best five points on three goals and two helpers. The Longueuil, Quebec product has inked the box score in three of Vermont's four games on the young season and sits third nationally among rookies with 1.25 points per game. As a result of her performances, Picard was honored as Hockey East Warrior Co-Player of the Week (Oct. 10) as well as UVM's TD Bank Student-Athlete of the Week (Oct. 10).
A NIGHT OF FIRSTS
Vermont's win over Union on Oct. 4 saw
Mackenzie MacNeil and Picard each notch their first two goals of the season. The last time a Catamount scored twice in a season opener was in a 3-1 win over North Dakota on Oct. 4, 2014 when
Cassidy Campeau marked the scoresheet in the second and third periods.
Victoria Andreakos was the most recent player to tally a goal on her first night donning the Green and Gold, doing so in a 3-3 tie against Penn State on Oct. 4, 2013. Picard is the first to score twice in her collegiate debut in the Catamounts' Hockey East era; Liz Reed and Kate McBride both accomplished the feat on Nov. 18, 2000 in an 8-0 win over Amherst College, while UVM played at the ECAC Division I level.
PLUMER ANNOUNCES TEAM CAPTAINS
Seniors
Rachael Ade and
Sarah Kelly as well as junior
Taylor Willard will captain the Catamounts for the 2016-17 season. Kelly, who also served as a captain last season, notched five points in 2015-16, while Willard and Ade recorded 19 and six points, respectively.
CATAMOUNTS PREVIEW SEASON AT MEDIA DAY
UVM welcomed members of the local media to campus on Sept. 28 to preview the 2016-17 season at Hockey Media Day.
Click here to hear head coach
Jim Plumer's remarks. Senior captain
Sarah Kelly also took time to give an outlook of the season;
click here to listen.
HOCKEY EAST ANNOUNCES PRESEASON POLL
Vermont was picked to finish tied for fifth in the annual Women's Hockey East preseason poll, announced by the conference office on Sept. 20. The Catamounts shared the spot with New Hampshire, while Boston College, Boston University and Northeastern claimed the top three positions, respectively. Connecticut was projected to finish fourth and Providence, Maine and Merrimack were slotted seventh through ninth.
CATAMOUNTS ADD FIVE TO ROSTER
Vermont has welcomed five newcomers to the squad this season. Forwards
Allie Granato (Plainfield, Illinois),
Ali O'Leary (Reading, Massachusetts) and Eve-Audrey Picard (Longueuil, Quebec), goaltender
Sydney Scobee (Minnetrista, Minnesota) as well as sophomore transfer goalie
Melissa Black (Newmarket, Ontario) have joined the team for 2016-17.
NEXT UP
The Catamounts resume Hockey East play following their weekend series against SLU, beginning on Friday, Oct. 28 when the squad travels to face conference rival New Hampshire. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. from the Whittemore Center.
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 women's hockey season
