FINAL SCORE: Vermont 3, Maine 2
ORONO, Maine – Kourtney Menches wrapped up a two-point afternoon by breaking a 2-2 tie midway through the third period as the Vermont women's hockey team earned a 3-2 win over Maine on Sunday at Alfond Arena.
 
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The Catamounts improve to 3-4-1 on the season and 2-1-0 against Hockey East rivals, while Maine drops to 2-8-0 and 1-5-0 with league foes.
 
"I'm very proud of our response today, both in terms of rebounding from Friday's game and also our resilience in the third period," said head coach Jim Plumer. "Our team is working very hard to build a winning mindset and I hope this weekend was the tipping point to more consistent play going forward."
 
After a scoreless 20 minutes, the Catamounts won the race to the scoreboard in the second period with Victoria Andreakos' third goal of the season. Ève-Audrey Picard skated into the zone along the left wing boards, then drove to goal before the puck was knocked away. Andreakos grabbed the carom in the low slot and lit the lamp at 1:51. Menches also received the secondary assist in the sequence.
 
UVM doubled its lead to 2-0 on the power play at 11:46. After Maine's Cassidy Herman was sent to the box for interference, Amanda Drobot ripped a slap shot from the top of the slot that was deflected by Bridget Baker. Mackenzie MacNeil picked up the bouncing puck behind Black Bears goalie Carly Jackson and tapped it home.
 
The Black Bears evened the score at two-apiece with a pair of tallies early in the third stanza. Maine narrowed the score to 2-1 at the 1:21 mark when Morgan Sakundiak set up Brooke Stacey, then knotted things at 2-2 at 4:10. Sakundiak netted the game-tying goal when Tereza Vanišová skated along the right wing and continued behind the net, finding Sakundiak near the hash marks of the left faceoff circle.
 
Vermont regained the lead for good just 1:25 later when Picard gloved down the puck in the far corner, then dished a centering pass to Menches at the left post where the junior went stick-side for the game-winner.
 
Senior Madison Litchfield made 27 saves on the day for the Catamounts, while Jackson turned aside 21 attempts for Maine.
 
After resting next weekend, Vermont will gear up for a trip to the Ocean State and a pair of games at Providence on Saturday, Nov. 12 and Sunday, Nov. 13. Both games are scheduled for 2 p.m. at Schneider Arena.
 
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 women's hockey season