WOMEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont Catamounts (10-17-5, 7-12-4 WHEA) close out the regular season at Matthews Arena with a game against Northeastern (14-15-3, 10-10-2 WHEA) on Friday night (Feb. 17).

The Hockey East tilt is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. following Northeastern's senior night ceremony.
 
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SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN
Northeastern enters its final weekend of regular season play with a home game against Vermont (Feb. 17) and a road trip to Providence on Sunday (Feb. 19). Northeastern is just a single point behind the New Hampshire Wildcats for the fourth seed and rights to host a playoff series.

Since losing two games to Vermont in late January, the Huskies have lost three of the last four games, including non-conference losses to Boston College and Harvard in the Beanpot.
 
Senior McKenna Brand leads the team in scoring (12-16-28) and is followed by Kasidy Anderson (11-14-25), Denisa Krížová (10-14-24), and Veronika Pettey (8-16-24). Eight additional Huskies have 10 or more points on the season.
 
Brittany Bugalski has played the majority of minutes in goal this season, recording a 2.95 goals against average, .891 save percentage, and a 9-9-1 overall record in 22 starts. Aerin Frankel has made 10 starts behind Bugalski, and has posted a 2.34 goals against average along with a .921 save percentage and 5-6-2 overall record.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Catamounts defeated Northeastern 5-2 at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Friday, Jan. 26 before winning again on Saturday (Jan. 27) by a 4-3 score.
 
Ève-Audrey Picard netted a hat trick and added an assist in the Friday victory as Sydney Scobee made 27 saves for the win. Taylor Willard's two assists brought her career total to 38 helpers.
 
Picard led the Catamounts on Saturday with another hat trick, scoring a short-handed goal in the first period, a game-tying goal early in the third period, and the game-winner with 11 seconds left in regulation. Scobee tallied 29 saves in her second straight win.
 
CONNECTICUT RECAP | CatamounTV Highlights: Friday | Saturday
The Connecticut Huskies made the trip to Gutterson Fieldhouse for the Fifth Annual Pack the Gut Challenge, presented by The Windjammer, on Friday. On Saturday, Vermont celebrated the five members of the Class of 2018 in a pre-game ceremony.
 
Both Sydney Scobee and UConn's Annie Belanger dazzled in their respective nets in the two games. On Friday, Scobee stopped all 41 shots faced and preserved a shutout. Belanger was nearly perfect, but Ali O'Leary ripped the game-winning-goal into the back of the net early in the third period. On Saturday, neither goalie made a mistake as Scobee recorded 27 saves and Belanger finished with 22 saves in the scoreless tie.
 
SENIORS CRACK PROGRAM ALL-TIME MARKS
Captain Taylor Willard has played 142 career games since arriving in Burlington prior to the 2014-15 season. She has only missed a single game in her career and currently sits tied for sixth all-time in games played and tied for fourth in assists (41). Additionally, she is tied for sixth all-time in points (62) and is the program's all-time leading scorer among defensemen.

Senior defenseman Amanda Drobot has missed just a single game in her Catamount career, tallying 142 career games to this point of the season. She sits tied for sixth with teammate Willard in career games played. Drobot also has 38 assists in her career, placing her in a tie for seventh in the program record book.
 
SCOBEE REIGNS SUPREME
Goaltender Sydney Scobee earned Hockey East Player of the Week Honors for her performances over UConn at Gutterson Fieldhouse last weekend. She was also named the NCAA Third Star of the Week.
 
With the pair of shutouts, the sophomore now has three on the season to place her in a tie with BC's Katie Burt for the most in Hockey East. Only ten collegiate goalies have recorded more than three shutouts this season. She is third in the conference and 16th in the NCAA in save percentage (.928).
 
In Hockey East games this season, Scobee has made the most total saves (573), holds the top save percentage at .933, and is fifth in goals against average (2.23).
 
PICARD PUTS ON HATS
Sophomore Ève-Audrey Picard became the first Catamount in Division I program history to record three hat tricks in a season and the first in program history to record hat tricks in back to back games.
 
The Québec product now has 30 goals and 25 assists for 55 points through 68 career games. She is tied for eighth in program history in points and game winning goals (5), tied for sixth in goals, and has the second best scoring rate in the Division I era (0.81 points per game).

INSIDE THE STANDINGS
Boston College secured the regular season title for the fifth consecutive season.
 
Providence, Maine, New Hampshire, and Northeastern have the second through fifth seeds locked up with order of finish still to be determined.
 
The final three playoff spots are still up for grabs. Vermont currently holds down the sixth seed with 18 points. Boston University and UConn are close behind with 17 points and 16 points, respectively, and both have a game in hand on the Catamounts. BU finishes its season with a pair of games against New Hampshire, while UConn finishes with games against Merrimack.

Merrimack sits in ninth with 14 points, and needs at least three points against UConn to gain a playoff spot.

NEXT UP
With a playoff spot already clinched, Vermont will face one of a number of schools next weekend in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Hockey East Championship.
 
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2017-18 women's hockey season