WOMEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont Catamounts host the McGill Martlets for an exhibition contest Saturday (Sept. 29) 4 p.m. at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
 
It is the 13th meeting all-time between the Catamounts and McGill and the ninth in the last 10 seasons dating back to 2008. Vermont skated to a 3-2 win one year ago when the Marlets last visited Burlington for UVM's final tune-up.
 
RELATED LINKS
Video | Live Stats | Game Notes (.pdf)

SCOUTING THE MARTLETS
McGill has jumped out to a 4-0-0 record to start the 2018-19 season in the RSEQ, a Canadian USports conference. Léa Dumais and Christina Colizza pace the Martlets offense with four points to start the year. Dumais' three goals leads her club while Colizza has a team-best four assists. Third-year Tricia Deguire is the expected goaltender with a 0.33 GAA and .983 SV% in her three games in goal. McGill finished the 2017-18 season with a 16-21-0 (9-11-0 RSEQ) and were ousted in a best-of-three series by Montreal in the RSEQ Semifinals. The Martlets faced off against five NCAA teams last season, earning victories over Yale and Dartmouth.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Catamounts enter the 13th all-time meeting with McGill posting a 3-8-1 record in the series. Ten of the previous 12 games have been played at Gutterson Fieldhouse with the Cats owning a 3-6-1 mark at home. Vermont has won two of the last five meetings with the Martlets, most recently in 2017-18. Éve-Audrey Picard powered the Cats to victory with two points (1 goal, 1 assist) and six shots on goal last time out. Melissa Black and Sydney Scobee split the net posting 11 saves each. Kristina Shanahan tallied the game-winning goal, which was her first mark in a Vermont uniform.   
 
CATAMOUNT RETURNERS
The Catamounts return 15 members of the 2017-18 season. Senior captain Alyssa Gorecki headlines the forwards along with junior assistant captains Ève-Audrey Picard and Ali O'Leary. Kristina Shanahan, Olivia Kilberg, Val Caldwell, Allie Granato, Saana Valkama, and Alyssa Holmes round out the returning forwards.
 
Sammy Kolowrat also wears the 'C' leading the Vermont defense, with Taylor Flaherty as an assistant captain. Greta Close and Anna Erickson join the returning defensive group.
 
Melissa Black and Sierra Natzke return in goal for the Catamounts.
 
NEW FACES
Nine Catamounts headline the 2018-19 rookie class. Junior-transfer Abby Cleary provides experience on forward with freshmen Lilly Holmes, Theresa Schafzahl, Corinne McCool, and Alex Gray joining her up front.
 
Sini Karjalainen, Ellice Murphy, and Maude Poulin-Labelle make up the rookie defensive core.
 
Czech Republic native Blanka Škodová is the lone goalie in the class of 2022.
 
INTERNATIONAL CATS
The Vermont Catamounts women's hockey team calls five different countries home. Thirteen Americans and six Canadians make up a large chunk of the roster. Senior captain Sammy Kolowrat and Blanka Škodová are Czech Republic natives. Sini Karjalainen and Saana Valkama hail from the Scandinavian country Finland. Theresa Schafzahl is the first Austrian to ever suit up for the Vermont Catamounts.
 
2017-18 REVIEW
UVM skated to a 10-20-5 (7-13-4 WHEA) record last season. Ève-Audrey Picard paced the Cats with 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points while owning a plus-3 rating. Taylor Willard '18 patrolled the defense for the Catamounts to earn Hockey East Honorable Mention. Vermont nabbed the eighth spot in the conference standings but were eliminated in two games by nationally-ranked Boston College in the Hockey East Quarterfinals.
 
STATS FROM 2017-18

• Vermont averaged 1.9 goals per game on 24.9 shots
• The defense yielded 2.8 goals per game on 33.3 shots
• UVM's power play converted at a rate of 13.4% (19-142)
• The Cats killed off 81.9% (118-144) of the penalties they faced and tallied two shorthanded goals
• Melissa Black and Sydney Scobee registered four shutouts in net for the Catamounts

NEXT UP
Vermont opens the regular season at home in Hockey East matchup with UConn Saturday (Oct. 6) at 6 p.m.
 
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2018-19 women's hockey season