FINAL SCORE: Vermont 6, Merrimack 2
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Val Caldwell tallied a career-high four points on two goals and two assists as the Vermont Catamounts (3-1-4, 1-1-2 HEAW) registered their first Hockey East win of the season with a 6-2 victory over the Merrimack Warriors (2-5-2, 0-5-2 HEAW) on Saturday afternoon at Lawler Rink.
 
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COACH'S QUOTE
"This was a great weekend for our team to finish strong and get two very big Hockey East points," said head coach Jim Plumer. "We are really growing and getting contributions up and down the lineup. I think our depth has really showed the last couple of weekends as we have been able to wear teams down. Hats off to Sini Karjalainen for one of the best weekends in UVM women's hockey history. And Val Caldwell made a huge impact today with her record-tying four-point performance."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Caldwell quickly opened the scoring at 3:31 of the first period when she caught a pass from Ève-Audrey Picard and fired a shot past the glove of Léa-Kristine Demers (32 saves). Lily Humphrey had the secondary assist on the goal.
• Kate Bukolska answered before the midway point of the opening frame on the power play with assists coming from Chloe Cook and Julia Maclean.
• Corinne McCool netted her fifth goal of the season on a breakaway with 6.8 seconds left in the opening period. The sophomore forward shot past two Merrimack defenders and slipped the puck through the five-hole of Demers to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
• Sini Karjalainen registered the lone goal of the second period when she collected her own rebound and directed a shot into the top left corner for her second marker of the season.
• Kristina Shanahan and Maude Poulin-Labelle added power-play goals to begin the third period to expand the Vermont lead. Caldwell had assists on both goals. Karjalainen had her sixth point of the weekend with a helper on Poulin-Labelle's goal.
• Mikyla Grant-Mentis chipped in her first of the game later in the third, but Val Caldwell answered with 1:38 left in regulation to secure her second goal of the game and fourth point of the day. 

NOTES

• Caldwell's performance was only the 10th time in program history that a Catamount registered a record-tying four points in one contest. Coincidentally, Karjalainen had four points (4 assists) in the game before.
• With the victory, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to Make-A-Wish Vermont; bringing this year's total to 83 wins and $8,300.

UP NEXT
Vermont is back in action on Tuesday (Oct. 29) when it hosts former ECAC rival Dartmouth College at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Click here to purchase tickets for the 6 p.m. puck drop.  
 
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2019-20 women's hockey season