WOMEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The eighth-seeded Vermont Catamounts (10-18-6, 8-15-4 WHEA) travel to Boston for a best-of-three Hockey East Quarterfinal series against the top-seeded Northeastern Huskies (23-5-5, 21-3-3 WHEA) this weekend at Matthews Arena.
 
Game 1 is slated for a  5 p.m. puck drop Friday (Mar. 1), followed by a 2 p.m. start Saturday (Mar. 2) for Game 2. If necessary, Game 3 will begin at 2:30 p.m. Sunday (Mar. 3).
 
Fans living in New England can watch the Catamounts on TV with NESNplus or stream online using NESNgo. Outside of New England, fans can stream the games on FloHockey.TV, a subscription-based service that costs $12.50 a month and allows the opportunity to cancel at any time.

RELATED LINKS
NESNplus: Channel Listings | NESNgo
Friday (Mar. 1): Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes (.pdf)
Saturday (Mar. 2): Watch | Live Stats
Sunday (Mar. 3): Watch | Live Stats
 
GORECKI ON THE "THE CATS DEN"
Senior captain Alyssa Gorecki joined Brady Farkas on 101.3 the Game's "The Cats Den" Tuesday (Feb. 26) to preview the upcoming playoff series, what it's like to advance to the playoffs in her senior season, and more. Click here to listen.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
The Northeastern Huskies enter the Hockey East playoffs as the top seed after clinching the regular season title at Providence (Feb. 16). Currently, the Huskies are ranked third in both the USCHO and USA Hockey national polls. Alina Mueller paces the Northeastern offense with team-highs in goals (19), assists (29), and points (48). The Swiss rookie has the second-most points in Hockey East and is tied for the most by a freshman in the nation. The expected top line of Mueller, Kassidy Anderson, and Chloé Aurard have combined for 48 of the Huskies' 115 goals this season. Aerin Frankel has been Northeastern's go-to goaltender with a .932 SV% that is third in the league and a second-best 1.83 GAA in 24 starts. Offensively, Northeastern is the top-scoring team in Hockey East averaging 3.48 goals-per-game. On defense, the Huskies own the nation's third-best penalty kill in the country with a success rate of 89.8%.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Friday's game is the 46th all-time meeting between the Catamounts and Northeastern, dating back to Oct. 20, 2001. Vermont is 8-33-4 in the series with a 4-5-1 mark in the last 10 meetings. At Matthews Arena, the Cats are 2-3-0 in the last five games there, with two of those losses coming this season. Northeastern has taken all three games against the Catamounts in the 2018-19 campaign, but were tested when Vermont took them to overtime (Jan. 26). Melissa Black made 35 saves against the third-ranked Huskies and Val Caldwell registered UVM's only goal of the game. Caldwell has scored in two of the three games against Northeastern this season.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Catamounts clinched the final playoff spot with a 2-2 tie on the road at Maine Saturday (Feb. 23). Maine took the lead 1:26 into the game, but the Cats responded with Sammy Kolowrat's third goal of the season late in the period. Ève-Audrey Picard registered Vermont's only lead of the game with 5:42 left in the second period on Kristina Shanahan's second assist of the day. A Black Bears' goal early in the third period pressured Blanka Škodová and UVM as they outshot the Cats 12-4 in the final 25 minutes of the game. Škodová made three of her 20 saves in overtime to preserve the tie and secure the eighth seed.
 
ŠKODOVÁ NAMED CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Vermont goaltender Blanka Škodová was named Pro Ambitions Co-Rookie of the Week (Feb. 25) by Hockey East after her 20-save performance in the Cats' playoff-clinching game. It was the second weekly honor of the season for the UVM netminder who had previously won Defensive Player of the Week in early November. Škodová stopped 20 of 22 shots at Maine (Feb. 23), including 12 saves in the final 25 minutes to hold off a push by the Black Bears and secure a tie. The Catamounts' netminder has a 4-1-3 record in nine starts this season with a .927 SV%, 1.85 GAA and two shutouts. In the month of Feburary, Škodová leads Hockey East with a .952 SV% and a 0.95 GAA in three starts. Škodová joins Maude Poulin-Labelle and Theresa Schafzahl as Vermont rookies who have won the weekly award this month.
 
CATS IN THE PLAYOFFS
Dating back to the senior class' rookie season (2015-16), the Catamounts are 3-5-1 in the Hockey East playoffs, which includes a run to the Hockey East Semifinals in 2017. They began the run by eliminating fourth-seeded Providence on the road in three games. After dropping the opening game 5-1, Vermont rattled off wins of 5-1 and 5-2 to advance to the semis and face the top-seeded Boston College Eagles. The Catamounts lost a heartbreaker to the eventual league champions in double-overtime. Alyssa Gorecki has the highest playoff production for the Catamounts with 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) in nine game played. Junior Ève-Audrey Picard has eight points (4 goals, 4 assists) in six career playoff games.
 
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2018-19 women's hockey season