WOMEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont Catamounts visit the UConn Huskies for an important two-game series on the road Friday and Saturday (Feb. 8 & 9).
 
Friday's puck drop is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Freitas Ice Forum while Saturday's contest is a 1 p.m. start at XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Tickets are free for Saturday's game at the Hartford Whalers' former arena.

RELATED LINKS
Friday (Feb. 8): Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes
Saturday (Feb. 9): Watch | Live Stats
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
UConn begins the two-game series with a 13-14-2 (8-12-2 WHEA) record in 29 games for seventh in league standings. Natalie Snodgrass (12 goals, 11 assists) and Catherine Crawley (10 goals, 13 assists) lead the Huskies with 23 points this season. Snodgrass has also tallied 147 shots on goal, which is the third-highest total in the country. Viki Harkness leads the UConn rookies with 14 points (1 goal, 13 assists) in her first season at the collegiate level and is one assist short of Briana Colangelo for the most on the team. The expected goaltender for UConn is Morgan Fisher who has played 84.4% of the minutes in net this season. The junior netminder has posted a .923 SV%, 2.27 GAA, and a 10-13-2 record in 25 starts. The Huskies enter the series after dropping five of their last six games to conference opponents.

INSIDE THE SERIES
This weekend's contests mark the 41st and 42nd all-time meetings between the Catamounts and UConn, dating back to Dec. 1, 2005. Despite having a 10-26-4 all-time record in the series, Vermont has a 3-2-1 record in the last six games against the Huskies. UVM has won two of the last three games at UConn and have outscored the conference foes 7-5 in those contests. The Catamounts won their last trip to Freitas Ice Forum Oct. 7, 2017 when they rallied from an early deficit to win 2-1. UConn opened the scoring 2:14 into the game, but Mackenzie MacNeil and Saana Valkama scored twice in the second period. The two teams met earlier this season in the Cats' opener at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Saana Valkama netted a second-period goal and Lilly Holmes registered the first of her career while shorthanded, but UConn won 4-2.  
 
HOCKEY EAST ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Maude Poulin-Labelle was named Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week (Feb. 4) by Hockey East after a two-point weekend. Her points came in a Sunday afternoon (Feb. 3) victory over Holy Cross, which included the game-winning goal that day. It was her second game-winner of the season, which put her in a tie for the most by a rookie defenseman in the nation. She was also the only rookie in the league to register a clinching goal last week. Poulin-Labelle's two points also vaulted her to the top of Vermont's defenders with 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) on the season and tied her for the rookie lead with Theresa Schafzahl (5 goals, 6 assists). With 11 points in her first collegiate season, Poulin-Labelle has the third-most points by a rookie defender in Hockey East and tied for seventh in the nation.
 
POULIN-LABELLE ON THE "INSIDE HOCKEY EAST" PODCAST
After winning her first Hockey East weekly award, Maude Poulin-Labelle chatted with Catherine Bogart on the "Inside Hockey East" podcast to discuss the team, her first year in college hockey, and how she likes the University of Vermont. Click here to listen.
 
THE PK CATS
Vermont's penalty kill sits second in the country with a success rate of 89.7%. UVM only trails No. 3 Northeastern by 1.7% for the nation's best unit. Since the start of 2019, Vermont has killed off 27 of 30 penalties taken for a rate of 90.0% that is the sixth highest mark in the country during that time span. The Cats have killed off 87 penalties taken, the ninth most in the NCAA this season. Earlier in the year, UVM went over six games without yielding a power-play goal, a streak snapped by Yale's Jordan Chancellor on Dec. 7. The Vermont penalty-kill streak totaled 428:00 for the longest of the season. The Catamounts had another impressive stretch in January that was snapped against No. 8 Boston University (Feb. 1). UVM went 339:40 without allowing a power-play goal in the streak of 16 straight penalties killed off.
 
CATS IN THE PROS
Rachael Ade '17 headlined the Catamounts alumnae this weekend when she registered her first professional goal Saturday against Amanda Pelkey '15 and Madison Litchfield '17 of the Boston Pride. Pelkey heads to Nashville Friday (Feb. 9) for the start of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) All-Star Weekend, which ends Saturday with the All-Star Game. Former teammates meet up in the Canadians Women's Hockey League (CWHL) this week when Taylor Willard '18 and the Montreal Canadiennes host Mackenzie MacNeil '18 and Brittany Zuback '15 Saturday (Feb. 10).
 

	Vermont Women's Hockey Alumnae Stats (as of 2/7)
Name	Team	Position	GP	G	A	P
Amanda Pelkey '15	Boston Pride (NWHL)	F	13	4	4	8
Rachael Ade '17	Connecticut Whale (NWHL)	D	12	1	0	1
Gina Repaci '16	Markham Thunder (CWHL)	D	21	0	0	0
Taylor Willard '18	Montreal Canadiennes (CWHL)	D	21	2	5	7
Mackenzie MacNeil '18	Toronto Furies (CWHL)	F	19	1	1	2
Brittany Zuback '15	Toronto Furies (CWHL)	F	11	0	0	0
Name	Team	Position	GP	GAA	SV%	SO
Madison Litchfield '17	Boston Pride (NWHL)	G	0	0.00	.000	0

 
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2018-19 women's hockey season