BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University of Vermont's Gutterson Fieldhouse will be hosting a Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) exhibition contest between the Montreal Force and the Boston Pride on Sunday, October 23 at 3 p.m. The Pride are the defending Isobel Cup Champions while it will be the expansion Force's first-ever contest. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and tickets are available now for just $10.
 
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Team Websites: Montreal Force | Boston Pride
 
The Force feature three local connections here in Catamount Country. Kristina Shanahan and Alyssa Holmes both played for the UVM women's hockey team over the last five seasons. They helped lead the Catamounts to the program's best-ever season last year winning 22 games and finishing second in Hockey East for the first time in program history.
 
The Force also feature Colchester, Vermont native Sally Hoerr. As a graduate student, last year Hoerr won an ACHA Division I National Championship while being named to the 2022 ACHA National All-Tournament Team with Liberty University.
 
"We are thrilled to host the PHF at Gutterson this year," said Women's Hockey Head Coach Jim Plumer. "Our community has a rich history of supporting women's hockey and it's a great opportunity for our fans to experience professional women's hockey for the first time and to welcome back former Catamounts Kristina Shanahan and Alyssa Holmes to the Gut!" 
 
Next Sunday's contest will continue a long history of Gutterson Fieldhouse hosting the best men's and women's hockey players in the world. In the spring of 2012 the Gut hosted the IIHF Women's World Championships. Between 1995-2000 and in 2002 UVM hosted the New York Rangers NHL training camp including Wayne Gretzky. The Hartford Whalers also held their training camps at UVM in 1992 and 1993.
 
In addition, Gutterson Fieldhouse was the venue for the first women's hockey game ever nationally televised in the United State on December 17, 1997, a pre-Nagano Olympics game between Canada and the United States.
 
The PHF is the home of professional women's hockey in North America. Established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League, the NWHL rebranded to become the PHF in 2021 and provide opportunities for elite athletes to earn a living playing the game they love while fueling the continued growth of the sport.
 
The league is made up of the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Minnesota Whitecaps, Montreal Force, and the Toronto Six who all compete annually for the Isobel Cup. As part of a two-year agreement with ESPN, live coverage of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 PHF seasons is available exclusively on ESPN+ in the United States, and provides international rights for games which includes TSN in Canada. For more information visit premierhockeyfederation.com.