BURLINGTON, Vt. – Four different Catamounts scored goals and the UVM defense pitched its fourth shutout of the season as the Vermont field hockey team wrapped up non-league play with a 4-0 victory over Dartmouth Sunday afternoon.
 
With the win, Vermont improves to 12-4 and matches the 2007 team for most wins in a single season in program history. Dartmouth falls to 3-12 with the defeat.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score | Box Score (.pdf)
CatamounTV Highlights
 
COACH'S QUOTE
 
"We've had a few slow starts this season and when you come off a big, emotional game like we had on Friday night up at Maine, you're not sure what you're going to see on a Sunday so it was reassuring and exciting to watch us come out of the gates strong," head coach Kate Pfeifer said. "You just could see straight away they weren't going to lose this one today."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Alina Gerke wasted no time getting the Cats on the board less than three minutes into the contest. The German midfielder flicked a shot over a sliding Hatley Post (six saves) from a near-impossible angle into the side-netting for her sixth of the year and a 1-0 UVM lead.
• Sophia Lefranc doubled the lead seven minutes later. After a drive to the baseline, Lefranc cut back to the middle through two defenders and smacked home her fifth of the season.
• Haley Buffenbarger converted on a penalty stroke at the 11:33 mark of the first quarter to make it 3-0.
• Dartmouth's best chance came at the end of the first half when a crossing ball made it through the circle to a charging Holley Cromwell. Sierra Espeland (seven saves) made a sliding save out of her cage to keep Dartmouth off the board.
• Maddie Priestly finished off the scoring for the Cats with her second of the season – she tapped home a pass from Gerke just over a minute into the fourth quarter.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vermont's 12 wins tie the 2007 squad for most-ever in a single season.
• The Catamounts improve to 6-1 at home.
• Today was UVM's first win over the Big Green at home since 2017.
• Sierra Espeland posted a shutout for the 13^th time in her career.
• With today's win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to COTS, the Committee on Temporary Shelter, as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.

UP NEXT
 
Vermont returns home next weekend for the final time in 2022 when it hosts California on Senior Day presented by the UVM Alumni Association. The Cats will honor Buffenbarger, Espeland, Kate Hall and Maddie Moran following the game.