FINAL SCORE: Vermont 10, Merrimack 6
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Ava Vasile matched a career-high six goals to power Vermont (3-0) to a 10-6 come-from-behind victory on Saturday afternoon at Merrimack (0-3). The Catamounts trailed by as many as five goals in the win.
 
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Box Score
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"We have a lot to learn from this when it comes to preparation, execution, and mentality," head coach Sarah Dalton Graddock said. "Great to hold Merrimack scoreless in the second half, but we need to come out ready to play from the first draw."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Warriors struck quickly with Sophie Scearbo's fourth goal of the season, coming just 0:40 into the contest.
• Vermont tied the game at 1-1 with 8:53 left in the opening quarter when Maddie Erskine's pass found Claire Adelhelm cutting towards the goal where she quickly delivered a shot past Hayley Kowalczyk (11 saves).
• UVM and Merrimack closed out the opening quarter tied up with one goal apiece. Anna Rosenberger (5 saves) made two stops in the frame.
• The Warriors scored in the opening minute of a quarter, once again, starting the second frame with a goal 0:34 seconds in. Samantha Spieler netted the go-ahead goal on a woman-up opportunity. Lindsay Atkinson was credited with the assist.
• Natalie Calkins made the score 3-1 with 9:34 remaining in the half with a free-position goal on a woman-up opportunity.
• Scearbo's second goal of the game extended the Merrimack lead to 4-1 with 7:11 left. The senior converted on a free-position attempt for the two-goal advantage.
• Calkins added her second goal of the quarter with 6:25 left to take a 5-1 lead.
• Scearbo registered a hat trick with 5:22 remaining in the second quarter to put the Warriors up by five.
• Ava Vasile broke UVM's scoreless drought when she converted on a free-position attempt with 1:40 left in the second quarter to make the score 6-2, which would hold heading into the break.
• Vasile opened the second half scoring with 10:06 left in the third quarter with her second straight free-position goal, this time as the Cats had a woman-up advantage.
• Ciera Licare scored a pair of free-position goals in the middle of the frame to cut the Merrimack lead down to one, 6-5 with 5:29 remaining.
• Vasile tied the game with 1:11 left and put the Catamounts 0:42 later to head into the final quarter up 7-6.
• Lauren Lefebvre padded the lead with her second goal of the season, coming 2:51 into the fourth quarter.
• Vasile notched two goals over the remainder of the game to secure the victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vasile's six-goal output matched her career high, set in the 2022 America East Semifinals against Binghamton. The graduate student recorded a career-high 13 shots, with nine directed on goal. Vasile also registered six draw controls, two ground balls and one caused turnover.
• Licare's offense came on three shots – all three directed on goal. The attacker also scooped up one ground ball.
• Brittany Barton recorded a team-high four ground balls, and matched a team-high two caused turnovers. Annie O'Hara and Kenzie Vasque were also credited with a pair of caused turnovers.
• Vermont outshot Merrimack 29-19 in the victory. UVM had 21 shots directed on goal.
• The Catamounts dominated the draw in the second half, holding an 8-2 advantage.
• With the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to Vermont Children's Trust Foundation as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $94,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.

UP NEXT
Vermont returns to action on Saturday (Feb. 24) when it hosts LIU in its home opener at Virtue Field. The opening draw is set for 12 p.m. ET and will broadcast live on AmericaEast.TV. Tickets are available for purchase at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or by visiting the Gutterson Fieldhouse Box Office on gameday.