FINAL SCORE: Vermont 0, #9 UConn 4
STORRS, CT. – A hat-trick for Julia Pellerin and Tina Chan's second shutout of the season propelled UConn (9-3-1, 4-1-0 HEA) over Vermont (5-8-2, 2-4-1 HEA) 4-0 on Friday night from the Toscano Family Ice Forum during the first game of UVM's road conference weekend series with the Huskies.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"UConn was the better team tonight, no question," said Head Coach Jim Plumer. "Our attention to detail wasn't where it needs to be to compete for 60 minutes. We will be ready for tomorrow."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• UConn struck first 11:53 into the game when Julia Pellerin finished off a tic-tac-toe play orchestrated by Kyla Josifovic and Livvy Dewar on the powerplay, earning the 1-0 advantage.
• The Huskies looked to double their lead 23 seconds later when Sadie Hotles had a prime scoring chance from point-blank range, but Ellie Simmons made a spectacular save to keep the puck out of the goal, keeping Vermont within striking distance.
• UVM saw their best chance in the first frame with 2:35 remaining when Kaylee Lewis found Stella Retrum on a breakout pass that resulted in Retrum skating free on a breakaway. Retrum elected to shoot glove side under heavy backcheck pressure, but Tia Chan was there to shut it down, maintaining UConn's one goal lead.
• Pellerin doubled UConn's lead with 11:16 on the clock when she executed a two-on-one rush by pinning a snapshot glove side high, scoring her second goal of the game to earn the Huskies a two-goal advantage.
• Brooke Campbell made it 3-0 in favor of UConn with 8:34 remaining in the second frame, getting a nice deflection off of True Thompson's shot from the point, finding the bottom right corner for her third goal of the season.
• With just over three minutes remaining in the middle period, Pellerin scored her third goal of the game on the powerplay to give the Huskies a 4-0 lead.
• UConn's Claire Murdoch was awarded a penalty shot with 2:20 remaining in the second period, but a tremendous diving paddle save from Simmons rejected Murdoch's shootout opportunity.
• No goals were scored in the final period of action as Chan, and the Huskies collected the 4-0 shutout victory on home ice.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Retrum led a team-high four shots on goal.
• Josie Hemp led a game-high four blocked shots.
• Simmons made 34 total saves against the Huskies; the fourth time this season she's recorder 30 or more saves in a single game.

 
UP NEXT
The Catamounts will look to close out their weekend series with No. 9 UConn, returning to action tomorrow afternoon for a 2 p.m. puck drop from Toscano Family Ice Forum. Fans can catch Saturday's matchup live on ESPN+.
 
For news and updates about the Vermont women's hockey program, follow @UVMwhockey on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.
 
The Windjammer Inn and Conference Center is the presenting sponsor of the UVM women's hockey program