FINAL SCORE: Vermont 8,  Merrimack 0

BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Catamounts (4-2, 0-0 AE) pushed their win streak to four with a dominant 8-0 victory over Merrimack (0-5, 0-0 NEC) on Sunday afternoon at the Moulton Winder Field.

RELATED LINKS

Box Score | CatamounTV Highlights

COACH'S QUOTE

"The scoring is so important, to get some of these players' experience in different positions and different people working together on the forward line, and just creating some great plays on the counter," said head coach Kate Pfeifer. "I think it was really notable the way some of the freshmen, particularly, stepped up in central roles on the field." 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Catamounts opened up the scoring early. In the 4th minute of the game, senior forward Maddie Priestly knocked in the first goal of the game off a Mora Fernandez de Oliveira centering pass. 

• The Catamounts scored four goals in the second quarter. First-year, Veerle Nijhuis started the scoring onslaught when she took the hockey ball from outside of the scoring circle all the way down to the front of the goal, where she put a backhand shot on net that went just under the crossbar. 

• Addie DelOrefice scored the third goal of the game, off a redirected pass from First-year Gabby Santini, which came in the 18th minute.

• First-year Isi McMahon recorded her first collegiate goal in the 27th minute of the game when she ripped a forehand shot from the top of the scoring circle to make it a 4-0 Vermont lead. 

• Veerle Nijhuis netted her second career goal when she placed a short corner pass in the lower-left corner of the goal.  

•  Junior midfielder Alicia Battistelli scored her fourth goal of the season in the 32nd minute following an intercepted pass that resulted in a two-on-one break with Lara Cleophas. Battistelli got the hockey ball right in front of the goal and put a low shot on net.  

• Junior Consu de Castro scored in her fourth consecutive game with a backhand shot from the top of the scoring circle off a short corner to make it a 7-0 Catamount lead. Both Maddy Weaver and Fernandez de Oliveira were credited with assists.

• Alicia Battistelli recorded her fifth goal of the season to make it an 8-0 lead for the Catamounts. Consu de Castro recorded an assist on the goal as she put a hard shot on net that Battistelli was able to knock in the rebound in the 55th minute of the game. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vermont outshot Merrimack 25-13, with 14 shots on goal.

• The Catamounts recorded six assists on their eight goals.

• UVM earned eight penalty corners.

• Merrimack goalie totaled five saves.

• Battistelli and Nijhuis each scored twice.

• Six different Catamounts scored goals.

• Five players recorded at least one assist.

• Fernandez de Oliveira tallied two assists.

• With today's Win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to the Lund Family Center through the Cat's Win, Community Win's initiative.  Vermont Mutual has donated over $5 Million Dollars since launching their Charitable Giving Fund in 2014.

UP NEXT
The Catamounts travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, to face Queens University on Friday, Sept. 19, at 5 p.m. on Bessant Field.

For news and updates about the Vermont Field Hockey program, follow @UVMfieldhky on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.