The University of Maine women's hockey team skated to victory on Saturday afternoon against the University of Vermont, 4-1. The win improves Maine's record to 14-8-6 overall and to 8-6-2 in conference action. Vermont falls to 4-17-6 overall and 3-11-2 in conference play. Tori Pasquariello (Mississauga, Ontario) found the back of the net twice for Maine while Brittany Dougherty (Chesterfield, Mich.) and Danielle Ward each score a goal. All four goals for the Black Bears came in the third period.
Vermont took the lead in the first period at the 5:04 mark on a goal by Emily Walsh. Walsh received the puck in front of the net from Chelsea Rapin, giving Rapin the assist on the play. Maine kept the pressure on throughout the period, but solid goaltending from Catamount Roxanne Douville kept the score at 1-0 in favor of Vermont. Black Bear Brittany Ott (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) came up big for Maine when a 2-on-1 play developed for Vermont. Ott blocked the shot and covered it for a faceoff. However; at the end of the first period, Vermont had a 1-0 lead.
The second period saw solid action from both teams on both ends of the rink, but solid goaltending from both goalies kept the score at 1-0. Maine had 10 shots in the period while Vermont at eight.
Tori Pasquariello opened up the scoring for Maine in the third period when she notched her first goal of the day and her 10th of the season. The play started when Kayla Kaluzny (Calgary, Alberta) found Brianne Kilgour (Hamilton, Ontario), who then saw Pasquariello speeding down the ice. Kilgour fed the puck to Pasquariello for the evening goal of the game. Kaluzny earned her second assist of the season on the play while Kilgour notched her ninth of the year and first of the day. Pasquariello scored her second goal of the night and 11th of the year, which would ultimately end up being the game winning goal, just over 10 minutes later at 11:40. Brianne Kilgour earned her second assist of the day while Chloe Tinkler (Wabush, Newfoundland) earned her sixth of the year. Brittany Dougherty gave the Black Bears a little cushion in the score when she found the back of the net for her team leading 14th goal of the season on a power play. Myriam Croussette (Baie-Comeau, Quebec), found Dougherty on the play for her 13th assist of the year. With 1:15 remaining, Vermont pulled Douville for the extra skater advantage; however, Danielle Ward lobbed a shot over the defense that slid into the net for her 13th goal of the year and the fourth of the period for Maine. Dawn Sullivan (Enfield, Nova Scotia) found Ward for her 11th assist of the season.
Maine goalie Brittany Ott stood strong in net for the Black Bears, making 18 saves on the 19 shots that she faced. Her record now improves to 10-7-3 on the season. Roxanne Douville played exceptionally in net for the Catamounts, making 30 saves on the 33 shots Maine sent at her. Her record fell to 3-12-5 on the season.
Dougherty's power play goal for Maine helped the Black Bears go 1-for-8 in power play situations. Vermont was 0-for-4 on the power play.
The two teams will meet again and conclude their season series on Sunday afternoon. The game is set to begin at 3 p.m.