| Prd | Time | Team | Score | Type | Scored By | Assists |
| 1st | 2:52 | VER | 1-0 | EV | Victoria Andreakos (5) | Taylor Willard/9 |
| 1st | 3:45 | VER | 2-0 | EV | Saana Valkama (5) | Alyssa Gorecki/7 |
| 1st | 6:27 | VER | 3-0 | EV | Dayna Colang (12) | Gina Repaci/5 |
| 1st | 19:54 | MER | 1-3 | PP | Dominique Kremer (2) | Madison Morey/6 |
| 2nd | 3:02 | MER | 2-3 | EV | Katelyn Rae (8) | Baye Flanagan/7 |
| 3rd | 18:59 | MER | 3-3 | EV EA GT | Annie Boeckers (2) | Jessica Kuhlman/1, Katelyn Rae/10 |
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Final |
| Vermont | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Merrimack | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Shots on Goal | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | SOG |
| Vermont | 15 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 45 |
| Merrimack | 2 | 5 | 14 | 1 | 22 |
| Team Stats and Records | PP | PIM | SHGF |
| Vermont (8-23-3) | 0/3 | 4/8 | 0 |
| Merrimack (5-26-3) | 1/3 | 4/8 | 0 |
| Vermont Goaltending | MIN | GA | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | Saves |
| Madison Litchfield (T, 5-14-3) | 63:59 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 19 |
| Empty Net | 1:01 | 0 |
| Merrimack Goaltending | MIN | GA | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | Saves |
| Samantha Ridgewell (T, 5-19-3) | 64:31 | 3 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 42 |
| Empty Net | 0:29 | 0 |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - After falling behind 3-0 in the first period, the Merrimack College women's ice hockey team would proceed to score three unanswered goals, including the game-tying goal from freshman Annie Boeckers (Otsego, Minn.) with just 1:01 remaining in the game and an empty net for Merrimack, to nab a 2-2 tie with Vermont at Lawler Rink in their inaugural season finale on Saturday.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 2, Vermont 2
Records: Merrimack (5-26-3, 3-18-3 HEA) | Vermont (8-23-3, 6-15-3 HEA)
Location: Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass.)
How It Happened
With the potential of being swept by the Warriors in the season series, Vermont made sure to come out in the first period with a tenacity Merrimack had not seen in the previous two games with the Catamounts. Vermont would take an early 1-0 lead under three minutes into the first and did not let off the gas for the remainder of the period.
Less than one minute later, Vermont would extend their lead to 2-0 on a rebound goal after freshman goaltender Samantha Ridgewell (Outlook, Saskatchewan) made an initial save on a shot, but the puck would ricochet to the opposite side of the net to Vermont for a put-back score.
Just another 2:42 after the second goal, Vermont would score again on a nice deflection on a shot from the point that redirected right past Ridgewell to make it 3-0 Vermont just 6:27 into the game. Despite allowing 15 shots in the period, Merrimack would keep Vermont from finding the net for a fourth time in the period.
With time winding down in the first and the Warriors on the power play, freshman Dominique Kremer (West Fargo, N.D.) fired a quick snapshot on net that would find its way through traffic and by the tender with just six second remaining in the first to put the Warriors on the board headed into the second.
Freshman Katelyn Rae (Courtice, Ontario) would quickly cut the Warriors' deficit to one just 3:02 into the second after freshman Baye Flanagan (Billerica, Mass.) through the puck hard up the board from the defensive end. Rae would get behind the Vermont defenseman at the blue line and chase down the puck and end up in all alone. The freshman made a nice move in front of the net and slid the puck under the goalie's pads to make it 3-2.
Ridgewell would play outstanding in the second frame, not allowing a score from Vermont and making a game-high 17 saves in the period.
Merrimack would take over in the third period, sensing the chance to tie in their final game of the season. Merrimack would fire off a game-high 14 shots in the third, but the first 13 would not find the back of the net. With just 1:01 to play and Ridgewell out of the net, Merrimack would get the puck down deep in Vermont's end and create a scrum. Boeckers waited patiently outside the group, and quickly fired a wrist shot on net once the puck popped loose, going top-right to tie the game at three where the score would hold until the final buzzer.
Inside The Numbers
- Ridgewell finished Saturday's game with 42 saves, making for her remarkable eighth 40-save performance of the season. She leads Hockey East with 694 saves this season.
- With her goal on Saturday, Kremer finished the season with four points in four games (1g, 3a). She posted eight of her 11 points in the 2016 portion of the schedule.
- With their first goal coming on the power play, the Warriors had scored seven consecutive goals on the power play.
- Rae's goal and assist on Saturday make for her team-leading fourth multi-point game of the season.