NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - Maude Poulin-Labelle had a hat trick and Theresa Schafzahl registered five points as Vermont (6-6-1, 4-3-1) defeated Merrimack (4-11-1, 4-7-1) 5-2 Sunday evening in Hockey East action from Lawler Rink. Schafzahl's five-point performance was the first in program history.
COACH'S QUOTE
"Very, very pleased with the way we played today, especially in the second and third periods," Head Coach Jim Plumer said. "It was key to score early in those periods and get the momentum on our side. I'm thrilled for Maude and Theresa Schafzahl for their record-setting games but even more so for the whole team to finally learn how to finish games."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- For the second straight game the Warriors opened the scoring. Ally Qualley converted on the power play with 4:51 left in the first period. From along the boards Courtney Maud fed a cross-crease pass that Qualley tapped home on the backdoor for her second goal of the season.
- Vermont equalized 22 seconds in the second period on its first shot of the period. Alyssa Holmes and Schafzahl were engaged in a puck battle behind the net with two Merrimack defenders. The puck came loose and bounced to the side of the net and UVM's Poulin-Labelle was in the perfect position. She quickly gathered the puck and stashed it home for her third of the season.
- With 5:49 left in the middle frame Poulin-Labelle and Schafzahl combined again to give UVM its first lead of the game. On the forecheck, Schafzahl forced a turnover behind the net and centered a pass on her backhand. Pinching down from the point Poulin-Labelle one-timed it home for her second career multi-goal game.
- Just 2:30 later Schafzahl got in on the fun to double the UVM lead. Antonia Matzka fed a pass over to Sara Levesque for a one-timer that Schafzahl redirected past Merrimack's Emma Gorski for her third goal of the season.
- Natalie Nemes made it a one-goal game again with her first career goal for the Warriors. She found the back of the net with a perfectly placed wrist shot through traffic with 1:49 left in the second period.
- Vermont reestablished its two-goal edge just 19 seconds into the third period. In transition Schafzahl dropped a pass back to Kristina Shanahan who snapped a shot past Gorski for her fourth of the season.
- Then 3:02 later Poulin-Labelle completed her second career hat trick to give UVM a 5-2 lead. Schafzahl fed Poulin-Labelle in transition and she skated by a Merrimack defender before beating Gorski with a quick wrist shot.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Nine different Catamounts from 1999 to 2019 registered four points in a single game, including current defenseman Sini Karjalainen (10/25/19) but Theresa Schafzahl is the first to ever have five points.
- Maude Poulin-Labelle notched the second hat trick of her career this evening. Her first was on October 29, 2019 against Dartmouth. She's the fourth Catamount in program history to record two or more hat tricks in her career. Allie Knowles, Dayna Colang and Ève-Audrey Picard were the other three.
WHO'S NEXT
Following Thanksgiving the Catamounts return to action on Friday, November 26 as they host Syracuse at Gutterson Fieldhouse. UVM will host the Orange Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. Both contests will air live on CollegeSportsLive for free.
