DURHAM, N.H. - The 11th ranked Vermont women's hockey team scored twice in the third period to come from behind and tie New Hampshire 3-3 Friday afternoon in Hockey East action from the Whittemore Center. The Catamounts prevailed 1-0 in the shootout to earn the additional league point. With their two points this afternoon Vermont clinched the two-seed in the upcoming Hockey East Women's Tournament.
COACH'S QUOTE
"It was another hard-fought battle with UNH today and I'm proud that we were able to find a way to battle back and get two points in this game," Head Coach Jim Plumer said. "Our special teams really led the way today and we are certainly going to need that in the playoffs. It's really a credit to our entire team that we were able to clinch second place today. It's tough to win in this league and we have shown amazing character and resilience this entire season. We are looking to finish strong tomorrow and be ready for our first playoff game next Saturday."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Natálie Mlynková opened the scoring for the Catamounts 7:37 into the contest on the power play. From the far faceoff dot Theresa Schafzahl fed a cross-ice pass to Mlynková and she gathered the puck quickly before firing her 20th goal of the season past UNH's Ava Boutilier. Sini Karjalainen also earned an assist on the tally.
- UNH equalized 3:12 into the second period. Jessie McPherson made a save on Kelly Harty on a breakaway but Shea Verrier followed the play and redirected the rebound over McPherson's shoulder for her fourth goal of the season.
- The Wildcats took their first lead of the game at the midway point of the second period. Off a broken play at the Vermont blue line Brianna Brooks skated into the slot with speed on a two-on-one. She looked shot the whole time and beat McPherson for her 10th goal of the campaign.
- UNH made it a two-goal lead just 2:56 into the third period. The Wildcats scored their third transition goal of the game. On a two-on-one down low Kira Juodikis passed over to Lauren Martin who found the top corner for her first goal of the season.
- With 12:08 left in regulation Karjalainen scored her third goal of the campaign to cue the Catamounts comeback. Ellice Murphy fired a shot from the point that Karjalainen deflected past a crossed-up Boutilier. Lara Beecher earned her 11th assist of the season on the goal.
- With just 4:14 to play the Catamounts equalized on a dominant stretch of power play time. Boutilier made several huge saves as Vermont poured on the pressure. She made five in total on the player advantage. With 28 seconds left in the advantage Schafzahl scored her 20th of the season passed a diving Boutilier after two quick passes from Lily Humphrey and Karjalainen.
- The Catamounts outshot UNH 2-0 in the overtime session but couldn't win it during the five minutes.
- Mlynková scored the only goal of the shootout with an absolute snipe bar down to clinch the extra point for UVM. McPherson stopped all three UNH shooters for Vermont.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Vermont has only had a 20-goal scorer four times in program history. Before today it was just Amanda Pelkey (2013-14) and Theresa Schafzahl (2021-22). Schafzahl and Mlynková each met that mark with their 20th goals today.
- This afternoon was the fifth time this season Vermont has scored two power play goals in a game.
- With today's 3-3 decision, Community Bank N.A. will donate $225 to Special Olympics Vermont. Community Bank, N.A. donates $75 per goal to Special Olympics Vermont for every goal the men's and women's team scores this season.
UP NEXT
Vermont will close out the regular season tomorrow afternoon at New Hampshire with another 2 p.m. start from the Whittemore Center. Like all Hockey East games, it will air on ESPN+. The game will also be available on a pay-per-view basis outside of North America at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/hockeyeast. Subscriptions to the service are available for $9.99 USD per month or $4.99 USD for individual games.
HOCKEY EAST QUARTERFINALS SET FOR SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25 AT 1 PM
Vermont will host the Hockey East Quarterfinals at Gutterson Fieldhouse for the third consecutive season. Action is scheduled for Saturday, February 25 at 1 p.m. Tickets are available now at https://go.uvm.edu/23qtr. Like all regular season action in Hockey East the opening round, quarterfinals and semifinals will air live on ESPN+. The Hockey East Championship is scheduled for Saturday, March 4 at noon and the game will air live nationally on ESPNU.
